Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Cisco and iRobot Create Sheldonbot-Like Telepresence System

Posted by samzenpus on from the say-hello-to-my-electronic-friend dept.

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."

1 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. Many other telepresence robots. by Animats · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.