Just how busy are you? Telepresence saves time…
If you are really busy, and I do mean busy, with an extra $70,000 to spare, you may want to purchase iRobot’s Ava 500. The Ava 500 is a telepresence collaboration device which will attend meetings for you virtually. Even the quick chat in the hallway on the way to the meeting can be simulated virtually by Ava 500. You have a remote telepresence at your fingertips. Great for sickness, bad-traffic days or stay-at-home-because-at-work-I-can’t-get-anything-done days.
The Ava 500 is finally available, after years of development, in the U.S., Canada and some European countries through authorized resellers of Cisco teleconferencing gear. Telepresence robots are a new niche of products that hope to make the video conferencing experience better for companies.
Ava has an automated navigation system and a 21.5-inch LCD screen so it can move around while transmitting a video of your face making your telepresence realistic by offering added opportunity to interact. Powerful microphones and cameras pick up and transmit surrounding audio and video back to you. Channeling oneself through the robot requires no more than an iPad Mini. Open the app, select a meeting room or a location on the map and the robot will find its way there and get started.
“The biggest elements in favor of telepresence robots are the freedom of movement, spontaneity and physical presence,” says Youssef Saleh, senior vice president and general manager of iRobot’s Remote Presence business unit. “Instead of being a video on the wall or a voice on the phone, you get a real presence in the room.”
Ava 500 robots costs $70,000. Each. No one said telepresence was inexpensive. Though there is a three-year lease option that ranges from $2,000 to $2,500 a month. A similar robot called the RP-VITA, specifically designed for telemedicine, is already in use at hospitals. iRobot has locked down FDA approval for that device.
Since the Ava 500 can map its own environment, there is no need to drive it, or to understand the location’s layout. “The robot will never touch or bump into anything when it is traveling on its own,” says Saleh. “It has several sensors including 3-D, sonar and laser, so it is incredibly powerful.” Your telepresence will not stumble or shuffle. It will safely and discretely hum.
The robot’s “neck” can move up and down, and the camera can tilt as well, so that the telepresence of the remote user is not hindered in participating in discussions at standing or sitting height. At the end of the meeting, the Ava 500 simply disconnects and automatically returns to its charging station. The robot offers up to six hours between charging.
With the meeting completed and your telepresence successfully communicated, Ava sends itself to the storage closet, and you can go back to the sick bed or the pressing work project, or the beach.
