Akara is a startup chosen for TIME magazine's 2025 Best Inventions list, dedicated to addressing the low efficiency and high costs of operating room coordination. CEO Conor McGinn explained that the company transitioned from cleaning robots to environmental artificial intelligence sensing systems, using thermal sensors to optimize operating room scheduling and turnover while avoiding privacy issues. The discussion emphasized that the main bottleneck in medical robotics technology often lies in the infrastructure rather than the robots themselves, and explored how the shortage of nursing staff accelerates the push towards hospital automation.