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HeadThere Giraffe Telepresence Robot
The Giraffe is a new telepresence robot created by HeadThere, an engineering start-up based in San Francisco. Giraffe lets you put your "head there" right next to your client or co-workers.
(HeadThere Giraffe telepresence robot)
The Giraffe consists of a video screen and camera mounted on a robotic base; the stalk is adjustable for meeting with people who are standing or sitting. The 2 megapixel camera lets you see everything, and a 14 inch diagonal screen lets everyone see your face. The speaker lets everyone hear what your head has to say.
Special software on your PC or laptop allows you to log into your Giraffe and control its movements, including scooting here and there by maneuvering the robot's base. Presumably, you have a computer with voice input; this allows you to talk to others remotely.
(HeadThere Giraffe telepresence robot)
The screen has a remotely-adjustable tilt to allow you to pan the camera; it also makes it look like you're actually paying attention.
(HeadThere Giraffe telepresence robot)
The price of the robot may depend somewhat on the number of orders; however, it is expected to be in the entirely reasonable range of $1,800 to $3,000.
Another cool feature is that, using the Giraffe software, you can log into any Giraffe anywhere, as long as you have access. That takes it out of the realm of a business teleconferencing or telepresence tool, and opens up interesting entertainment possibilities.
For example, you could have little fleets of these moving around in museums. In the same morning, you could "visit" museums in a dozen different cities around the world, and look at what you wanted. Another example would be remote access to those "home tours;" this way, you could look at houses all over a city or all around the world on your tour.
In their 1981 novel Oath of Fealty, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle provide a great fictional "taste" of what this would be like:
If he sent out two or three of the small tele-operated devices (he called them Arr-twos after the small droid in Star Wars), Rand could effectively be in several places at once...
(Read more about robot probes)
Check out these other fun examples of teleconferencing and telepresence robots:
-
- Secom Robot X Security Guard Works For Less
- Rotundus And Rover: Robotic And Fictional Guardians (Updated)
- PEBBLES Robot - Teleconferencing For Kids At NextFest 2006
- First Chinese Security Guard Robot
- Reborg-Q May You Shop In Peace
- Porta-Person Remote Conferencing Stand-In
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/12/2007)
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