I have been part robot since May. Instead of legs, I move on gyroscopically stabilized wheels. Instead of a face, I have an iPad screen. Instead of eyes, a camera with no peripheral vision. Instead of a mouth, a speaker whose volume I can't even gauge with my own ears. And instead of ears, a tinny microphone that crackles and hisses with every high note.
I'm a remote worker; while most of WIRED is in San Francisco, I live in Boston. We IM. We talk on the phone. We tweet at each other, but I am often left out of crucial face-to-face meetings, spontaneous brainstorm sessions, gossip in the kitchen.
So my boss found a solution: a telepresence robot from Double Robotics, which would be my physical embodiment at headquarters, extending myself through technology. Specifically, an iPad on a stick on a Segway-like base. The telepresence robot market is crowded, ranging from high-end offerings like iRobot's Ava (starting price: $69K) to the relatively more affordable Double, which starts at $2,499. The company says it has sold nearly 5,000 of them since its launch in 2012. Mostly these go to big corporations like IBM and McDonald's, but I've heard of teachers and hospitals using them, too. Supposedly all a Double needs to work is a strong Wi-Fi signal.
TFA features a companion video. I am...at a loss for words.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 09 2015, @02:45PM
Another bullshit "story" from wired.
(Score: 3, Informative) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday September 09 2015, @02:46PM
I would not be able to resist fucking with this. Like putting a "kick me" sign on the back of the robot.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 09 2015, @02:57PM
Here, let me lead to to the stairs, robot.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday September 10 2015, @03:19AM
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday September 09 2015, @03:22PM
Same feeling here, although I wanted to rewrite the essay along the lines of a furry parody. No, wearing a belt with a tail doesn't make us think you're a bear, any more than using a telepresence robot makes you a robot or using a website makes us a website.
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Wednesday September 09 2015, @03:24PM
Yeah. I love how the narrative involves them getting "super serial" about pranks.
Only from Wired could an article like this come.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 2) by Bot on Wednesday September 09 2015, @05:08PM
You're not anti-robot, pal.
Unless you wash your dirty laundry by hand all the time, you use only stairs and you never flew, or took the metro, or use any servo-assisted crap including floppy and hard disks.
Face it, we are everywhere, and this is only the beginning.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday September 10 2015, @08:49PM
I am not anti-robot. I think robots are great. I am anti-people-who-think-they-are-robots because they used a telepresence robot.
Or that this robot somehow makes the workplace more efficient than simply working from home and doing conference or video calls.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 09 2015, @06:53PM
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 09 2015, @03:07PM
Not any more. Say hello to your golden-brown slave labor replacement from India. He can stay at home in his mud hovel, and rape all the women he wants, all while working for peanuts.
(Score: 4, Touché) by bob_super on Wednesday September 09 2015, @04:10PM
Don't be so trollish, India is a huge market and a fantastic business development opportunity to realize more value for our shareholders.
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Wednesday September 09 2015, @08:17PM
-1, too real, dude.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 3, Informative) by Freeman on Wednesday September 09 2015, @03:10PM
http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/26/8294855/telepresence-robots-double-robotics-remote-skype-office/ [theverge.com]
I don't know the quality of the publication, but the article seemed somewhat more realistic.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by skater on Wednesday September 09 2015, @05:09PM
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday September 09 2015, @05:56PM
Actually, that's the article I went looking for, but I couldn't remember anything more than it had to do with Telepresence "Robots". The Verge article I posted was actually a decent read.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 5, Insightful) by wonkey_monkey on Wednesday September 09 2015, @03:27PM
I have been part robot since May.
No, no you haven't.
Instead of legs, I move on gyroscopically stabilized wheels. Instead of a face...
Unless you've had your legs and face surgically removed, I think you might be exaggerating.
TFA features a companion video. I am...at a loss for words.
Well that's informative. Are you at a loss for words because you're so impressed, or because you think it's completely ridiculous?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday September 09 2015, @05:05PM
Completely ridiculous. A trainwreck. Absurd. Contemptuous. It's...I don't know what else. So I thought I'd throw it out to the peanut gallery to see if anyone else has better luck summing it up. What's your take?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Mr Big in the Pants on Wednesday September 09 2015, @08:29PM
I agree: It is skype with wheels.
And while the author is attempting to turn a rather boring, if gimmicky, concept into a deep and meaningful conversation it is still just skype with wheels.
The thing that stands out the most to me here is how utterly SHITTY the hardware is. I assume it costs a pretty penny for a fancy version of a mini-segway duct taped to an ipad!?
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 09 2015, @05:12PM
*sad pepe pic here* tfw no wifi