Sunnyvale, Calif. company Double Robotics has developed a robotic device that would allow you to interact across vast spaces.
The rolling robot, controlled by an iPad via wireless networking, has a second iPad attached to it, thus enabling telepresence.
The system has been in development limbo for about two years, but now the company is showcasing it at the 2013 Macworld/iWorld expo in San Francisco.
First orders are ready to be shipped later this month for $2,000 per unit, iPad not included.
From the TabTimes:
“We’re getting a lot of calls about this from manufacturing companies and healthcare companies,” Double Robotics Jay Liew told TabTimes. “Managers say they want to use it for keeping tabs on the shop floor or monitoring offices while they are out of town.“
As of September last year, the company reportedly had about $1.2 million in pre-orders from 44 nations worldwide, as TabTimes reported. These were largely from universities and Fortune 500 companies.
Robotic telepresence has become a major theme in recent times—AnyBots QB, RoboDynamics TiLR, Gostai Jazz Connect, Mataro’s Mantaro Bot, and VGo are just a few other similar developments. However, Double Robotics’ use of two iPads is a key differentiator.
