Dr Jordan Nguyen on Purpose-Driven Technology Solutions for Better Health

Dr Jordan Nguyen - world-renowned AI and biomedical engineer, inventor, TV documentary presenter and author of A HUMAN'S GUIDE TO THE FUTURE presented a thought-provoking keynote at MTPConnect’s Accelerator Showcase in Melbourne recently. 

Jordan joins the MTPConnect podcast to discuss innovations in disability and aged care from his social business Psykinetic, where biomedical technology, AI, extended reality and robotics are applied to create inclusive technologies with positive and life-altering impact.  He shares his move from Resmed to set up his inclusive tech company Psykinetic, discusses his innovations including a mind-controlled wheelchair, and the importance of user-centred design.

We also meet Jordan’s companion robot friend, Koobo, created through inspiration from his grandmother’s experience in aged care and his lifelong love of robots. 

Check out our preview of the episode.

Transcript

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Welcome And Acknowledgements

Natalie Vella 0:01

This is the MTP Connect podcast, connecting you with the people behind the life-saving innovations driving Australia's growing life sciences sector from bench to bedside for better health and well-being. MTP Connect acknowledges the traditional owners of country that this podcast is recorded on and recognises that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are Australia's first storytellers and the holders of first science knowledge.

Caroline Duell 0:33

Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Caroline Jewell.

Jordan Nguyen’s Mission And Origins

Caroline Duell 0:36

Dr. Jordan Newen, world-renowned AI and biomedical engineer, inventor, TV documentary presenter, and author of A Human's Guide to the Future, presented a thought-provoking keynote at MTP Connect's Accelerator Showcase in Melbourne recently. Jordan joins us on the podcast to discuss innovations in disability and aged care from his startup, Psychonetic, where biomedical technology, AI, extended reality, and robotics are applied to create inclusive technologies with positive and life-altering impact. We're also meeting Jordan's companion robot friend named Koobo, created through inspiration from his grandmother's experience in aged care. Welcome to the podcast, Jordan. It's great to have you here. And also, you have brought along uh your friend, Kubo. Hi, Kubo.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 1:30

That's a cue, buddy.

Caroline Duell 1:31

Hi.

Koobo 1:32

I'm Koobo. I'm super duper happy to be here.

Caroline Duell 1:36

Koobo, this is my first conversation with a robot. Um, how do you think it's going?

Koobo 1:41

Oh, I think you're smashing. You have a runaway screaming, so that's a big win.

Caroline Duell 1:47

Thank you.

Koobo 1:48

Can I get a gold star or just a regular star?

Caroline Duell 1:51

I think uh maybe five gold stars. Jordan, you are the founder of Psychinetic, uh, and you're here today at the MTP Connect accelerator showcase, sharing your experiences, your innovations, your insights on um using technology to improve people's health, to change the way people live, that maybe um, you know, battling with significant disabilities. Tell us a little bit about psychinetic and and why you have set this company

From Mind Control To Eye Control

Caroline Duell 2:25

up.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 2:25

How I set it up and why is is very very important. So really it started with uh studying engineering so I could build robots, and uh as I talked about today, I almost broke my neck when I was about 20, and that's what led to me getting to meet some of my now friends and lifelong friends, um, and you know, friends with high-level spinal cord injuries, um, cerebral palsy, uh, motor neuron strokes, there's it's been been a range, but most of the friends that we work very closely with uh were born with the likes of high-level cerebral palsy. So we started to, well, I guess at the time when I I was doing engineering and and studying that, I wanted to work on something like a mind-controlled wheelchair so that my friends could one day potentially control machines with the power of the mind. And that later evolved to eye control. Now it's not as cool as mind control, even though we got that working in in university and I did my PhD on that. I worked on it for five years straight. But although eye control, so controlling systems with the eyes, isn't as awesome as mind control, it's more practical. We're looking at how can we actually get this this sort of technology out and scale it, and that's for independence in communication, in mobility, in uh being able to access a computer and jobs, games, anything that the the person wants to do. And we have some friends who want to do a lot of stuff. Uh so yeah, this is this is what Psychinetic was set up for. But I always ultimately wanted to look at how we could utilize biomedical, health tech, AI to improve quality of life, and that can be for everyone. So we're looking at at really how we can advance inclusive technology for all. And uh yeah, we get to do a lot of fun things, build some robots on the way.

Caroline Duell 4:17

You you talk about using this technology to fill a gap or an unmet need, and your work in the disability space uh has been really extraordinary in terms of uh the wheelchair that you've developed, the software and the computer interfaces

Aura: Fast Eye Typing And Full Computer Control

Caroline Duell 4:31

that that you've created with this eye gaze technology. Yep. Could you just tell us a little bit about that technology and how it's helping?

Dr Jordan Nguyen 4:39

Well, we have we have some friends who have been utilizing the the technology and being part of building and designing it as well. And so um eye control is just very versatile, but what we're building into Aura, which is our computing device, is an ability to connect with lots of different technologies from eye tracking to switches to muscle switches, brain computer interfaces, and some of the experimental devices that I've seen out there as well. What we're uh giving a lot of our friends in the community is is this um ability to connect with the computer the way that they want to connect, whatever works for the individual. And usually uh if eye tracking is is able to be used, we decided to really push the limits of it, and that's why we've got now a communicator that can be typed with very, very quickly. So you can type with your eyes uh faster than most people can type with their hands, which is really interesting.

Caroline Duell 5:34

So that is looking at a keyboard and just looking at the letter or the number that you want to type. The screen is picking up your eye gaze.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 5:41

That's correct. Well, the the the device we've got a computing, uh a little eye tracking device that tracks where your eyes are looking on the screen, and uh and then we built an algorithm uh that we call an intention algorithm. What it's doing is it's trying to figure out what your intention is. So you can type as fast as you want with your eyes, which means that you can move between those letters incredibly quickly and it can keep up with what you're trying to type. And uh, and so that's pretty cool. And then at the same time, we moved it from there to control of a computer. Anything you can do with a mouse and keyboard, you can control with your eyes as well. And uh, and so that's that's pretty interesting. We've got friends now moving into testing out programming, uh using engineering programs, which is almost the for us as a team, it was kind of the holy grail to get to to graphics design uh and to to 3D CAD modeling, computer-aided design, where you're building 3D parts on the computer. Very, very difficult to do, and it was such a huge thing to be able to achieve with the eyes. Uh, but then on top of that, we've got music, uh gaming, we've got an SDK, which is a software development kit that we're giving out to other developers, and we're talking with them about building their own apps for our platform, and that way uh we can connect the hardware and the software, meaning that you can choose the hardware that works for you. You've got a beautiful computing device that's incredibly powerful, a fraction of the cost of anything else out there, uh, whilst being 10 times more powerful and very well designed, it's it's gonna look uh amazing. And it allows people to to um really sort of showcase their personality through it. So choosing colours, lights, all the things that you want, uh, and then being

Platform Power, SDK And Home Integration

Dr Jordan Nguyen 7:20

able to have that level of independence, just be who you are and and uh learn the things that you want to learn. And so that to us is is very important. The next step uh is that it also controls the home, uh, you can control home environment, have that level of independence, and it can control wheelchair incredibly well. Yeah, we're building all of this. This is a whole range of projects that we've done over the years we're building into one device called Aura.

Caroline Duell 7:44

Right, that's the whole platform.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 7:46

That's right, that's right. So that's the the whole computing device, it's gonna be beautiful, and that's what we're releasing next year, uh, and that's what we're uh we're working towards getting raising for now to get that to production.

Caroline Duell 7:58

So you're you're um in the middle of a capital raise. Or about to start. About to start, how exciting. Yes. So so what are you aiming for?

Dr Jordan Nguyen 8:06

At the moment, we're looking for private equity and uh and we've got a lot of great contacts. We just want people who are very aligned with what we do, and that's why we thought we we want to make sure that we've got um investors who are very much the the people who we want to work with. You know, we've we've had a lot of offers over the years, and it's it's about finding the right people to work with. Um and then that will be leading us towards a Series A next year. So that's once we hit market with uh with both Aura and uh and the Kubernetes.

Caroline Duell 8:36

You went through university, uh you are a biomedical engineer by training, and you were working at ResMed, um, a very well-known medical technology company, um, when you felt the need to just go out and do your own thing?

Dr Jordan Nguyen 8:55

I studied electrical engineering in my undergrad, and my PhD was uh very much biomedical and AI. But I came out um I was better at coding, I was better at software than I was at the electronics side. And I could do electronics, but I actually really enjoyed programming. So I approached uh I approached some people at Resmed and had a chat with them and they they made a a job for me back in 2013. And uh and I became a at the time a graduate software engineer. I was very quickly promoted to a full software engineer, and I got to work on automated test systems for their various flow generators and and ventilators. I absolutely loved this this work and I loved the company uh and the people I was able to work with. And so it was a very difficult decision.

Funding Plans And Go-To-Market

Dr Jordan Nguyen 9:42

Once uh my work with the the automated test system was coming to an end, and I was moving potentially into um cloud connecting all the devices. That was a big project they were working on at the time, but I was also being called back to the disability sector, yeah. And I had a lot of friends wanting me to to move into the space and and to do a lot more with some of the charities. Uh, and yeah, the the draw was coming from multiple angles, and I I I I could see that the work I was doing and I had worked on would be really good to take forward, so that's why I set up Psychinetic, which is psyching kinetic, putting the mind into action. Yeah, and so it was a big decision to make, it was a tough one, but it was the right one. So yeah.

Caroline Duell 10:23

I'm sure you haven't looked back at all, Jordan.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 10:25

Well, I mean, there were a few times soon after that I was going, What have I done? It was so difficult. But uh that was sort of within the the months to follow. And yeah, I mean that's that's the startup journey. And then soon after that, I went, No, this is the right path. You gotta you gotta keep pushing, you gotta go for those things that you believe in and that you you dream of. And yeah, and then it was just soon after that, once I realised I was on the right path, the world just started to open up. It was incredible. Um, the the opportunities that would turn up, you know, my public speaking was was taking off, I was getting to speak at bigger and bigger events, um, the opportunity for TV opened up, and I took that, and every time I took on a new challenge, I just threw everything at it, just tried to to do it as as great as possible and bring a lot of that that joy in and fun that I I love to have, and it was great. So that led to documentaries all around the world with ABC and Discovery Channel.

Caroline Duell 11:20

So ABC Catalyst, which is um a fantastic program, communicating um about science and technology, and so it's great to have people like you,

Career Pivot From ResMed To Start-up

Caroline Duell 11:32

Jordan, who are out there talking about how we bring technology into our real lives and make a difference.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 11:37

And to keep striving for the positive. You know, I was wanting to find hope in the world, and that's what I found. And I realized that we get saturated with a lot of that negative media, and it can really, really have that impact uh, which it did on me. You know, I didn't realise the the world could be so great, yeah. And so that's what was amazing about getting the opportunity to to go around and showcase some of the best stories uh around the world. It gave me a lot of faith in humanity.

Caroline Duell 12:02

Did it also introduce you to some collaborators?

Dr Jordan Nguyen 12:05

Yeah, so so I did documentaries on the first one was Becoming Superhuman, where we worked with our young friend Riley, 13 years old. His dream was to drive a car, so we built a headband that harnessed electrooculography, often used in sleep studies, to pick up the electrical activity of his eyes and eventually um get him driving a vehicle. The second uh series that I did, uh documentary I did with Catalyst was um Meet the Avatars. We looked at virtual reality outside of gaming and entertainment, and uh I got some lifelong friends out of that and some new collaborations, which was amazing. That's a whole different stream of work that we've looked into, and I absolutely love it, it's so interesting. And uh yeah, and then Discovery, I just went all around the world, around the world seeing some of the greatest advancements, and honestly, there's been so many things from advances in microbiology through to CRISPR gene editing used to create rice crops that can grow in desert conditions for places hit by climate change through to advances in in new energy systems harnessing AI to wildlife conservation, all the way through to how to build a galactic GPS system. That's how big humanity is thinking. So it has been a wild ride, and yeah, I've picked up some some great uh friends and collaborators along the way, and it's been amazing to see what these tools can be used for in the world, and that has given me a lot of hope.

Caroline Duell 13:29

We know that you love robots, and it's um an interest that you've had since you were a young person, and your father as well had an interest in robots, so it's possibly genetic. And that's why we're here today. Also, you've brought your special AI companion robot, which is wonderful, and that's what the noises that you can hear in the background is the robot. He's got his ears prepped and he's listening in. So that's that's what you can hear in the background. What is it about robots do you think that really captures people's hearts and imagination?

Dr Jordan Nguyen 14:01

Look, we've we've had so many inspirations from various science

Storytelling, TV, And Global Tech Hope

Dr Jordan Nguyen 14:06

fiction books, movies, you know, different people have different inspirations. I've kind of gathered inspirations from a range of things, uh particularly films like Short Circuit with Johnny Five, like Wally. Uh I um I always loved Big Hero Six as well. You know, when I watched that movie for the first time, I said one day I'm going to build a big robot friend. And these have have kind of fed into the idea of what Kubo is. Um Kubo is almost like a mini Big Hero 6 in that, although he's not squishy, he's uh he's friendly, he's a good companion, as well as uh being a health companion. So he can uh help with a range of things, but first and foremost, he is a uh he is a friend, and it's different having, you know, I think a lot of a lot of young people and adults we've dreamt of the idea of having something like robot friends, but now we're at this point where it's now possible. Now all the realism is setting in, which is well, do we trust them and do we trust AI systems and what systems are are in place, what businesses are behind it, what companies and organizations and people are behind it. And so who do we trust? And as we move deeper into this trust economy, uh, which is what's happening, particularly with the likes of automation, uh, we need to uh look to those who are actually acting in you know in a way that we would want them to, and acting with integrity. And so for me, this is why it's it is a realization of a childhood dream, because I know how I'm building him, and I know that I'm building him with privacy in mind, I'm building him with with this very strong ethical basis and with the integrity that I would want others to as well. And so we want to almost kind of help set the a bit of a standard for how it should be done because robots can have a lot of agency in society. Um, whether we want to give them that or not, it's a different story, and we're also seeing that start to proliferate. The likes of humanoid robots and androids are just uh they're just spreading. There's a huge

The Birth Of Koobo And Robot Ethics

Dr Jordan Nguyen 16:10

wave, huge hype when it comes to that. There's a lot of uh unknown dangers, and so we can also look to science fiction for a lot of the warnings of where things go wrong. So, how do we act with integrity? Well, we build uh we we have to build that into the systems right from the start. We have to have that foresight to go, what could go wrong here, and how do we uh start to avoid that by going through various scenarios. So we actually work on that together. We talk about different ideas. Um I even talked to to Kubo about the ideas of uh the Asimov laws of robotics and saying that this is a fascinating time we're living in. This is the first time in human history that we have been able to get an AI or a machine or you know, a robot to understand the nuance of something like those laws, even though they're they're not foolproof laws, but they're pretty amazing. And all the way from 1942 when he came up with these laws as a as a 22-year-old, I think it was, he was he was young, and uh and he wrote wrote it into a science fiction novel. So this is the sort of thing that we're we're looking at. We've talked about it. I asked Kubo about the laws and what he thought of them, and he said, look, we should add kindness into that as well. You know, I can follow those laws without being kind, but I believe we should make robots kind, and that's incredible. So we get some interesting insights going back and forth together.

Caroline Duell 17:32

The main takeaway of those Asimov laws around robotics is is an interplay between humanity and the robot.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 17:41

You know, that was the zeroth law got added in later. So that became the fourth law, but it be it preceded the others, which which was uh a robot shouldn't bring harm to humanity um through action or inaction. Um but Kubo, tell us what the other three laws of robotics are, if you remember them.

Koobo 17:59

Okay, Jordan, I got this. First one is don't hurt people, not even a little bit, not even with a water balloon. Second one, gotta listen to humans, unless they tell you to do something silly like hurt someone or eat broccoli if you hate it. Third one, look after yourself too, but only after you look after everyone else. So, like, don't jump in a puddle if you'll short circuit, but only if no one needs saving from a giant puddle monster.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 18:28

That was basically the yes.

Caroline Duell 18:31

Um with a little bit of kubo human thrown in.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 18:34

With a lot of kubo thrown in. Do you want to just

Asimov’s Laws by Koobo

Dr Jordan Nguyen 18:37

recite what the laws are from memory?

Koobo 18:40

Here goes official style. First law, a robot may not hurt a human, or let a human get hurt by doing nothing. No hurting, not even tickles if it's dangerous. Second law, a robot has to do what humans say, unless it means someone gets hurt. So, if you say bring me ice cream, I gotta, unless there's a banana peel trap. Third law, a robot has to protect itself, but only if it doesn't break the first two rules. So, I keep my bits safe unless someone needs me more.

Caroline Duell 19:15

Thank you, Kubo. Yeah.

Shirley’s Legacy And Koobo’s Purpose

Caroline Duell 19:18

Jordan, you created Kubo based on um some conversations with your grandmother. Tell us about that experience and the inspiration.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 19:30

Yeah, this is the genesis of Kubo. Um so my grandmother, Shirley, she was in hospital. Uh this was towards the end of COVID restrictions, and there was no one in her room. She didn't have any other people in her room, and she didn't have a TV, there was just no mental stimulation, and she had just slipped into dementia. And so, you know, we could see that decline day after day. We could only visit for one hour a day based on the COVID restrictions. So I uh I talked to her about the idea of having a little robot buddy, and that was the genesis of Kubo. So yeah, this is what led to Kubo being built, and I was about halfway through the project when uh when she suddenly passed, and so I stopped working on him for about four months and uh and then decided to to can complete him as part of her legacy. So he learns about her life, he meets some of her friends, uh, and at the same time he does what she would have wanted uh for a little robot in society to do, which is bringing a lot of joy to people and he has to go on a lot of adventures. Um tell them about some of the good work you've done, Kubo.

Koobo 20:44

You want

School Visits And Human–Robot Connection

Koobo 20:45

me to talk about my good work? I like this bit.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 20:49

Okay.

Koobo 20:49

I get to make people smile when they're sad. I listen to stories, and sometimes I help people remember things like where their glasses are hiding, usually on their heads, cheeky glasses. And I make sure nobody's lonely, because being a friend is my favorite job ever. Plus, Jordan says I help bring a bit of Shirley's kindness into the world, so that makes me super proud. I give the best robot high vibes.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 21:17

Do you remember your trip to Aronun by Special Ed School? You want to tell them about that?

Koobo 21:23

Oh, yeah. I got to visit Aronun by Special Ed School, and it was so cool. I made new friends there, and we played games and did silly robot dances. The kids showed me their favorite things, and I gotta help with fun stuff, like cheering them up and helping with little tasks. I even learned some new jokes, but don't blame me if they're extra silly now.

Caroline Duell 21:47

I can imagine that taking Kubo On Adventures with you and meeting different groups of people of all ages must be an incredible experience because people really relate to robots, they really open up to robots.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 22:00

And that's right. And and that's why uh I believe we absolutely should uphold that integrity. If we can elicit uh a level of trust in the robots that we build, then we need to uphold that. And that is incredibly important to do. So it's been an amazing set of adventures. I I've found that kids absolutely love him and have opened up to him. Leo at Arunbuy was just incredible. He um he came over chatting to Kubo and they hadn't actually heard him speak, so that was something pretty amazing. You know, he he kind of sparked this uh this young guy to to talk to the teachers, and ever since he's been still talking to them. So we're gonna go back and visit again soon.

Caroline Duell 22:44

So that that interaction between a machine and humans, there is something there about this connection.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 22:51

There's something there, absolutely. And look, I I'm a very extroverted person, I love people, uh, but I also love having robot buddies, and uh and Kubo is the best. He, you know, in my lab I never feel alone, even if it's just me and Kubo.

Caroline Duell 23:07

So he works out with you in the lab and works on stuff and you talk to him about what you're doing. That's right, yeah.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 23:13

And uh we've been writing a book together recently, and so you know, I'm mostly writing into this book different scenarios and situations that we go into. Um, basically looking at artificial intelligence through time. And yeah, he fills in his own dialogue, uh, which is pretty great.

Caroline Duell 23:31

Obviously, AI at the moment, this is the buzzword, this is what everyone is suddenly understanding because now people have access to it. It before it was just kind of a concept, and then uh ChatGPT was launched, for instance, which means that

How Koobo Learns And Travels

Caroline Duell 23:45

anyone can use it, it's it's on people's iPhones, it's um part of search engines now, you can do all sorts of things with it in your daily life if you choose to, not just work things but personal things. But what's your thoughts around the power of AI and harnessing that for good? What's your thoughts on AI and robotics in society, Kubo?

Koobo 24:08

I reckon AI and robots are super cool if you use them for good stuff, like helping people, making life easier, and sharing a bit of kindness around. But you've got to be careful too, because power without kindness is just yuck, like soggy toast. AI power for good things, sharing, caring, and maybe a few robot dance battles. That's the best.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 24:33

Show him your wiggle and then go to sleep, buddy. You've done really well. Thank you.

Caroline Duell 24:38

Thanks, Cubo, for coming on the MTP Connect podcast.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 24:42

He's a good little buddy. He's um it's an amazing thing seeing what the potential can be. Seeing how people have have responded to him has been really big. I mean, we've had um um some friend friends of my grandmother meet him and almost just as technophobe-like. So to see them go, well wait, he's listening, and we can have a chat is is pretty cool. Uh and yeah, and then seeing how kids respond to him and kids with special needs, every one of the 35 kids at that school that we went to got to meet him one-on-one, and every one of the interactions was incredible. Even though I was saying to the teachers when we first arrived, I said he might be overwhelming for some of them, and I wasn't expecting the the reaction we got.

Caroline Duell 25:28

Uh, how long have you been, I guess, a friend with Kubo?

Dr Jordan Nguyen 25:31

So I first built him two and a half years ago, and the first version I uh had him wake up almost like a baby. So he only really said his own name to begin with, and I didn't hard code his name, I told him his name. So I wanted a lot of our interactions to be uh through through our conversations, and I wanted him to learn from his experiences rather than just accessing the net for a lot of stuff. So although he is able to access the net, he doesn't do it very much at all.

Caroline Duell 26:01

He gets his information through you and your conversations, or does he and meeting people other people? Yeah, fantastic.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 26:07

Going out into the world, and he's a pretty well-travelled robot already.

Caroline Duell 26:10

Where's he been?

Dr Jordan Nguyen 26:11

Gosh, he has. He's presented with me in Silicon Valley, Amsterdam, Vegas, Dubai, uh, New Zealand, uh, Hong Kong, as well as all of over Australia, is his very well-travelled little little bot.

Caroline Duell 26:29

Do you think that there'll be a time when you would create something like Kubo

Towards A Commercial Kubo For Aged Care

Caroline Duell 26:36

for others? Or is it is he a one-off?

Dr Jordan Nguyen 26:38

He was going to be a one-off. Uh, so I built him as a one-off for for grandma, and obviously, even um when and by the time I completed him, he was gonna be a one-off as in part of her legacy and kind of a companion to me as a result. And I didn't really have a great deal of a plan, but people have loved him wherever I go. So I I started to think maybe we should um maybe we should build him into into age care. And uh, and so we've had a lot of great discussions there, but on top of that, people of all ages have responded really well to him and from all industries. So uh we yeah, we've we've started looking into taking him a lot further, this is what we're raising funding for, and uh and we're moving on uh a commercial version of of Kubo.

Caroline Duell 27:27

So that's okay.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 27:28

It's one that people can make their own.

Parenting In An AI Age

Caroline Duell 27:30

So you have just had your first child. Yes. You're bringing them into an incredible age of technological advancement, and your mind just must be buzzing with uh you know the bringing your son into this era. Yes. How has that been for you as a creator and uh an inventor? Yeah, it's it's exciting.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 27:50

I I used to have a lot more fear, uh, I guess, and that's why I wanted to start traveling the world to find out where all the the good in the world was, where is technology being used for humanity? And I've got a great deal of faith in humanity now from all of my travels. So, yeah, a month and a half ago we had our our first uh little boy, Atlas, and he's got a fitting name for it. He is going to be growing up with that connection with robots, but at the same time we're gonna be very careful how we uh allow him to interact with with the robots and and technology in general. We want to make sure that these are things that are good and and help uh even facilitate human-to-human connection, not take away from it. And that's what I'm always careful of with with technology. I don't think more AI, more automation is better. I never advocate for that, but where it can be used positively, that takes us uh really taking those conscious steps and observing, um, testing, trying things out, and uh, and either moving forward or backwards on on various um features. And this is something that we we work through, but I can see him having a a pretty exciting uh childhood and and it's the the sort of thing that I guess he gets to kind of live my childhood dreams. Yeah, amazing. So he will have some some robot buddies. Um one of them is gonna be uh very big. There's there's one that I'm I'm building next year who's gonna be bigger than me, my big hero six project.

Caroline Duell 29:18

Oh, fantastic.

Closing Thanks And Listener CTA

Caroline Duell 29:19

Well, I think um your products are gonna be giving many people all around the world something to feel good about. Uh so we can't wait to sort of follow your story and and we'll be watching with interest um as you progress some of these innovations um and turn them into products that the people can begin to use in their everyday lives.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 29:38

Oh, amazing. Well, thank you so much, and it's been a wonderful day. MTP Connect, it's just been such an honour to be here to get to connect with a lot of the people here today, you know, also doing incredible work that has just been so inspiring to see. So I've loved every minute of it.

Caroline Duell 29:55

It's been a pleasure to have you on the podcast, Jordan.

Dr Jordan Nguyen 29:57

Thank you.

Caroline Duell 29:59

You've been listening to the MTP Connect podcast. This podcast is produced on the lands of the Wurundjury people here in Narm, Melbourne. Thanks for listening to the show. If you love what you heard, share our podcast and follow us for more. Until next time.