Have you ever wanted a robot buddy? That would certainly lighten up the office. Well, Cisco and iRobot, the company behind the Roomba, are in agreement there, and are making it a reality with the Ava 500 video collaboration robot.
The Ava 500 is designed to bring one’s presence to in-office meetings even when they’re away. Its design looks like a 5-foot tall astromech droid with a video screen on the top, and it can be programmed from an iPad to head to specific locations. It can map its surroundings, allowing it to navigate around without bumping into people or things, then allows the user to make it go anywhere it needs before returning to the docking station.
Even on the way to a meeting, one can set the Ava 500 in “public” mode, where those the robot passes by can see the user on the screen to have a conversation or pass casual greetings. For those in a hurry or wanting more privacy, though, there’s a “private” mode that leave’s the robot’s “face” blank.
While it’s designed for businesses, there’s potential for the robot in many other situations, such as education and manufacturing. It doesn’t seem like a stretch to imagine later models can be connected to medical equipment to provide telemedicine and communicate with remote experts. Basically, anywhere that needs the physical presence of someone who isn’t available can benefit from the Ava 500, as it puts them right in the middle of wherever they need to be.
In order to purchase the Ava 500, Cisco predicts it will cost around $70,000, with the possibility of leasing it for $2,000 or so a month.
While it’s already easy for people to join in on meetings remotely via video conferencing, this takes it to a new level by giving the user a physical presence. Yes, it’s a face on a screen, like Sheldon once used in an episode of “The Big Bang Theory,” but its advanced navigation and true presence give it far more useful applications than just setting up a web camera and screen at a meeting room. While we may not be at the point of artificially intelligent robot buddies, this is a great step forward in robotics and telepresence, and we can rest assured that it’s compliant with all three laws of robotics.
