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.

Henry Evans had a brain stem stroke in 2002 that left him quadriplegic. Since then he has turned to robotics to unlock his abilities. Robots For Humanity (R4H.org) is a project that chronicles Henry’s quest to find robotics solutions to augment and improve his life, and that of other people with disabilities, to “let people perform at their best”. 

An event commemorating the project was hosted by Silicon Valley Robotics at Highway 1 last night, featuring guest talks by Evans and Steve Cousins, who helped Evans to co-found the project while he was CEO at Willow Garage. Steve Cousins is now the CEO of Savioke, a service and elder care robotics startup.

Henry spoke via BEAM telepresence device from Suitable Technologies. And some of the audience also attended via BEAM. Henry has also given TED talks via BEAM, and we were lucky enough to hear his new talk, which introduces ‘tele-tourism’ (no more spoilers) and describes the wide range of robotics or smart hardware solutions that Henry has inspired roboticists to build for him.

The original Robots For Humanity project involved using a PR2 to help Henry shave himself and scratch itches. But it’s not realistic to have a $400,000 robot in the house to scratch your nose, especially given the size of the robot! Since then, Henry has got a much simpler ‘Scratchbot’. He has also taken to flying drones and working with FXPAL, the Fuji Xerox multimedia research group on the Polly project.

Polly is a wearable telepresence device, consisting of a smartphone on a stabilized gimbal. The viewing angle can be adjusted via remote control. The device can be carried by hand or on shoulder or perched on surfaces. The presence of a human operator allows for more social interaction in the telepresence experience.

The audience was inspired by the event and I don’t want to ruin the TED talk by saying anymore. But Henry still has plenty of suggestions for research projects that he’d like to see in his life and many of them are ‘simple’ things. Things like being able to control an automated bed with an eye tracking interface, not a remote control. Or to use a head mounted pointer to turn lights on and off.

These are simple things with a very big impact. And sometimes they are expensive things to build, but the impact that they have is priceless.

“If you want something, you look for options. If you don’t want it, you look for excuses.” – Henry Evans

Evans also summed it up nicely in a video that is posted on the Robots for Humanity website: “It’s up to all of us to decide how we want robotics to be used – for good or for evil, for replacing people or for making people better.”

Travel in some parts of the world, or for some people, can be dangerous, but robots may soon change that. Yesterday former-NSA-contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden “walked” onto the TED stage in Vancouver via BEAM telepresence robot, while safely stationed out of the US government’s reach in Russia. It was the first time Snowden, who was granted temporary asylum by the Russian government last August, had “set foot” in North America since he was charged with espionage and theft of government property by the US government. Said Snowden from his onstage perch: “I can see everyone! This is amazing!” How will lawmakers respond?

For disclosing thousands of classified documents that revealed details about the US National Security Agency’s global surveillance programs, and for perpetrating what has been called the most significant government leak in US history, Snowden has been called by some a whistle-blower and a patriot, by others a traitor. That he should grace the stages of a TED conference while in exile would have been no small feet a decade ago.

But this is 2014, the 30th anniversary of TED, and as was pointed out by Chris Anderson (who was interviewing Snowden for this event), a lot has changed since 1984: “Today, if you go to look at a copy of 1984 on Amazon.com,” said Snowden, “the NSA can see a record of that. The Russian Intelligence Service can see a record of that. The Chinese Service can see a record of that. The French service, the German service … They can all see it because it’s not encrypted.” I doubt very much that the Orwellian irony of this fact was lost on anyone in the audience, but what about the significance of Snowden’s appearance via telepresence?

Tellingly, Snowden told us, “If I had to describe myself I wouldn’t use words like ‘hero’ or ‘patriot’ and I wouldn’t use the word ‘traitor’. I’d say I’m an American, and I am a citizen, like everyone else.”

But in an age of telepresence, what does it mean to be a citizen? … a political refugee? … a dissident? … a fugitive? … a traitor? … or an alleged or convicted criminal? How does robotic telepresence technology disrupt our sense of location, boundary, border and space?

Though Snowden’s address was focussed on what it means to be a whistle-blower in the age of the Internet, for me it was these questions about identity and boundary that lurked in the background … Will we have laws one day to prevent convicted gang leaders from conducting their business via telepresence on the street? Will countries impose sanctions on each other for allowing cross-border political dissidence?

Robotics and law expert Ryan Calo seems to think that laws around telepresence are inevitable: “Today’s telepresence permits people to communicate more fully,” he says. “Free speech principles preclude interference by the government. Tomorrow’s telepresence, however, will allow surgeons and others to act on the world in ways that law will feel compelled to reach.”

***

Last month Peter Diamandis introduced Chris Anderson, Curator of TED, to Scott Hassan at Suitable Technologies and encouraged him to use BEAM at TED. Telepresence has been around in various forms for quite some time now but Suitable Technologies has focused on creating an experience that works, that has decent enough quality for both audio and video, and that is robust enough to use an Internet connection.

“It is no mystery that there are governments out there that want to see me dead,” said Snowden, as if to underscore the real and present danger he would have faced had he tried to appear at TED in person.

“I don’t want to harm my government. I want to help my government. But the fact that they are willing to completely ignore due process, they are willing to declare guilt without ever seeing a trial … these are things that we need to work against as a society. We shouldn’t be threatening dissidents. We shouldn’t be criminalizing journalists. And whatever part I can do to that end, I’m happy to do despite the risks.”

But the risks are indeed less when you can BEAM in: Snowden’s talk comes full circle in telepresence terms because it is the very free access to the Internet he is fighting for that allowed him to engage in disruptive politics at TED.

You may be asking yourself how Snowden BEAMing in is different from his (or Assange’s) recent appearance at SXSW via video conference. Indeed this was literally a “staged” event, and the physicality of the interaction was in many ways jilted and forced (note the awkwardly attempted handshake between guest Tim Berners-Lee and Snowden’s BEAM in the video below).

But via BEAM, Snowden is far more free to go where he wants (as long as there are no steps); he can navigate towards the people of his choice and engage them in up close communication. Perhaps this is not so obvious from the video of Snowden on the TED stage, but in other circumstances this would be incredibly enabling technology to someone who faces restricted mobility due to illness, distance, or in Snowden’s case, political/legal issues.

“The team at Suitable Technologies is always excited to learn about individuals who utilize Beam remote presence for their most important conversations, urgent consultations, and memorable presentations. Now, more than ever before, people are realizing that interacting over Beam Pro has its advantages over traditional video conferencing,” says Director of Marketing Erin Rapacki, Director of Marketing at Suitable Technologies.

***

At one point Anderson asks the audience to indicate by show of hands how many of them believed what Snowden did was a reckless act that endangered America. When only a few raise their hands, Anderson says, “It’s hard to put your hand up when the man is standing right here,” causing Snowden and some members of the audience to chuckle. And yet what Anderson said is true. There is power in presence.

Snowden gets a gentle round of applause from those who think his act is heroic. But Anderson notes that many audience members abstain, and remarks that the debate around Snowden probably divides more along generational lines than political ones. “You’re part of a generation that grew up with the Internet and it seems as if you become offended at almost a visceral level when you see something done that you think will harm it.”

Snowden replies: “I grew up not just thinking about the Internet … I grew up IN the internet. And although I never expected to have the chance to defend it in such a direct and practical manner, and to embody it in this unusual, almost avatar manner, I think there is something poetic in the fact that one of the sons of the Internet has become so close to the Internet as a result of their political expression.”

Snowden went on to explain that while government surveillance powers have increased by many orders of magnitude, the power of individuals has also become enabled by technology. “I am living proof that an individual can go head to head against the most powerful adversaries and the most powerful intelligence agencies around the world and win. And I think that’s something that we need to take hope from and that we need to build on to make it accessible to not just technical experts but to ordinary citizens around the world.”

Telepresence robots like BEAM are designed for their simplicity and ease of use; you don’t need to be a roboticist to engage with one. As these devices become increasingly accessible and ubiquitous – like the Internet – we are likely to see them, too, used for all means of expression and communication – political, dissident, or otherwise.

***

“You’re here in North America … in Canada, in this form,” said Anderson, gesturing at the BEAM. “How does that feel?”

“Canada is different than I expected. It’s a lot warmer,” Snowden replied.

Jokes aside, Snowden’s actual physical whereabouts may have just become irrelevant – as long as he has access to the Internet, he can communicate. And with a telepresence robot, he can also be physically present in any location. He may have grown up “in the internet” but the next generation will grow up inside robots.

Watch the TED full video here:

Edward Snowden BEAMed into a TED Talk earlier this week with attention-grabbing headlines. With much less fanfare, this writer participated in a panel in Lyon, France while physically stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, also using a BEAM.

But are BEAMs robots? The international standards group suggests that robots must sense, process that data and produce an action, be reprogrammable, and act in at least two dimensions. BEAMS perform no autonomous activities. They don’t have a collision avoidance system or a navigation system to drive from point A to B. They are remotely driven by a human operator on his laptop or computer. The BEAM operating system isn’t available for modification by users therefor it is not programmable, much less reprogrammable. Consequently BEAMS are remote telepresence devices, but not robots.

In the Robohub article, many mentions of the BEAM were preceded or followed by the word robot or robotic. There were discussions about laws and robotics. This is not an uncommon practice. But as times change, wording becomes more important and it is important to understand that, although roboticists have participated in the design and building of the BEAM, the BEAM itself is not robotic.

The truth about BEAM is that some telepresence devices are providing functional solutions to people that have a need to be one place when they are somewhere else. Suitable Technologies, the company that designed, builds and markets the BEAM, has found a niche for their device. They will probably have similar success with their new BEAM+, a scaled down, less professional, low-cost BEAM meant for home use.

Many other telepresence companies haven’t found their market just yet and are either regrouping or folding.

An example of the former – and also of the ingenuity of their whole team – is CtrlWorks, a Singapore-based start-up funded by the Singapore government and spun off from the local university. CtrlWorks designed and built a slick autonomous navigating, automatic recharging, HD video conferencing telepresence device they named Puppet. Try as they may, they weren’t able to sell many. But they did find interest in their nav system methods and use of the Cloud for processing – which they attempted to provide for the wheelchair market.

But as they were working on that solution, prospective clients were suggesting that they redo their navigation and communication system to provide towing and deliver services vehicles for large facilities that need that type of service. The local airport, for example, received food tray carts offloaded from planes and those carts needed to be moved around the airport for cleaning, unloading, reloading and relocation. A perfect app for an autonomous self-navigating mobile device with enough power to tow lightweight loads. One added advantage was that the airport already used expensive AGVs for baggage handling and understood what they needed and what CtrlWorks could provide. Consequently CtrlWorks modularized their work-to-date and now sell their new Axon system in modules: a sensor mast with LIDAR, cameras and wireless communication, and a drive unit and tow system with wheels, motors and batteries. Scrappy! We wish them well.

Suitable Technologies Beam Remote Presence Robots

Two very visible things struck me as indicative of why the show was packed with enthusiastic exhibitors and attendees. One was the use of Beam remote-presence robots on the exhibition floor. Palo Alto start-up Suitable Technologies brought two dozen Beam robots to the show and rented them by the hour to people calling in from around the world. They worked flawlessly, moved freely and accident-free, carried on conversations with passersby and exhibitors – a perfect solution for those who couldn’t physically come and experience the trade show portion of RoboBusiness. There was even a Beam Hour where the show floor was closed to all except exhibitors and Beam attendees. A high-tech solution to broaden the high-tech audience of RoboBusiness.

Unbounded Robotics UBR-1 Mobile Robot

The other was Unbounded Robotics and their new UBR-1 one-armed mobile robot. Built by many of the same team that built Willow Garage’s two-armed robot PR2 – a robot that launched and sold for $400,000 in 2009, the new $35,000 UBR-1 is as capable as the older PR2 but it is now affordable whereas very few could pay for the PR2. This price drop phenomena was talked about by speakers and in private conversations. Words like “plug and play,” “convergence” and “confluence” were used to describe it.” “In just five years — from $400,000 to $35,000! Amazing.”

The UBR-1 appears to have encapsulated for all to see a major trend happening in robotics over the last five years: sensors, cameras, batteries and other component costs have been and continue to drop dramatically and, combined with mobility and ever-more-powerful CPUs, those lower costs are enabling cheaper more capable robots — such as Unbounded’s UBR-1.

With 2D and 3D sensors, scanners and cameras, more capable lighter and smaller batteries, and all the other functionality developed and incorporated in ROS and the PR2, Unbounded Robotics will begin shipping UBR-1 units next summer. First units will go to academia but shortly thereafter commercial versions will begin shipping to companies for various mobility tasks such as machine tending and material transport. After that, Melonee Wise, CEO, suggested additional application areas being developed for the hospitality business – mobility tasks like room service delivery and after-room-cleaning inspection. Other applications could include restocking shelves and, with the proper software, limited eldercare. The new UBRs will be manufactured and assembled in Silicon Valley. Unbounded is in the process of closing their “A” round of funding.

Invest, Innovate, Implement

“Invest, Innovate, Implement” was the theme for RoboBusiness 2013 and it was carried throughout with extensive speakers, panels and workshops. Funding methods and understanding what VCs think and want were a big part of the show. It started with a 3-hour workshop sponsored by Grishin Robotics, the start-up funding entity of the Russian VC Dmitry Grishin. It was followed by an evening session where a group of start-ups presented their elevator pitches in front of four venture capitalists. There was also a breakout session with VCs discussing today’s investment trends and how they view them in relation to investing.

ROS-Industrial

As costs come down and component systems become more capable, many companies are moving to add advanced vision and perception systems, path and grasp planning, and networking capabilities to their existing robots. One way to accomplish this is by having a ROS-Industrial front end – a common open-source language familiar to most engineering and robotics students – where one can design and simulate cross-platform vision systems and other additions before implementing them. ROS-Industrial, a non-profit open source robotics operating system organization, provides a common framework for robotics applications and is proving to be a good resource for rapid development of new components and uses for existing robots.

Google’s Self-Driving Cars

Google’s Chris Urmson, Director, Self-Driving Cars, a keynote speaker, showed not only the history but the complexity of the process of robotic self-driving cars. There’s a whole lot going on as a Google car moves along it’s path.

Notice the red circle in the left top picture. With 360º vision provided by the scanner, the car has to process every type of information, everywhere, including behind and around corners. In the top right picture, there are lights, pedestrians, lane markings, etc., all identified and color coded and tracked by the onboard computers. When maps are available, comparisons to what the car is seeing versus what the map says is there is another input to the massive data processing – 1 GB of data every second – that occurs thousands of times every second.

RoboBusiness 2013 had over 500 attendees and 60 exhibitors. Next year’s show will be held in Boston.