Will Personal Robot Avatars Replace Your Assistants?
Posted on Tue, Mar 01, 2011
Have you ever thought of creating a robot to represent yourself at work, things would get done much faster, right? You could check on your staff, inventory and even your customers when your assistants are too busy. There are tons of video conferencing options out there, but none allow you to creep around the office when you’re present or on vacation. I’ve collected some info on a bunch of robots that companies have created to become your personal avatars:
VGo
The VGo is a two-way audio/video mobile communication for applications in enterprise, manufacturing, education and healthcare. With VGo, a person is completely independent of the people in the remote location. You don’t make a call – you just go there – your presence is established remotely via VGo’s physical presence. CNN did a story on a high school student named Lyndon Baty, whose compromised immune system co
mpels him to be homebound from school. Lyndon uses a VGo that is located in his school which allows him to go classroom to classroom, enables him to take pictures of the chalkboard and respond to his teacher. You need nothing more than a laptop and webcam at home.
CoWorker
The CoWorker who is developed by iRobot, works as the office robot. The 3 feet high robot uses sonar sensor to avoid crashing and bumping. The actual function of this robot in the office is used for video conference with internet capability. The CoWorker is also used in other areas like military applications.
Giraffe
The Giraffe is a remote-controlled mobile video conferencing platform that enables people who are far away to communicate face to face. You can use a robotic stand-in to talk to people by seeing the far-side person's face on the robot's display, so you'll pick up on all their facial expressions just as if you were there in person.
TiLR
The robot TiLR The Telepresence internet-connected Low cost Robot (TiLR) is the world's first commercial Telepresence Robot. It can be controlled from anywhere with a laptop or 4G mobile phone.
Anybots QB
Anybots QB has a 5-megapixel camera paired with an LCD display, and can trundle at up to 3.5mph around your office allowing staff working remotely to virtually attend and interact with those on-site. Connecting via Wi-Fi, you can control the live video feed from your computer in a web browser, using a headset and screen. The Anybot has a battery good for up to eight hours use.
RP-7
Using the RP-7 through a single interface, physicians can extend their presence across the entire healthcare delivery continuum - from primary and outpatient care, to acute care, rehabilitation and long-term care. The RP-7 is the first and only FDA-cleared Remote Presence devices, which allow direct connection to Class II medical devices, such as electronic stethoscopes, otoscopes and ultrasound.
Texai
Willow Garage designed the Texai for remote presence, leveraging the open source ROS framework as well as commercially available video-conferencing software. The Texai (TA version) is made of off-the-shelf components.
Telenoid R1
Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University created the Telenoid R1, designed to be a "minimalistic human" representing and transferring a humanlike presence. Telenoid users can interact with people at a distance through a laptop. It's meant to appear neither male nor female, young nor old. It has an abbreviated torso and arms, but can wiggle around to a limited extent while on its stand.
Author: Julie Bertok