Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo He put up Transformer robots in his yard, drawing the ire of some Georgetown residents. Howard spoke with Insider about how the robots stand for curing Parkinson's with a brain chip. A viral neighborhood spat in the nation's capital over Transformers that drew scores of tourists to a secluded Georgetown street is actually not about irking the rich and powerful, according to the man behind the robots. Instead, it's about a billionaire cognitive scientist's efforts to "restore human dignity" to those suffering from diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's by perfecting a "brain-computer interface," Georgetown professor Newton Howard told Insider.