Telepresence robot are not really what my research is about, I’m more interested in autonomous robots.  However, these examples cause me to question ideas about the best way to embody someone’s presence through a robot.  Recently the AnyBots QB was in the news, and it’s pretty odd looking if you ask me:

The idea is that this robot can not only provide a presence in meeting rooms, as is the case with existing teleconference facilities, but will also allow the operator to continue to talk to colleagues as they move back into the office after the meeting.  It also allows people to be more involved in the office even when working from a distance, for example being able to look at prototypes or help with specific problems, anything that requires them to be present in a particular physical space.

According to the IEEE Spectrum report the robot includes “a laser pointer that shoots green light from one of its eyes”.  One can only hope that this truly is only used to highlight items in a presentation, as opposed to taking over the office by deadly force!  In any case, this robot’s eyes don’t seem to add much to its character, although Wired argues that they give the QB an “aesthetic similar to Pixar’s Wall-E”.

So, my real question though is whether the head-like section of this robot really adds anything in terms of useful, or desirable, embodiment.  This robot definitely reminds me of something, and I’m pretty sure it’s not a great memory.  From my perspective I still think it makes more sense simply to mount a screen in a similar way, as seen is this telepresence robot from Willow Garage, the Texai:

Then again, if you want something more aesthetically pleasing than this, but still without a somewhat creepy robot head, how about the VGo.

AnyBots QB in Wired Magazine and in IEEE Spectrum.

The Pioneer Navi Robo is a robot in the form of a crab.  It has been designed to sit on the dashboard of your car to translate the directions from your GPS into easy to interpret claw movements.

So, here it is: the crab that tells you where to go…

There’s a lot of reasons why this is one of my favourite robots of the moment. For one, of course, it’s definitely not humanoid, but maybe more important is the clever use of a form that seems non-intuitive, but works well in this context.

Here it is close up

I have always been fascinated by watching videos of crabs signaling to one another, in fact they’re even more entertaining and interesting when you watch them in real life (but you have to creep up on them or they all scuttle back home). Rather than communicating with other crabs, the Navi Robo’s claws really lend themselves to signaling the direction to take in your car. It would seem to be easy to catch sight of the robot out of the corner of your eye, while remaining primarily focused on the road. This is just a prototype, but I like the way that the crab calmly signals on the run up to the turn, and then flashes its eyes and jiggles the appropriate claw as the turn becomes imminent.

While some people might ask whether this robot would be too distracting for drivers, it is also possible to argue that by utilising peripheral vision, as opposed to encouraging the driver to focus on the GPS screen, this robot could well be a positive safety development. In addition, it might be a vital component of a GPS system for someone who is deaf or finds it difficult to hear the spoken instructions provided by most GPS systems.

Ultimately though this robot wins me over because it’s something I never expected to see, certainly not in this context, it’s just excellent!