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Cisco and iRobot Create Sheldonbot-Like Telepresence System
sweetpea86 writes "Cisco has teamed up with robotics firm iRobot to create their own enterprise version of the 'Sheldonbot' from US comedy series The Big Bang Theory. The robot, known as Ava 500, brings together iRobot's autonomous navigation with Cisco's TelePresence system to enable a remote worker sitting in front of a video collaboration system to meet with colleagues in an office setting or take part in a facility tour."
The robot, known as Ava 500, brings together iRobot's autonomous navigation with Cisco's TelePresence system to enable a remote worker sitting in front of a video collaboration system to meet with colleagues in an office setting or take part in a facility tour."
You could take a facility tour or do a video conference with someone holding a smartphone for a LOT less money.
There are excellent uses for telerobotic systems. This is not one of them. This is a solution looking for a problem.
Ahh... I'm not sure I see the benefit, physical interactivity is still at a minimum, and cost would be higher. What will this do for a meeting that a regular video conference can't? Shake hands -? A tour can be done with a wireless webcam.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
It needs a robot arm. So that I can buy my Mountain Dew and Hot Pockets at the grocery store without ever leaving my house.
sudo make me a sandwich
I disagree with you on all those counts, but I'd suspect most males between 15 and 50 watch the show primarily because of Penny.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
Didn't Wally do this in Dilbert a while back?
Sounds like an idea which most people will wonder why they're doing it.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
So, while I'm trying to talk to the person on the other end of the robot, it will be either picking a random direction to go, spinning in ever widening circles, or running into a wall?
Sheldonbot is a Texai Remote Presence System from Willow Garage, so recreating Sheldonbot is just copying some other company's product.
I thought it was Shelbot, not Sheldonbot!
I have a Scooba (Roomba for mopping). If its ability to navigate is an example of the "Autonomous Navigation" described in the summary...well, it's not particularly reassuring about the future of telepresence.
Take it to the limit, everybody to the limit, come on, everybody fhqwhgads.
Trendsetting even at home.
I wonder if Cisco's costs less than $15,000... hahaha, who am I kidding? It's probably 100k easy.
I have always prefered Bernadette myself, She just has curves in the right places.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
... that way I can hire somebody from India to clean my house, mow the yard, do dishes, and laundry remotely over the internet. At an estimated 70K for this one, I don't think that's going to work out for me anytime soon.
...if I used one at work, no one would notice (until something broke).
Your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
If you can't find a use for this, I suggest you try a bit harder. In my humble opinion, these are awesome. But you probably want one that you can develop for yourself, and add external devices such as cameras or other sensors. Here's one example of a mobile video conference unit that has found good use in health care. http://www.giraff.org/?lang=en
Oh lord, I can hear it now. "They don't even have to immigrate anymore to take our jobs!"
Everything is better with chainsaws.
You must be just a miserable person.
Here is a little tip for life, being overly critical of everything isn't proof that you are smart or know what you are talking about.
I like the show, however sometimes I feel they go too far to try to portate the stereotype of the geek, but once you realise that, just let it slide and enjoy the show. You probably won't get a life awakening moments in it, but get a few chuckles out of it.
It is probably the best show around that express Geek type culture out there without it, being overly negative about it. These guys do find Girls, they do work past some of their personality flaws. They are shown as Humans, not as some sort of freaks. Is it perfect, no. But I wouldn't expect it to be, otherwise it wouldn't appeal to much of an audience.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
They're billing this as a shared resource. You're still going to need someone to change the t-shirt.
There have been quite a few of these things. MantaRobot, Vgo, Anybot, and Texai/Suitable, all have commercial, mobile, telepresence robots available now. They all shove a videophone in someone's face.
Vgo probably has the best use case. They sell it to medical facilities, so doctors don't have to move around as much. This is an indication of the market. Telepresence only works if the person operating the device is someone the listeners have to suck up to.
This would be a great tool. When I worked onsite and needed a key person's time, I followed the time honored tradition of camping out in their cube until my questions were answered. Working offsite I just get their voice mail. If I could jump into one of these, I could corner people the same way.
Extreme virginity detected. Solution: User alphatel must speak to people outside of internet forums and small circle of equally angry geek friends.
Wasn't this in demolition man? I vaguely recall wesley snipes destroying a bunch of robots with human faces having a meeting.
1. immediately proceed to the bathroom, become known as "that bathroom robot that slowly sings 'bad romance' by lady gaga all day long"
2. have conversation with boss in which you slowly inch further away from her until you're nearly down the hallway.
3. only one speed: bat-out-of-hell fast. insist a racing stripe, cubicle nametag change to 'the crimson terror'
4. stand near vending machines, stare forcefully into coworkers eyes.
5. "Leave" work at the end of the day, exit parking lot, local intersection, merge onto freeway.
4. attend meetings, take your place at the table, begin slowly rotating around and around. do not stop until the meeting ends.
3. telepresence camera can and will be pointed at anything. this becomes a known fact as your attendance on tuedays is now referred to as 'that electric bellybutton on wheels'
2. once per day, fly out the door, race through the parking lot and directly into the quarter panel of the most expensive car you find. insist this is a bug.
1. show up to work, insist the use of the telepresence robot during all interaction. refuse any requests that do not utilize it.
Good people go to bed earlier.
They made a movie about this...
Marissa needs to get one of these for checking up on all those staff that aren't allowed telework.
Bazongas...
Not really, Penny is getting pretty fat. There are other shows with much more attractive ladies to look at.
yeah but if you're a really pathetic "nerd"(hipster white knight) then you must watch shows which aren't about boobs to watch boobs.
AANYHOW.. Back to the fucking story. why are we having a story about another one of these? https://www.google.com/search?q=telepresence+robot&num=30&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=fi&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&authuser=0&biw=1472&bih=815
like fuck, did someone really think that the shows writers came up with the idea??
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
She's not short, she's fun sized!
"Cisco hasn't done anything innovative for a long time"
Because a person carrying around a phones time is free.
I can pay someone to carry around a phone for a LOOOOONG time before I could justify paying for a robot to do the same thing. The accounting is pretty easy here. Multi-thousand dollar robot + service staff or cheap intern + smartphone. Not exactly a tough call to make if you care about not wasting money.
Sea kelp.
It needs a robot arm. So that I can buy my Mountain Dew and Hot Pockets at the grocery store without ever leaving my house.
There is a neat invention for that that already exists. It's called a friend. Try one out sometime.
(I kid, I kid...)
If you combined it with Oculus Rift that could potentially save a lot of travel time.
You must be a bundle of joy for the people around you!
This is great, it will be good for about 3 months then the battery won't hold a charge. :-) Just like my two useless Roombas.
Now my inner voice when reading slashdot posts is Sheldon.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
We are getting closer to having our own Turrets from Portal?
Because I can totally live with my own version of Sheldonbot.
Cisco has teamed up with robotics firm iRobot to create their own enterprise version of the 'Sheldonbot' from US comedy series The Big Bang Theory.
Presence-bots were around long before Big Bang Theory made them hilarious. This just looks like a fancier version of the same with smoother curves and all the wires on the inside.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
You must be just a miserable person.
I disagree. My good friends Gordon Ramsey and Simon Cowell say I am quite fun and an "all-around cheery bloke"
Here is a little tip for life, being overly critical of everything isn't proof that you are smart or know what you are talking about. I like the show, however sometimes I feel they go too far to try to portate the stereotype of the geek, but once you realise that, just let it slide and enjoy the show.
Not to be "overly critical of everything" but you just had two typos.
You probably won't get a life awakening moments in it, but get a few chuckles out of it.
Neither happened. Perhaps this is the new way of the /. in which case I should use my robotic arm to shelve myself and permanently archive any dissension from something as important as "Sheldonbraut".
When the foot seeks the place of the head, the line is crossed. Know your place. Keep your place. Be a shoe.
They are shown as Humans, not as some sort of freaks.
They're caricatures. Sheldon is the mad scientist. Howard is the horny Jew. Raj is the fresh-off-the-boat immigrant. Penny is the airheaded waitress. Despite the trappings of geek culture, the show is actually a pretty formulaic sitcom with simple plots and low-brow jokes. (Raj can't speak to women, so he takes experimental medicine and takes off his pants. A man in tighty-whities is always good for laughs.) They could all be factory workers and the show would be pretty much the same.
That said, if you judge it according to what it is trying to be, it is in fact very well done and a good example of a formulaic sitcom.
...about stairs and elevators shafts?
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
It's a sitcom for people who enjoy laughing at stereotypes presented in that show.
It's like a show about Asian people where the punchline is "those crazy Asians - they're so funny when they're all Asian and stuff".
Or a show about black people where the punchline is "them crazy niggers - they're so funny when they're black and stuff".
Or a show about women where the punchline is "those crazy cunts - they're so funny when they're all cunty and stuff".
Cases above were inspired by a colleague's review of "Will & Grace".
It went something like "Do you watch Will and Grace? Those homos are so funny".
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
I have always prefered Bernadette myself, She just has curves in the right places.
Hidden well under her clothes is the "right place"? Most men would beg to differ. Admit it- you're turned on because her voice sounds like Howard's mother, and that gets you going.
Damn, I wish I'd looked at the front page when I was home at lunch instead of replying to messages in the /. message center; I can't log in here. But DUDE!!!
* Not funny
Not if you're not smart enough to understand the jokes.
Not brainy
The actress who plays Amy holds a PhD in neuroscience (note that she plays a neuroscientist). Nobel winning astrophysicist Dr. George Smoot guest starred in an episode; he's a fan. Hilarious line from Dr. Smoot: "With all due respects, Dr. Cooper, but are you on crack?" Stephen Hawking is a fan as well and guest starred twice (Sheldon's reaction when Hawking pointed out a math error Cooper had made had me rolling on the floor). Not brainy? WTF? Of course, my answer to #1 explains #2, for example in The Terminator Decoupling it begins with an electrical terminator but the episode is about them riding on a train with Summer Glau.
Not relevant
With all due respect, Dr. alphatel, but are you on crack? Not only has Dr. Smoot and Dr. Hawking guest starred, so has Buzz Aldrin (you know, the guy who went to the moon with Neil Armstrong?) and most of the casts of ST:OS and ST:NG, most of whom play themselves. Slashdotter Wil Wheaton (I'll point out that he's Wesley Crusher since I doubt you're a nerd) is a recurring guest. If you think it isn't relevant I'm wondering if maybe you're on the wrong site? I guess you think HHGTG is not funny, brainy, or relevant, either.
Sheesh, dumb kids.
mcgrew here, I'll log in tonight and verify my identity.
PS, the moderators got it wrong (unless Wheaton was moderating in which case "flamebait" was indeed accurate). Whoever modded you up doesn't belong here any more than you do.
Because she likes nerdy types? Anyway, that show is circling the drain. It's going down the well-trodden path of replacing the original concept with "who-fucks-whom", from sitcom to rel(ationship)com, so to speak.
BBT:Geeks::Al Jolson:Africans
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Thought this might have something to do with a Sheldon Plan, disappointed.
fine, give it a whole bunch of red currants.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Obviously you're going to get flame baited here, but those of us that enjoy art would agree. The show sucks. Can't watch it. Its the worst sitcom I've seen in years. It has the quality writing, acting and directing of a Disney Channel show.
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
The IT Crowd is probably the best show around that express Geek type culture out there without being overly negative about it.
FTFY
The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.
So he hates a show that other people like, that makes him miserable? Here's a tip for life, you have terrible taste.
Yes, that was me. If you want to respond, respond to this comment or I won't see it.
Free Martian Whores!
I like the show, however sometimes I feel they go too far to try to portate the stereotype of the geek
The four main characters, to me, are all caricatures of me when I was young. That makes it even funnier to me. Apparently to Buzz Aldrin, George Smoot, and Stephen Hawkins, all fans of the show who have appeared on it poking fun at themselves. The Buzz Aldrin one was hilarious; Howard had just returned from the ISS and wouldn't shut up about space until Bernadette gave him a video of Aldrin passing out Halloween candy. "Here's a Mars bar. Mars is in space. Here's a Milkey Way. Here's a moon pie. I've been on the moon!"
If you can't laugh at yourself you have no right to laugh at anyone else.
And they make fun of stupid jocks as much as they make fun of us, like when the four were measuring the distance to the moon by shooting a high powered laser at the mirror astronauts left there, and Penny's stupid boyfriend says "You're shooting a laser at the moon? Aren't you afraid you'll blow it up?"
That last paragraph you made was insightful.
Free Martian Whores!
As trolls go, you really suck at it, son. I just visited your comment page, nothing whatever there except trolling and flamebaiting and every single comment at -1. Moron.
How about you just get the fuck off this site, asshole? Why do you do that, just a pussy little cunt who'd like to do it in real life but don't have the guts?
Eat shit and die, loser.
Free Martian Whores!
Not to be "overly critical of everything" but you just had two typos.
Teh first typo was a normal geek letter transposition I illustrated in the first word of this sentence, the second wasn't a typo but rather British spelling. Both show that he wasn't using a spell checker which shows that he is, in fact, literate.
When you bash fans of that show you're bashing Buzz Aldrin, Stephen Hawking, Nobel-winning astrophysicist George Smoot, and the actor Wil Wheaton, all of whom have said publicly that they are fans.
If you don't think it's funny it's because you're not smart enough to understand the humor. In fact, my daughter bought the first two seasons on DVD for me saying "I know you'll like this, you'll get all the jokes."
Sorry for your lack of intelligence, son.
Free Martian Whores!
They could all be factory workers and the show would be pretty much the same.
A show about factory workers would have those factory workers shooting a high powered laser at the moon? Would a show about factory workers have Stephen Hawkings, George Smoot, Buzz Aldrin, and half the casts of STOS and STNG as guest stars? Would a show about factory workers have jokes about subatomic particle physics, astrophysics, and math? Would a show about factory workers have have a joke about someone flash freezing a banana with liquid nitrogen because they didn't have a knife?
I don't think so. A factory worker wouldn't get half the jokes, and the people I know IRL who don't think it's funny and don't like it are all uneducated high school dropouts.
Free Martian Whores!
Sorry the jokes on it go so far over your head, Bill. I will agree that the math joke on Sheldon's marker board is a bit long in the tooth, but it's funny if you haven't seen it before.
Free Martian Whores!
You're example of the show's wonderful humor is the line "With all due respects, Dr. Cooper, but are you on crack?" ? wow. That's a great one there... I'm sure you had to be there. ... OR ON CRACK*.
*See what i did there? Not funny at all.
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
I am pretty sure that Penny dubbed Sheldon's telepresence "Shelbot", as in in "What up Shelbot?" Something like that anyway.
A show about factory workers would have those factory workers shooting a high powered laser at the moon?
It may have a character jump over a shark, would that do?
and the people I know IRL who don't think it's funny and don't like it are all uneducated high school dropouts.
Correlation is not causation.
It's often not even correlation but a case of a cherry picked set.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
It may have a character jump over a shark, would that do?
Nope.
Correlation is not causation.
It's often not even correlation but a case of a cherry picked set.
True, but when there is correlation there are four possibles reasons for correlation:
1. A causes B
2. B causes A
3. C causes both A and B
4. Coincidence
Occam says A in this case. One can only come to conclusions with the data one has. Provide further data and I may change my conclusion, which is people who don't think it's funny only hear a loud WOOSH.
Free Martian Whores!
First of all, full disclosure. I am a Cisco Systems Telepresence Engineer and think this technology is to be blunt, incredibly awesome. That being said what I am about to say may be a bit sided. I can imagine lots of uses for this thing. Advanced versions could have robotic arms that enables a specialist Dr from anywhere in the world to Telejump from one side of the world to perform a life saving operation. A bomb tech could mess up more than once, (sorry I know their are already better devices for this, just needed some humor). A person could do a house tour from anywhere in the world remotely (assuming the house doesn't have stairs this bot can do a bit of stair nav, perhaps a real-estate version. One plant inspector could inspect multiple plants (chemical gas etc) without flying to remote locations. Highly advanced versions could allow a key resource to work multiple job sites and engage (or even this version) in planning and interactive meetings from a corporate location.
Military families could "Telejump" home to read their kids a night time story, (people on ships submarines, or anywhere with a decent connection) (when the cost comes down). Imagine a smaller home model you could log into and use to check up on your "pet" and make sure you turned off the gas stove before you went to work, and imagine a robotic arm attached that would enable you to do it with relative ease from a smart phone. Now imagine you have no legs and can't reach things high up and you have no one to help you. This could literally be the difference between living alone and feeling self sufficient or being stuck in a home. Even if it means a remote friend could check up on you (hospice or some other). Imagine being able to get one of these for your parents so the next time they ask you a computer problem you can telejump over to their house a thousand miles away and explain to them that the reason their laptop isn't working might have something to do with the power cable being unplugged and the batteries being drained. I can think of infinite uses for one of these things, just has to start with the big companies with the vision and the need (and of course the capitol). As technologies improve who knows what these could do.
And finally,
I'm sure the military has already specked these robots for weapons and aligned the TP cameras to gun sites, thus,
We can remotely fight the coming zombie apocalypse, and don't forget Dalaks, never forget those silly Dalaks. :)
A show about factor workers would have those factory workers performing different hijinks at work. There would be different guest stars, but there'd still be guest stars. Different ingredients, same formula. And if you pay attention, many of the jokes only use science references as window dressing, when the real punchline is often something like Raj's inadvertent gay innuendo.
The Big Bang Theory is one of the highest rated shows. It is not a niche show that only appeals to intellectuals because of its sophisticated humor. It is a mass-market show that tries harder than you realize to appeal to a broad base.
It is a mass-market show that tries harder than you realize to appeal to a broad base.
Well, of course it is. But a show about factory workers would have jokes that might go over my head, and they'd have somebody like Donald Trump or Jeffworthy guest starring (in the case of Foxworthy, probably just starring).
There's a certain "formula" that any story has to follow, whether comedy, drama, TV show, movie, or book. Deviate from that too much and your story will suck, as I discovered when turning the nobot stories into a book; there was no continuity.
Free Martian Whores!
BBT: nerds
My Name Is Earl: Rednecks.
BBT: Portrays nerds as highly intelligent and educated, hard working guys who are a bit assburgerish
MNIE: Portrays rednecks as stupid, theiving punks.
Yet all the rednecks I know love MMIE. Most of the nerds here love BBT. Not funny? WOOSH!
They're not over my head, they're just not funny. The level of intelligence required to understand the premise of a joke is in no way corrilated to the humor. It just provides cover and a sense of eliteness for people who don't understand commedy to say "It must go over your head".
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
It may have a character jump over a shark, would that do?
Nope.
You kinda missed the point there. It's called a stunt.
You know... basing the episode around an act intended to catch you attention instead of on actual story or plot. Or humor.
Occam says A in this case.
Actually, Occam says it's what I mentioned above - cherry picking. Also, confirmation bias.
I'm gonna make a wild guess and assume that your "the people I know IRL who don't think it's funny and don't like it are all uneducated high school dropouts" is a rather limited set.
Also, that you did no actual statistical analysis on the subject NOR actual inquiry into WHY those and other people find it not funny.
In other words, all your "conclusions" are actually based on time honored theory of "I like this, this is great, those who don't like it are stupid".
On the other hand, there are vast numbers of sources pointing out that many of people who don't find TBBT funny or likeable ARE quite intelligent and that they get the intended joke - only they find it not funny at best and cringe worthy at other times.
http://bigbangmistakes.tumblr.com/whydoesitsuck
http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9112031
http://www.spectrecollie.com/archives/2013/01/my-problem-with-the-big-bang-theory
http://butmyopinionisright.tumblr.com/post/31079561065/the-problem-with-the-big-bang-theory
BTW, have you noticed just how much of it's humor is based on a) pop culture references, b) catch phrases and c) laugh track?
Neither of which is humor.
One is basic recognition (which presses some of the same buttons in your brain as "getting a joke") and the other two are borderline Pavlovian prods to try to incite laughter.
"LAUGH MONKEY BOY! LAUGH! BEJEZUZ! ZIMBABWE! BLOOBLOOBLUBLU! LISTEN TO THESE PEOPLE LAUGHING! IT IS SOOOO FUNNY! LAAAAUGH!"
While we're on the subject of pop culture references...
American Dad and Family Guy for instance do A LOT of the "pop culture instead of humor" thing.
Basically, all of its humor is in those bits that have no connection to the story otherwise.
Not sure about the older episodes but relatively recent seasons of The Simpsons are doing the same thing.
Except instead of cutting away to completely unrelated characters it's one of the usual clowns (Homer, Wiggum Sr. or Jr. etc.) that does the "IT'S FUNNY! LAUGH!" bit.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens