Travel in some parts of the world, or for some people, can be dangerous, but robots may soon change that. Yesterday former-NSA-contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden “walked” onto the TED stage in Vancouver via BEAM telepresence robot, while safely stationed out of the US government’s reach in Russia. It was the first time Snowden, who was granted temporary asylum by the Russian government last August, had “set foot” in North America since he was charged with espionage and theft of government property by the US government. Said Snowden from his onstage perch: “I can see everyone! This is amazing!” How will lawmakers respond?

Davide Scaramuzza leads the Robotics and Perception Group at the University of Zurich and is Adjunct Faculty at ETH Zurich.