A modular telepresence system. Source: wikipedia

In our final post for this series, we’ll talk about the future of telepresence.  For most robots telepresence is just the beginning, a means to an end. Many of the robots in this series are meant for office, medical, or home. But it should not be forgotten this same technology can easily be implemented for dull, dirty, and dangerous work, typical of robots. Allowing human operators to teach robots through telepresence creates a synergy along with higher levels of autonomy.

New robots help navigate the world

Take Henry Evans with Robots for Humanity. In 2002, an unfortunate brain stem stroke left Henry a quadraplegic. Telepresence provided the abilities to help him live his life. Whether using a Beam for a TED talk (see below), a Parrot drone to fly around his garden at home, or a PR2 to fold laundry, Henry has been able to take back control of his life through robotics with a condition that would have otherwise left him bedridden.

Consider your audience, and whether that’s intended

Knowing the operator of the robot is one thing. When Willow Garage launched the Heaphy Project back in 2012, they failed to consider who was on the other side operating the robot handling dish washing duties, which turned out to be rather creepy for the crew. While the concept of using a human anywhere in the world to control a PR2 was technologically advanced, there was the human element (even ones used to working with robots), that needed to be considered. The PR2 robot outsourced their dish washing duties to the world via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. And though it had promise, it only lasted a month.

Human-like telecommunication

If anonymously operated robots are unnerving, maybe Nayang Technical University’s EDGAR is more comforting. Operators can project their face onto EDGAR’s, instead of a flat monitor, mimicking the gestures of the operator. It is fully controlled by a Microsoft Kinect. The university also developed ‘Nadine’ a social robot that operates like Siri or Cortana. Implementing the technology of EDGAR and Nadine would allow you to nearly duplicate yourself, at least from the waist up.

Better vision display

One obstacle in telepresence systems is lack of peripheral vision. But companies are working to solve this issue. Other technologies being developed include DORA, created by a team of students at the University of Pennsylvania.  By using the Oculus Rift all the head movements of the operator are mimicked by DORA. DORA solves the lack of peripheral vision issue by giving users the ability to look around, giving them a better sense of the environment. It’s the difference between watching something on TV versus actually being there. While this may not necessarily be important at weekly staff meetings, that increased visual awareness in an emergency response situation is vital.

Rise of the personal assistant

Designing Jibo.

And finally there is the rise of the personal assistant. While there are home service robots like Buddy, don’t disregard products like Jibo or Amazon’s Alexa.  While Jibo and Alexa are stationary right now, my hunch is that they won’t be for long.  I would also be on the lookout for an entrant from Google, Apple, or Microsoft to make their way into this scene, by means other than a smartphone.

While we are still a long way from seeing ‘Rosie’ enter our homes as a fully capable service robot, telepresence will lead the way for most.  The technology has come a long way since Pebbles was first introduced, but we’re about to see an even bigger change in the coming years.

Courtesy of Fellow Robots, Inc.

In our previous post we looked at socially engaging robots and how they are helping to break down barriers to remote presence. Another area on the fringe of telepresence is service robots. These robots operate autonomously, but have the ability to be controlled in telepresence mode when the need arises. The symbiosis between robot and machine allows these robots to take care of easier things, while allowing humans to take over when it needs help. As autonomy improves, the bar moves higher and higher.

In October 2014, Suitable Technologies opened the first retail store staffed only by Beam telepresence robots. Two months later, Orchard Hardware in mid-town San Jose began using the semi-autonomous OSHBot by Fellow Robotics. OSHBot has image and voice recognition enabling it to guide customers up and down aisles to the items they are looking for — most of the time. Fellow Robotics, still in the pilot phase for the project, is improving certain processes like natural language recognition. Phrases like, ‘lawn mower’, ‘lawnmower’ or ‘lawn-mower’ can be a problem. However if an issue does arise, an associate from another store can login to help with more technical questions. No different than doctors using telepresence robots in rural hospitals when an expert isn’t physically available.

Silicon Valley isn’t the only place where you can find examples of service robots in retail.  REEM, by Pal Robotics, recently spent the summer on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.  When at the mall she (yes, she) helped shoppers and tourists find their way, along with taking lots of photos. The team at Pal Robotics are also working on a bipedal unit called REEM-C, a robot that could potentially rival Honda’s ASIMO. REEM has two advantages: its use of ROS and availability to researchers. As of now, ASIMO uses proprietary software and he’s not available for sale.

Service robots are also entering homes as well. Korea’s Future Robot first unveiled FURo-i at CES in 2015, a home assistant robot, designed to maintain your home while away and chat with friends and family when you are there. Robot Base, out of NYC, also debuted ‘Personal Robot’ at CES in 2015. Think of Personal Robot like Siri on wheels, which can play your favorite music and remind you of upcoming appointments, ‘Personal Robot’ comes with advanced connectivity and autonomous algorithms to automate your home, like turning off lights and turning down the thermostat when you aren’t there. Recent media attention has gone to Buddy, by Blue Frog Robotics, due to its highly successful Indiegogo campaign (perhaps you saw it on RoboHub). Buddy is certainly the cutest robot of them all. Buddy can integrate with IBM’s Watson cloud services improving natural language and object recognition, along with the typical personal and home assistant functionality you would expect.

We’re now reaching the end of our telepresence series. In the final part, we’ll talk about the future of telepresence and where it could be headed.

Telenoid

This telepresence series wouldn’t be complete without covering the fringe territory of the unique and unusual. These robots push the boundaries of telepresence to push social engagement and cross into tele-existence. While I applaud the creativity of these researchers, I think there are some that shouldn’t make it outside the research lab, at least not yet!

My first example, the Telenoid, was designed to transfer the presence of the human operator. Developed as a partnership between Osaka University and Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International this android robot, the Telenoid is  an advanced video conferencing tool that focuses on tactile involvement with the participant to enhance the emotional connection. With its pale white skin and stubby arms,  it is meant to have neither a specific sex or age, allowing participants to imagine the face of the operator onto the face of the robot. The Telenoid has no mobility and is meant to be held, like a small child. The Telenoid reminds me more of Paro, a pet therapy robot used in Japanese hospitals, than of a telepresence robot.

Then there is OriHime, the robot avatar. There are several versions ranging from a head and base to a small humanoid. All the models are intended to be used as a surrogate for the operator, particularly for those that are sick. OriHime was created by Kentaro Yoshifuji as a means to fight loneliness. Rather than appearing on a monitor, the unit allows a patient to comfortably participate without having to show themselves. Similar to the Telenoid, the generic face requires some imagination from the participants. Pre-programmed movements. like nodding yes or no, allow OriHime to come to life and create a more emotional connection.

OriHime

I have yet to understand the MH-2 shoulder robot. When it was presented at ICRA in 2012 it was described as “a remotely operated avatar.” There are obvious and significant technical hurdles to  be overcome if this were to enter the market as a product.  Realistically there are larger issues like the user interface which requires you to constantly look over your shoulder to see what a friend may be pointing out.  This seems cumbersome in comparison to something like Google Glass. With Glass, you can see and hear your friends without neck strain, and you won’t get strange looks when people wonder about the robot perched upon your shoulder.

Not all unusual telepresence robots come out of Japan. Me-Bot hails from the Personal Robotics Group at the MIT Media Lab. Using a smartphone for your face, the motorized base has small arms and a neck, allowing operators to become more physically expressive. This is fantastic for those of us who talk with our hands. The research paper that was written on the MeBot showed much better response in both engagement and cooperation over a traditional means of videoconferencing.

The primary aim of all of these telepresence robots is to become more socially engaging and promote non-verbal communication. While many of us are used to the telephone, meeting face to face is a much more enriching experience, particularly when it comes to building relationships. Telepresence lowers this barrier with visual communication, but these robots aim to lower it even further. As more of your senses become involved, your level of engagement increases. The ultimate goal is tele-existance, where you are fully immersed and participating remotely.

Up next: service robots. If you haven’t run into them yet, you soon will.

Romo is an interactive assistant that you can play games with. While it was listed as one of the Best in Toy Fair at the 2013 show, the company Romotive seems to have discontinued the Romo and instead pivoted to a new endeavor called Stork. Botiful is another company that is no longer producing — I particularly enjoyed their Kickstarter video, which featured a re-enactment of a lightsaber fight.

Small companies are not the only ones pivoting away from telepresence toys: RoboMe from WowWee was a Segway-like robot based on the iPhone, but other than the support page, RoboMe is no longer listed on the WowWee website.

One of the few telepresence toys still available is the Wheelphone.  This one features a small base that can fit most smartphones, and it is Lego-compatible, allowing you to create extensions. It also comes with a powerful ROS-enabled Android app that lets use use sensor data to navigate autonomously.

Synergy SWAN

The Synergy SWAN is the largest in this category, and has a unique adjustable height that lets it grow from one to nearly three feet. At nearly 30lbs, it’s also the heaviest, so I recommend using it only on the floor. If you find the SWAN too large, Syngergy also has a stationary version called Mime that pivots, rotates, and fits comfortably on a table.

New to the scene is the RambleBot, a smallish Android-based rover that is rugged enough to go outside and explore — just be sure to weatherproof you smartphone! It has a small arm to grasp objects, but it looks like its developers are still working out how it can recharge itself from a standard wall AC socket. With Arduino operating as the RambleBot’s microcontroller, it is limited to telepresence for now.

Ramblebot

The toy robot category is a tough one, and with products like Cubelets, Dash and Dot, or even Lego Mindstorms, the trend seems to be pushing telepresence technology out in favor of greater interaction with the toy itself. Rather than simply controlling a smartphone, the current generation of robotic toys seems focused on the ability to program behaviors and to mechanically change the robots.

Next up in this series, we delve into the unique and unusual, pushing the boundaries of what can or should be considered telepresence. Check out some of the previous articles on the telepresence market:

• Shopping via telepresence makes for good PR; how long before it’s mainstream?
• The state of telepresence: Business enterprise class
• Tabletop telepresence finding its niche

*Note – I originally referred to the WheelBot in an earlier article, but meant the Wheelphone. This has now been corrected.

Tabletop telepresence devices began to pop up on the market about two years ago. Though its a small slice of the telepresence market, it’s differentiated enough from other categories to be mentioned in a separate post. Many telepresence users simply want the ability to pan and tilt around a room. While this solution doesn’t work well for places like museums, it’s perfect for classrooms, meetings, or get togethers where you don’t need much mobility.

The scene pictured above is taken from a hybrid course taught at Michigan State, where both online and local students can participate in a traditional classroom setting. By comparison, classes that are taught completely online are limited to group video chat. The hybrid class concept was tested with both tabletop telepresence, like the Kubi, as well as with full size devices like the Double. With the telepresence robots, students were no longer viewing the class from a wall mounted monitor, and they reported feeling more engaged in the class and participated more actively than previously. The research is ongoing but the tabletops seem to have received a better initial response. You can learn more about Michigan State’s research on integrating telepresence into classrooms in the following video:

So far there are three entrants in this category: Kubi by Revolve Robotics,  Pivot by WowWee, and the TableTop TeleMe from MantaRobot. All work with iOS and Android, while Kubi seems to be the only one that works with Windows.

Kubi is finding niches in ambulances for telemedicine, where mobility is restricted and a smaller footprint has an advantage. Another advantage of these tabletop models is power: since you’re not mobile, you can be plugged in continuously and not worry about needing downtime for recharging.

As with the full size tablet robots, you are still limited to the embedded camera on the tablet of your choosing. This is one area where I’d like to see some development to obtain more peripheral vision.

With products like Jibo and Amazon’s Echo showing up in our homes, I anticipate tabletop devices will become more prevalent. A stationary hands-free device that can pivot while you move around saves you from having to robot-proof your home; fixing door thresholds and moving stray cords can be a cumbersome chore at best, or a complete floor plan change of your home at worst.

Next up are telepresence toys, where we will scale down to fun size using a smart phone.

Double makes an entrance on hit TV series Modern Family.

Personal telepresence robots have exploded onto the market thanks to the help of tablets, smartphones, and crowdfunding sites. Geared toward the economics of personal use, these robots typically cost less than $3000 (tablet typically not included) and don’t require a monthly subscription. While the telemedicine category of telepresence devices has been plagued by lawsuits, the only drama in this category is the love (or hate) of your smart device.

Padbot

Working with an iPad or iPhone (iOS), you have three choices: the Double, the TeleMe or the Padbot. The Double, is only available with iOS and has received the most exposure, appearing in both the Modern Family and Community television series. The Padbot, which launched via Indiegogo, was designed and developed by InBot out of China. While it initially went for as low as $299 during the launch campaign, it can now be had for $799 in the US. The TeleMe and TeleMe2 from MantaRobot, have been out for a while and work with iOS and Android. They are also the only ones I’ve seen that really work with Windows-based devices like the Surface Pro.

Twinbot

Like the Double, but for Android, the TwinBot has a strikingly similar appearance. Though its Indiegogo campaign failed, Robotshop.com picked it up for sale. While it doesn’t have a telescoping neck, it does have the ability to tilt the tablet up and down. The “Telepresence RobotRig” by Endurance is based out of Russia, and while they are a relative newcomer to the scene, they seem pretty ambitious with their plans to introduce an autonomous mode.

The Origibot is currently the only telepresence robot with an arm and manipulator on the market. This was another Indiegogo campaign success (you might remember having seen the campaign on Robohub). The first backers will soon be getting their robots, so we’ll give it a few months for owners to tinker with the design. The lack of arms is seen as an issue, as it provides a tangible means for interaction.

If you don’t want to bother with purchasing a tablet, there is the Beam+ from Suitable Technologies. A slimmed down version of the Beam Pro, the screen is embedded into the device so you are platform agnostic.

Beam +

Oculus by Xaxxon was actually the first to hit Kickstarter back in late 2011. Using a netbook atop the Oculus base allowed you to roam around. They combined it with RoboRealm to allow for advanced mapping and computer vision. The beauty of using a netbook is that you can now integrate with ROS, creating a true robot according to a purist’s definition.

Up next, we’ll take a look at a niche category — tabletop telepresence — where the lack of mobility can often be an advantage.

Credit: iRobot

Telemedicine is a rapidly growing field and, with the aid of telepresence robots, is quickly gaining traction in hospitals and homes around the world.

In rural hospital settings where a medical specialist is physically unavailable, a robot can be deployed to check in on a patient with a physician from elsewhere. In the home, a nurse can check in with a patient while they recover in a comfortable setting.

This has been a hotly contested market as noted by two lawsuits over patent infringement initiated by InTouch Health against HeadThere (now Giraff AB) in 2007 and VGo in 2011. HeadThere was effectively sued out of the country by inTouch, and relocated to Sweden where it worked with Robotdalen, a robotics incubator. This looks to have been a very beneficial move as for Giraff as they have been able to take advantage of the health care system to introduce their robots into homes through various research projects involving human robot interaction. They have several pilot sites throughout Europe.

The result of InTouch vs. VGo resulted in a less than favorable outcome for InTouch as they had several of their patents re-examined and scopes significantly narrowed. This no doubt encouraged them to seek a partnership with iRobot, a collaboration that resulted in the  introduction of the RP-VITA. It is like few others out there, with special on-board ports to perform diagnostics like ultrasound and stethoscopes to provide critical information in emergency situations.

Even when you’re not in the hospital you still have options. VGo recently ran a pilot project with Dartmouth College, using their robot on the sidelines of football games, bringing in medical experts on demand. This is particularly useful for injuries like concussions, which can require frequent monitoring for days after the incident. VGo has also been highly active within schools, by allowing students to attend classes via telepresence while they recover from injury or illness at home.

A robot that hasn’t received much press is RITA (Reliable Interactive Table Assistant) by RoboValley out of the Netherlands. This is more of a caregiver robot than telepresence, but because of its primary function, I classify it as telepresence. RITA can monitor the behavior of a patient, alerting medical staff of significant changes, and allowing a care taker or physician to check in when alerts arise.

This market segment has human-robot interaction obstacles and legal issues to overcome. For example, in the US physicians must be licensed by individual states, though recent legislation regarding interstate medical licensure seeks to solve this problem by allowing an expedited process to practice across state lines. I have not seen anything with respect to practicing medicine across borders.

As the number of humans age 65+ grows throughout the world, many will look to stay at home, rather than in assisted living or nursing homes, and telepresence robots could be an important ingredient in helping them to achieve that independence. While the telepresence market is relatively small right now (less than $200M USD), it does provide a means of entry for companies that are looking to get into the assisted care market, estimated to be nearly $4B USD.

The Japanese government has allocated about $23M USD to the core technology market in an effort to develop products for its aging population. Toyota, for example, is focusing on home living assistance robots that will allow those with limited mobility the opportunity to live at home. While Japan might have the largest market in the world of 65+ citizens (over  30 million as of 2014), South Korea is estimated to be allocating nearly $6B USD to their own robotics research. The Koreans are taking a different approach, using robots for mundane tasks of delivering food, allowing humans to provide care.

It will be up to our social and legal systems to keep the pace if we are to allow the technology a chance to provide the solution.

Next up, we’ll look at some some of the personal use telepresence robots that have flooded the market in recent years. If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• The state of telepresence: Business enterprise class
• Shopping via telepresence makes for good PR; how long before it’s mainstream?
• ORIGIBOT: An affordable telepresence robotic test platform with arm and gripper
• Snowden BEAMs into TED: How robotic telepresence disrupts borders
• Are telepresence robots really robots?

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Business class telepresence is where high tech meets high price. Typically starting at $3,000 USD, often with a monthly service fee, these robots are a lot more than just tablets on a stick.

Most come with multiple wifi antennas and cameras along with exceptional video and audio capability. In case you’re worried about them taking a dive off stairs, they come with obstacle avoidance sensors as well. Thankfully most robots still have trouble navigating closed doors and operating elevators, so you don’t typically have to worry about them running away.

Anybot’s QB was one of the first telepresence robots on the market back in 2010, and with its two-wheeled Segway-like base, the QB is highly maneuverable when roaming hallways. A unique advantage of the QB is its height-adjustable neck, which can go from 2.5 ft to 6.0 ft. Though it does need to be manually adjusted, this should keep the driver from misbehaving if a co-worker decides to adjust you down to size. The QA, a predecessor to the QB, was unveiled at CES in 2009, but it was never publicly offered.

Suitable Technologies’ Beam Pro was introduced in September of 2012 and at the time was one of the most advanced telepresence robots available. Based upon a prototype called Texai, the Beam Pro is a high quality robot, with noise cancelling microphones that work great in a noisy conference hall and wide angle camera for navigating so you don’t bump into feet. Its 17 inch display one of the largest displays out there, allowing you to read expressions on a user’s face from a comfortable distance.

Pictured at the top of this post, iRobot’s Ava 500 is (in my opinion) the most advanced telepresence device out there, and is truly a robot, using autonomous navigation (courtesy of an onboard laser range finder and continuous mapping). This allows the user to bring up a map of the area, point to the room they want to go to, and Ava will make its way down the hallway, avoiding humans, and other obstacles with no user intervention. While there is no real need to learn how to drive the Ava, you can still take some manual control if you like.

There are several other telepresence robots I should include in this category that I haven’t previously mentioned, like the VGo (which was acquired by Vecna this summer, and can be seen in various Verizon and GE commercials) or MantaRobot’s TeleMe and Classic 2. The most interesting business model goes to Orbis Robotics’ Carl, which specifically targets the funeral market.

Stay tuned for more — we’ll delve into telepresence in the medical field in the next post.

photo by Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer via Instagram

Telepresence robots have been around since the early 2000s, with a research project called PEBBLES out of Ryerson University in Toronto. When I first started covering this area a little over three years ago, there were only a handful of products available. Since then, the market has exploded, with a slew of robots ranging from the table-top Kubi and the sleek Double to the highly advanced Ava 500. They’ve also been on the move, heading out of the office, attending conferences, and touring museums. In this series I’ll be updating you on telepresence as is stands today, the various market categories, and where the field is headed.

Roughly broken down by pricing levels, we’ll start with enterprise or business class telepresence, where you’ll find high end robots like iRobot’s Ava 500 or Suitable Technologies Beam Pro. These cost several thousand dollars to start and usually have a monthly fee.

Telemedicine robots deserve a category on their own; with requirements for HIPAA and FDA clearance, these aren’t cheap and are not something something the average person or business typically needs.

Then there are the home or personal robots, like the Double, Padbot, and Beam+. These typically have fewer options, but are certainly more affordable. Often, as in the case of the Double, you’ll need a tablet to act as the brain of the device.

Likewise is the toy category, which typically uses a smartphone as a brain. The Romo or Wheelphone are better suited to roam around on a table rather than down a hallway. And if you’re looking for even economy, Kubi and the TableTop TeleMe offer telepresence without mobility. They’ve taken away the wheels, but still offer an interactive experience that allows the user to pan and tilt their view around the room.

Then we have the unique and unusual robots that push the boundaries of telepresence, such as the Telenoid or Orihime, or that cater to niche markets, such as those specifically adapted for use by the physically disabled.

And finally, there are the service robots such as BUDDY, PAL, and OSHBot, which while not built specifically for telepresence, still offer this as a feature. For example, the OSHBot has a telepresence feature that allows a customer in need of help to contact an associate who may be in another store and remote him or her onto the OSHBot screen.

Over the course of the series, I’ll be tallying about 40 different kinds of telepresence robots, a few of which have already gone away or never made it out of the research lab. Keep an eye out over the coming weeks!

* Note: Before I delve too deeply, we have to deal with a very controversial topic: are telepresence robots really robots?  I will be hijacking the definition of robot from Wikipedia, which states that a robot is an electromechanical device that can be autonomous or semi-autonomous. A device like the Double uses an algorithm that allows it to balance itself on two wheels while in operation, while iRobot’s AVA navigates autonomously. Many telepresence devices have some sort of obstacle avoidance, making them at least semi-autonomous. I am arguing that one or more sensors providing feedback, such as obstacle avoidance, is sufficient for referring to the device as a robot.

Using a BeamPro, Brianna Lempesis waits in line to buy an iPhone6s from the Apple Store in downtown Palo Alto. Photo: Suitable Technologies.

Robots are great for doing dull, dirty, and dangerous jobs, and few jobs are more dangerous and downright dull (at times) than waiting in line to buy the latest tech gadget. Last week in Palo Alto, California, and in Sydney, Australia, telepresence devices stood in for their human counterparts to buy the iPhone 6S. 

Both transactions took place without the humans ever getting in line. Brianna Lempesis, who works for Suitable, hopped in line in Palo Alto the morning the iPhone went on sale there. Lucy Kelly, who works at a marketing firm in Sydney and normally uses a Double for work, was able to hop in line the day before. Kelly on her Double in Sydney and Lempesis on her Beam Pro in Palo Alto were both able to operate their telepresence devices and complete the entire transaction in the comfort of their homes, while multiplexing themselves at their respective offices.

“This the most fun I’ve ever had waiting in a line,” said Lempesis. Though each event was seen as a publicity stunt, I expect this to happen more often as busy people with the financial means wake up to the idea that they can physically be in more than one place at a time.

I’m currently hatching a plan to use this idea for Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens tickets, though I think Sphero’s BB8 might be more appropriate.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be covering  the current state of telepresence to give you an idea of just how prevalent it is, and why this isn’t going away. Watch for more soon.

Many competitors met their match/end on the Discombobulator, Sparkfun’s incredibly dangerous new obstacle course addition. Source: Sparkfun

It wouldn’t be June in Colorado without the Sparkfun Autonomous Vehicle Competition. Started back in 2009, the annual event is held at their global headquarters near Boulder, CO. 

It was the first event at their new location and sadly, due to their proximity to a major road, the aerial portion of the competition was not to be had this year.

If you haven’t been an AVC before, the concept is similar to the original DARPA Grand Challenge, but on a much smaller scale: specifically, the size of the parking lot at Sparkfun. Ground vehicles (of various mobility) costing only a few hundred dollars are hacked together to compete in heats with about five other robots, though some don’t always make it to the line. The course consists of four right hand turns, barrel obstacles, and other competitors, who may not be as responsible or friendly as Google vs Delphi.

There are time bonuses for navigating through hoops and jumping ramps. New this year was shortcut option with an obstacle called the Discombobulator. A spinning platform, aimed at completely disoriented any robot that dared to cross it. The robots take on all sorts of different designs from the traditionally converted RC car, to a modified FIRST robot. I was highly impressed by a hexapod entry in the non-traditional class.

Firey destruction in Sparkfun’s Combat Bot arena. Source: Sparkfun

This is a highly spirited event with a newly added micro robot combat in lieu of the aerial competition and all sorts of workshops throughout the day. Even if you weren’t able to attend there were a few options allowing you to get involved. There was the live web feed and then there was Twitch. Using an EdiBot frame, Twitch was a crowdsource controlled bot, that anyone was able to command taking the inputs as they were received, allowing multiple people to control it at once. What could possibly go wrong? While he was scheduled to run on a few heats, Twitch barely made it off the line to the first right turn.

Check out the Sparkfun video recap below:

iPetCompanion

This is not new, but it is one of a few products out there designed specifically for play. I’ve previously written about a Microsoft engineer who used Robotics Studio to design DarwinBot, a mobile robot to play fetch with his dog. There are also web based pet feeders, like FeedandGo or Petzi that simply just allow you to feed and speak to your pets. But play is more interactive than feeding.

iPetCompanion has been doing this for a few years and is installed at several pet shelters across the US. It has actually increased adoptions at these facilities as humans fall in love with these furry creatures and take them home. Stories are written everyday about how technology disconnects us from the real world; this is one where technology allows us to form new connections and potentially in real life.

Revolve Robotics

HIPAA compliance means that medical data can be streamed. A simple MD telepresence consult, which is similar to a telephone call, would not require this type of certification. But once you start implementing data, you enter into a new realm or regulations. While the RP-Vita by iRobot / inTouch Health has HIPAA compliance as well, many hospitals cannot afford or implement such a full blown solution. I did a test drive back when Kubi was released and it was very easy to operate.

While there are other telemedicine apps out there that provide consultations, like Teledoc or Doctor on Demand, Kubi can further enhance those visits by allowing MDs to engage and look around, rather than relying on the patient to hold or move the device for them.

There are certainly obstacles to such devices coming into wide use, particularly around what can actually be charged as service, and how an MD will get reimbursed. These will likely be solved by lawmakers seeking to use technology to reduce costs and save budgets.

Kubi was developed by Revolve back in 2012 and initially funded through an Indiegogo campaign.

I recently had a chance to view Automata and wanted to share my thoughts on the movie based upon the current and future state of robotics and artificial intelligence. As a film, this was a tough one to sit through, and won’t make any must-see lists from me. Unless you’re really into Antonio Banderas, I’d skip this. My deep interest in robotics was the only reason I struggled to the end.

From a technology standpoint the film’s underlying premise – that robots seeking to repair themselves have a consciousness – is not as simple as it would seem. While there is no universal test for self-awareness, like a Turing or mirror test, the film seems to suggest that if a robot seeks to self-repair or self-mutilate, it shows it has at least some level of consciousness. But I see this as problematic: to me, self-repair is simply a good algorithm, something we see regularly in the process automation industry, for example when a system clears a jam, or adjusts to a flow rate due to over- or under-loading.

In fact, in May 2014, Dextre and the Canadarm became the first robotic system to self-repair on board the International Space Station. Measured by this standard, the future has already arrived – but I’m not so certain robots will be taking over the earth any time soon. And even if I’m wrong, and the Canadarm seeks to become a human overlord, we still have a 200+ miles and a seriously hot re-entry to buffer us.

For another example, take NAO or the soon to be released Pepper by Aldebaran: by recognizing facial expressions they can estimate human emotion. Is that a sign of intelligence, or just another really good algorithm? Research into human-robot interaction often concludes that people believe they have formed emotional connections with robots. Soldiers frequently develop emotional relationships with their robot companions. Are these human feelings a sign of robot consciousness? No! Are they a sign of robot intelligence? Not really. Most of these machines are tele-operated and are extensions of the soldier, providing him with some added abilities (like infrared vision) and protection (distance from a blast perimeter).

Automata does end with a philosophical premise that as the human population on earth diminishes, robots evolve to carry the torch and recolonize earth. When we end, they begin. Perhaps that is where the movie should have started.