‘Double’ (YC S12) Turns the iPad Into a Telepresence Robot
bits.blogs.nytimes.com
bits.blogs.nytimes.com
It was a prototype, with a rough cut aluminum skeleton and questionable balance, but it was still a goddamn iPad segway, and they were driving it around a crowded space talking to people through the camera. It was awesome.
I can't speak to how big the telepresence market is, or how the price point compares, but I wish these guys the best of luck, because while I'm sitting at my desk coding another web application, these guys are building freaking robots.
However, I wonder if this would be a problem when working with Apple:
Apps that use location-based APIs for automatic or autonomous control of vehicles, aircraft, or other devices will be rejected
Apps that use location-based APIs for dispatch, fleet management, or emergency services will be rejected
(See also: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9199241/has-apple-provide...)
Just trying to think of the worst-case scenario, but it wouldn't be hard to attach a (remote-controlled?) weapon to this device.
Sounds to me like that would get Uber rejected?
Edit: I thought you were joking until I clicked the title..
I'm not $2,000+ curious, but still has me wondering..
However, talking with a telepresence robot from the other side is a completely different experience. You get a terrific sense of being with another entity. It's fantastic.
Really awesome idea. I assume the robot must be connected on WiFi to move and function?
So someone at the physical location has to plug the robot back in to charge? Doesn't it make more sense to have a docking station so that you can simply drive the robot into a position where it can charge itself?
>No charging dock yet, and the iPad talks over bluetooth, so it will need separate charging. Stuff is in the works, stay tuned!
As a longtime follower of this space, this price point enables many more possibilities than previous robots, and using off-the-shelf computing hardware is the right solution.
I built something like this 2010 at iOSDevCamp out of legos after the ipad came out. :-) http://zbowling.github.com/NXTRover/
Definitely a killer product though. There are lots of very serious potential uses for something like this and it looks to be executed very well.
If your initial launch marketing positions the unit as some esoteric solution to a non-problem (especially if it's for a "rich persons" non-problem), people seem more apt to forget about the product overall. Show some demo videos of it being used for REAL applications, and there is a greater chance people will remember it and/or aspire to wanting one (which helps keep you stuck in their subconscious). Nobody is going to go to work and say "did you hear about that robot you can use to browse art galleries remotely?", but they will say "did you hear about that robot that you can use to go grocery shopping?" (or something similar, I don't have a better example because I can't really think of a good use for a telepresence robot, but that's just me).