Ava 500 Telepresence System
June 10th, 2013PHB-Bot?
Via: TechWorld:
Ava 500 is essentially a Cisco TelePresence EX60 personal video endpoint mounted on top of an iRobot mobile robotics platform, which can self-navigate busy environments like offices, manufacturing floors and laboratories without bumping into people or objects.
The robot is controlled via an iPad interface. This means that the remote user can select his or her destination by tapping a location on a map or by choosing a room or employee name.
An available robot is then activated to “take” the user where they want to go. The user can choose whether to make the trip from the charging station to selected location in either “private” mode – where the screen appears blank – or in “public” mode – where the user’s face is displayed.
If public mode is chosen, the user can see and be seen, and even stop to have an ad-hoc hallway conversation with a colleague. When the session is complete, the Ava 500 automatically returns to its charging station. It can last for about six hours on one charge.
The first use would likely be to get around the hassle of the H-1B Visa.
The really fun effect is that it could revolutionize the corporate spying industry.