Copying nature to innovate better: the power of mimicry

Humans demonstrate a unique ability to quickly form cooperative bonds with each other, even with strangers. However, humans are not the only animals that cooperate in large groups. Cleaner wrasse, a type of fish found in coral reefs, cooperate with their “client” fish by eating their parasites. In experiments where humans play games that simulate the work of cleaner fishes, we see that language, a trait unique to humans, may play a much greater role in cooperation than anticipated!

Have you ever wondered if you’re capable of feeling empathy for other living creatures? For example, when you think your dog is happy because he wags his tail when he sees you, or that your cat feels good when you pet him? When you feel sad at the sight of a dead animal on the side of the road or when you’re moved by the stories of fox families told in documentaries ? Are you truly able to understand their feelings and their way of life? Or are you simply imposing your own human perspectives on them, perhaps those that suit you best ?
These questions have guided my doctoral journey. With the collaboration of a forest school, I explore the possibility of a form of empathy by children towards other species (animals, insects, plants), known as ‘interspecific empathy’ in the anthropoligical jargon. I may not have all the answers yet, but let’s keep this in mind: empathy, although it’s a widely accepted concept, can be tricky, political and instumentalised, and exploring this concept between children and other species lead us far beyond the bright side of empathy, opening the door to all sort of behaviors of children that may turn out to be far less compassionate.

What happens when a robotics researcher leaves the lab and enters the kitchen? In this talk, I’ll share my journey from academic research to founding Maus Robotics, a Basel-based startup building autonomous food preparation machines. Starting from our early experiments in the lab, I’ll show how we turned a fascination with robotic manipulation into a crêpe-making robot that produces a fresh crêpe from raw ingredients in 90 seconds. Along the way, I’ll talk about the challenges of bridging the gap between a research prototype and a real product — from engineering reliability to navigating the Swiss startup ecosystem. Whether you’re curious about robotics, food tech, or what it actually takes to go from PhD to founder, come grab a pint and find out.