rachel: irobot makes the roomba, the robotic vacuum cleaner. sam: they do, and that is still their most famous robot, but irobot also makes robots for the military, the police. robots that will go anywhere you do not want to be or cannot be. ♪ >> so much has been done in hollywood around how robots will impact our lives. we set off to figure out what is keeping us from having the robots that we all dreamed of, and it has been an amazing journey. one of the exciting applications for robotics is to allow people to actually physically be somewhere they're not. if i could attend a meeting, if i could diagnose a patient from my office as opposed to having to travel, then the world would be a different place. sam: since you have started in the boston area, there have been many more robotics companies that have taken hold here, some of which actually come out of your company, is that correct? >> absolutely. boston has become the center of the universe from the perspective of practical mobile robotics. there is no better place in the world to start a r

and yupt to spend a lot of money on a roomba. this one is amazing. it's about $25. $24. and cats love them, too. next, this is a ten-egg steamer. put a little water in here. put your eggs in here. push the button and it will steam your eggs, either hard-boiled or soft-boiled eggs. it pouches and does an omelet as well. and it's $49. >> i can't open the jar. >> this is called the ultimate jar opener. put it onto the jar like that. lock it in. and then give it a good yank. and it opens. there we go. >> i just whack it on the floor. >> and the plastic is still on it. >> it's so long the leverage helps you. it's super easy and it's 24 bucks. >> $24! >> and it will work for as small as like a nail polish. >> what is this? >> basically you put your socks in here and you pair them up. this pairs with this, you put it through you have a pair of socks right in the bottom there. >> oh my gosh. >> makes it more fun for kids to do their sock sorting. you pop them in there and you basically -- it balls them up. and finally you want to get rid of -- identity theft is a big issue.

they're best known for making the robotic vacuum, the roomba and this pac bottom. robotic firm within 150 miles of this location. now there are more than 100 within 30 miles. and boston consulting group forecast global spending will jump from $27 billion this year to $65 billion by 2025. as manufacturers spend more on robots in the next decade boston consulting sees them spending less on labor. >> we're thinking about something like a 16% drop in the labor costs for manufacturing plants over this time period. >> driving adoption you can buy a robot for a tenth of the price ten years ago and new technology let's you reprogram them to do different tasks in as little as 30 minutes. this is expected to impact the lower-skilled labor market while adding higher-paying jobs higher-skilled jobs to build and manage that robotic work force. bcg estimates maybe some manufacturing if they mix a robot with a human, their work force costs will decline enough for them to bring some of the manufacturing they put overseas back home. we'll have to see. back to you. >> mary as people

the company is best known for its robotic vacuum cleaner the roomba you can see over my back shoulderd another robotics firm within 150 miles of this location. today the company counts over 100 within 30 miles. this confirming a trend noted by boston consulting group which sees global spending on robots hitting $67 billion up from an estimated $27 billion this year. now, this should be a positive for manufacturers. bcg's health circuit says as robotic spending goes up labor costs will come down. >> we're thinking about something like a 16% drop in the labor costs kr. >> leading the way in robot adoption, automakers, component makers, machinery firms. you can buy a robot to be used for as little as $25,000 compared to $250,000 ten years ago. add to that new technology means they're easier to reprogram. you can teach a robot to do a new task within as little as 30 minutes. it will boost demand for others. >> you're going to see a whole lot of high end electrical and mechanical engineers that would basically service the robots to make sure they're operating well. >> they'll also be desig