[video] Just how sad are Apple iPad users......to think of this....

[mattx]

http://www.doublerobotics.com/

[SYNACK]

Oh, I need to throw up a little, If I get stopped by an iPad robot in the street I'm going Del Spooner on it with a baseball bat.

[jinnantonnixx]

How absurd. If I saw that trundling down the corridor I'd lock it in a cupboard.

[AMLinington]

I'll probably be flamed for it but I think that's AWESOME. If a little creepy... Also, it looks a bit silly...

 

It's a brilliant concept but:

 

1) The people in the video live in an elegant and respectful world where people don't steal, break or vandalise things. Evidently.

2) The people in the video work in very understaffed companies with a MASSIVE floor-area-to-employee ratio, no crowded desks or cluttered floor area... I mean REALLY who has meetings on sofas?

3) The Double can't do stairs or call lifts. Although it can ride in lifts if someone accompanies it.

 

I think it's a brilliant concept, but it puts me in mind of that dodgy Bruce Willis movie Surrogates (which I secretly really enjoyed) where people live their lives behind closed doors interacting with the world via robots...

Edited August 24, 2012 by AMLinington

[jinnantonnixx]

It's probably a solution. But to what problem?

[SYNACK]

2) ...I mean REALLY who has meetings on sofas?

 

Um, me usually when I am at work at the same time that my boss is I am about to leave and sleep so I lax out on the couch in their office while I spout whatever report I need to in a semiconscious/semi coherent form before pledging to send it as an email that makes sense and going home

 

 

I know that I am the minority though

Edited August 24, 2012 by SYNACK

[jon_Walsh]

Makes me think of this!

[Arthur]

It's probably a solution. But to what problem?

The problem is that telepresence systems do not currently have wheels (as you can see in this clip from Demolition Man). Clearly a major issue that needs to be solved.

 

[localzuk]

I don't understand the concept at all. Why not just call the person they want to talk to?

[AMLinington]

The problem is that telepresence systems do not currently have wheels (as you can see in this clip from Demolition Man). Clearly a major issue that needs to be solved.

 

 

I wanted to +Rep you for quoting and vid-linking Demolition Man (I love that film) but wasn't able to

 

It just goes to show though that the IDEAS were around long before the technology was realistic. Now that it is, we laugh at it. 20 years ago an iPad on wheels would have been the corporate must-have. Actually, make that 30 years ago because I'm old and still think of the 90's when people say '10 years ago'. I still think it's an awesome idea. It's just a touch flawed and a bit idealistic in that it assumes people won't abuse or vandalise them. Having mobile teleconferencing is still pretty cool.

 

Since the Tupac hologram was apparently such a success, I anticipate star-wars-esque holo-conferencing within the next 5 years. By anticipate, I mean 'fantasise about'. Or perhaps thats just the lightsabres.... I need a life.

[Arthur]

The Revolve Robotics Kubi looks like a good (and significantly cheaper) alternative to Double's iPad Robot, although it appears that you have to manually move the camera around via a web-based app on a separate device.

 

Finally! A Telepresence ‘Robot’ That Won’t Break the Bank « Wired

 

Kubi is a motorized tablet stand that lets you look around the room during video-conferencing sessions. It can pan up to 300 degrees and has a tilt range of 90 degrees. The device’s spring-loaded “arms” pinch together to hold a tablet — just about any tablet — in portrait or landscape mode.

 

“We wanted to distill where the value is in a telepresence product,” Revolve Robotics founder Marcus Rosenthal told Wired. “We realized it’s the ability to look around the room and be present, not necessarily move from room to room.”

 

That’s key, because it’s the mobility that makes telepresence robots so expensive. By keeping Kubi stationary and letting you supply the tablet, Revolve Robotics kept the cost to $250. Compare that to the Anybots QB robot, which launched in 2010 with a $15,000 price tag. Suitable Technologies’ Beam telepresence solution is $16,000. Even the Double, one of the cheapest telepresence robots out there, will cost $2,500 when it goes on sale in 2013.

 

You operate Kubi remotely using a grid-based web interface. Revolve decided to use a web interface rather than a native app for the controls so that the device remains platform agnostic. You just tap around to adjust the tilt (on the Y-axis of the grid) or the angle of viewing (the X-axis). Kubi is Bluetooth 4.0 compatible, and the team plans to open up the API so developers can have some fun with it.

 

Revolve Robotics is looking for funding on Indiegogo to complete final mass production of Kubi.

 

http://youtu.be/XXCyYg9Tk4E&hd=1

 

http://i.imgur.com/2WMbh.jpg

[LiamH]

Makes me think of this!

 

That must be where they got the idea from, in that episode he did speak to Wozniak

 

The Big Bang Theory - Sheldon talking to Woz ! - YouTube

[Quackers]

I do not know why but when watching the video on there web site i could not stop giggling.

[Steven_Cleaver]

Could save schools a fortune 1 Teacher per department and some of these to replace the rest of the department

[TechMonkey]

I don't think it is a bad idea, just the website is a bit gushy, but which business site isn't these days. I think the only bad bit is that it is iPad centric. I always wonder if things like this had been released as an Android version first or an open source project what people would have said.

 

The use it instead of turning up to work slant is a bit rubbish, but the other ideas are quite good. I think they would do better to offer them as rentals instead of buying out right though, for a one off event or for a period. Could be quite cool to be able to look around a house 2nd hand before making the trek rather than rely on estate agents cunning photos. The idea of manufacturers offering them to clients to watch the manufacturing process could be helpful too.

[CyberNerd]

a better use

 

[LosOjos]

Haha, I wanted to try something similar, albeit sillier:

 

Using an R-Pi as the "brain" and an Android tablet as the remote, I wanted to try to make a remote controlled conferencing device inside an R2D2 model. It's have a camera and a mini short throw projector so you could see live where you were going on the Android screen, then project an image of yourself from your Android's camera via the mini projector.

 

I have no idea what problem mine would have solved, other than it'd be awesome, obviously!

[tmcd35]

http://www.doublerobotics.com/

 

I want one. Don't know why, but, I WANT ONE!