05 May,2016 02:24 PM IST | | A correspondent
On Google X co-founder Yoky Matsuoka making news for joining Apple to work on the tech firm's health projects, here are some interesting and possibly lesser-known facts about her...
On Google X co-founder Yoky Matsuoka making news for joining Apple to work on the tech firm's health projects, here are some interesting and possibly lesser-known facts about her...
>> Born in Japan, Yoky Matsuoka moved to California at age 16.
Yoky Matsuoka. Pic/YouTube
>> Yoky Matsuoka was a semi-professional tennis player and ranking 21st in Japan at one point but was sidelined due to injuries.
>> Yoky Matsuoka helped get Babak Parviz onboard for Google. Parviz led the Google Glass team.
>> Matsuoka is married with four children. Her husband is a computer vision specialist.
>> Yoky Matsuoka's interest in robotics began with the idea of a robotic tennis player, which she later dismissed as being unrealistic.
>> Matsuoka helped develop a lifelike robotic hand, modeled bone-by-bone from a human hand, with multiple motors each corresponding to muscles and with strings playing the role of tendons along each digit.
>> Matsuoka was was an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University and an associate professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, director of that university's Neurobotics Laboratory, director of the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering and a 2007 MacArthur Fellow, commonly referred to as Genius Award.
>> Yoky Matsuoka served as chief engineer at Barrett Technology in 1995 and 1996 where she developed the microcode for the BarrettHand.
>> Matsuoka was Vice President of Technology at Nest, where she was in charge of machine learning and UX and led the development of the adaptive component of the Nest Thermostat, which is a key component of the product to date. Her work has saved the United States hundreds of billions of dollars in energy expenses.
