Hello Robot CEO and co-founder Aaron Edsinger will demo Stretch 4 live on the Real World AI Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. The session is titled "Come, Meet Stretch. The Robot Built for Real Life, Not a Demo Reel." It moves physical AI out of the lab and puts it to work next to people, with usefulness, safety and accessibility driving the design.
Stretch 4 launched in May, and its first production run had sold out by June. Much of the industry is focused on humanoid robots , but Hello Robot chose a compact wheeled design with one telescoping arm. The robot is small enough for spaces designed for people, and it has the sensors, perception and contact sensitivity it needs to work safely around them.
Users with severe mobility impairments use Stretch to feed themselves, close blinds and scratch an itch. TechCrunch profiled a user with quadriplegia who has used the robot to drink a protein shake, handle his glasses and brush his teeth. Hello Robot treats this kind of everyday usefulness as the real measure of progress, not polished demo videos.
Edsinger founded Meka Robotics and Redwood Robotics, which Google acquired in 2013. He then served as Google's robotics director, where he helped shape the company's robotics strategy. His expertise covers almost the whole robot design stack, from human-robot interaction and UX to manufacturing and real-time control.
Hello Robot says six years of customer feedback shaped Stretch 4. The robot ships with a full-stack, open source software platform for researchers and developers working on robotics and embodied AI . Disrupt takes place October 13–15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, with more than 10,000 attendees and 200+ sessions expected.