
Telepresence Robots – An Interview With Double Robotics - MintChocoisEw
https://hackernoon.com/telepresence-robots-are-the-future-for-remote-workers-an-interview-with-double-robotics-0t7b30iw
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davidw
Reminded of this article in The Economist:
[https://www.economist.com/technology-
quarterly/2013/03/09/yo...](https://www.economist.com/technology-
quarterly/2013/03/09/your-alter-ego-on-wheels)

With this hilarious closing paragraph:

> A telepresence robot sheathed in rubbery skin is being sold to researchers
> by Japan’s Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International.
> Resembling an androgynous and legless child with short, handless arms,
> Telenoid, as it is called, is essentially a large humanoid phone. The idea
> is that lonely grandparents “feel the human presence” of relatives who speak
> through it while remotely moving its head and other body parts, says the
> project’s leader, Hiroshi Ishiguro. But this creepy robot is unlikely to
> catch on outside Japan, says Timo Kaerlein, a German researcher who studied
> Telenoid on a visit to Kyoto. One observer described it as a nightmarish,
> fetus-like “demon-spawn”. By comparison, having your disembodied boss drive
> up to your desk for a quick chat seems reassuringly normal.

~~~
delecti
Without subscribing I can't see the paragraph you copied, so I can't tell if
there's an image with it, but there needs to be. I thought surely
"nightmarish, fetus-like “demon-spawn”" was hyperbole. It is not.

[https://www.google.com/search?q=Telenoid&client=firefox-b-1-...](https://www.google.com/search?q=Telenoid&client=firefox-b-1-d&sxsrf=ACYBGNRJRQia246jegTHfcveEWe70cZg5A:1570820611877&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjSnc7k8pTlAhUNs54KHa7RDVUQ_AUIESgB&biw=1812&bih=984)

~~~
davidw
And the videos are even worse.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7t4uczfbZY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7t4uczfbZY)

I would not be surprised to see it attack someone and then Bruce Campbell pops
out and slices it up with his chainsaw.

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NeedMoreTea
Hoo boy. This seems to be the worst aspects of the Bobiverse[1] without any of
the benefits. If my future is to be an iPad on a stick, can I at least get to
go to the stars? :)

[1] We Are Legion, Dennis E Taylor - _thoroughly recommended,_ along with his
other SciFi.

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y-c-o-m-b
I like some of the applications of this product, but as a long term remote
worker this seems kind of silly to use for remote IT work.

Video calls through Slack have worked really well and I find it motivates
people to do some preliminary research before they reach out; as opposed to
inter-office interactions where co-workers might inconsiderately interrupt
work frequently with trivial questions.

I would think a virtual office environment in VR would be another (and
cheaper) strategy for this, but I understand wearing headgear for extended
periods of time comes with some consequences.

I do think this is a good step forward in terms of technological progress
however.

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eloisant
No, I don't think I need a robot on wheels to roam the office and join a
meeting room when I can just join a video call.

All the tech for remote work is here already, all we need is a change in
mentality to get wider acceptance of remote work.

~~~
nilkn
Even with Zoom, Slack, BlueJeans, etc., there's an incredible amount of
communication fidelity lost compared to in-person meetings. Running effective
and productive in-person meetings is already hard enough and something that
many companies struggle or fail at; adding in all this other imperfect
technology to facilitate remote meetings makes it even harder. And this is
assuming you've got the logistics of using the software down perfectly. If
you're fumbling around with the software even once or twice a week to get a
meeting off the ground, you're even further behind in-person teams.

~~~
hrktb
> incredible amount of communication fidelity lost compared to in-person
> meetings.

Yes, but is it critical ?

Do you really need that high fidelity interaction everyday of the week, all
month ?

I feel a lot of strategies can be used to mitigate the need for that much
bandwidth and hi-fi interactions. There’s orgs where some people working
together only meet once a week or once a month.

If I remember well github teams only physically meet once every many months.

There are of course downsides to that, but the upsides (e.g. living a healthy
life) can compensate them largely enough.

~~~
anon9001
It's critical for politicking with people that don't internet so good. As a
remote worker, that's the main thing I can't do. Some people can only form
connections in person.

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atonse
And what happens when there are more telepresence robots than actual people?
Is there even any point to having that office?

This is one of those things that'll get even more silly, the more popular it
gets.

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hamaluik
So many nay-sayers here. At my previous job we actually owned 2 of these
robots, and although a bit gimmicky they worked great for us for a few
reasons:

1) It was surprising how much more engaged and engaging someone was when
connected to a meeting than on a typical video conference screen hidden in a
small corner. People who connected "on the double" paid way more attention to
meetings, and when they had something to contribute, people paid them more
attention.

2) We could get up and start writing / brainstorming on physical whiteboards
we had set up around the meeting rooms and remote guests could move around and
inspect the ideas in a much more natural way (the caveat of course being that
they couldn't scribble too, but this rarely seemed to be a problem)

3) We also ran a lab, and we could easily give tours to remote guests of our
lab and office space, something that would have been awkward at best in any
other way, and at least one tour we gave this way brought in far more money
than the robot cost

4) It was a very handy way to check in on things at the lab—student needs help
with something late at night? Sign in to the double and go look at what's
going on. Something triggered a security alarm but our security cameras
couldn't quite reach? Connect on the double and go investigate.

There were of course downsides—some people seemed incapable of driving the
robot, and it wasn't great at crossing the threshold between carpet and lino
(someone once managed to tip the robot over), but overall it was quite
successful.

------
carapace
I worked at a place that had a "BeamPro", it was alright. More fun and
convenient than video conferencing.

[https://www.suitabletech.com/products/beam-
pro](https://www.suitabletech.com/products/beam-pro)

From the title, I thought this might be about tele-operators for litter-bots
to pick up litter or something.

------
narrator
There's also the Human Uber[1] which is a human with an IPAD on their face
going around the office for you.

[1][https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/paq7xb/human-uber-ipad-
ma...](https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/paq7xb/human-uber-ipad-masks-vgtrn)

~~~
nootropicat
Is this a joke? It's hard to think of anything more dehumanizing than this.

------
mhandley
Anybots had telepresence robots up and running back in 2009, several years
before Double Robotics was founded:
[https://anybots.com/](https://anybots.com/)

While the technology is interesting, it doesn't really seem to have taken the
world by storm.

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hn_throwaway_99
Yes, a lot of this is marketing, but I'm a little surprised all the naysayers
here don't really address any of the issues brought up in the video. That is,
the benefit of having more spontaneous conversations (if desired), the
"talking to you vs. talking over you" that happens in conf calls, the ability
for the remote person to move and manipulate the robot to get a better view
(has no one had the "wait just a minute Bob, we know you can't see the
whiteboard right now, but we'll send you a picture when we're done" experience
in a meeting?)

I'd be more interested to hear the experiences of people who've actually used
something like this than the folks who are summarily dismissing it without
giving it much thought.

~~~
pault
I worked remotely for a company in SF that had one of these robots. I mostly
used it to play games with people by chasing them through the hallway. When I
did park it in the corner of the room people would either forget it was there
or get distracted by it and start giggling. I guess if there were one for each
worker and they were used regularly it would provide the benefit of being able
to overhear office conversations, but the microphone had a really hard time
picking up conversations that weren't immediately next to it, and honestly one
of the things I like about remote work is not having to listen to my co-
workers talking about their keto diet.

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DaggerDagger
Robot on a stick doesn't do alot. I speak from experience using a telepresence
robot at work to interact with my boss. It's basically a walking tablet that
can't really navigate because it's wrapped in a consumer toy grade vehicle
system to meet price point. Just pay an intern to hold a phone up and walk
around. I agree that telepresence is the future of remote work, and by work I
mean physically moving atoms around not just using social media to exchange
information. The trick is creating reliable and efficient robotic systems that
are actually suitable to the types of work needed. Thats not so easy and why I
work in robotics. Lots of problems to solve.

~~~
jvolkman
The boss bot should be a drone so that it can hover.

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sebringj
This is just silly. It is a transition idea of an old paradigm to a new world
where people are lagging behind. If nothing else, we are going to be in
virtual spaces / augmented ones where amazing visuals / interactions can
happen. They certainly cannot happen in this pitiful looking stick on wheels
with an ipad. It dehumanizes the person on the stick and just looks stupid.
Come on.

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scblock
Based on what? What a manufacturer of said robots claims?

This is nothing more than marketing fluff.

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Sangama34
Communication remains the hardest problem in Software Engineering and despite
all the I do not think remote = onsite is the same thing. We might reach there
in 2-3 years but today is not that time.

I have worked as a remote engineers and have hired remote engineers. There are
scaling issues and then there are life satisfaction issues. While many people
think that being with their families and familiar location might be good for
them it does not turn out to be the same.

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segmondy
No they're not. This is a solution looking for a problem. If you're going to
control a robot in the office, you better be controlling it to do actual
physical work like adding paper to the printer or something of that manner.
Video conference is the future of remote work for communication, what most
people haven't figured out is a good process/flow to make it effective.

------
jvolkman
My office has stairs.

~~~
cbames89
One of the labs that I visit frequently has Beams for people to use. They've
been on a multi-year kick to make the lab "Beam-able." That means, no
extension cords, no floor outlets, no ramps, or edges on the floor of any
kind. While in theory the ability to move around should make the interaction
better, it seems that the mobility is so poor, that people generally get to
one location and then just stop trying because it took so much effort to get
there. It's also hugely distracting if someone is in a beam trying to get a
better view because the inevitably run into something, or get stuck, and then
need help. Elevators also turn out to be pretty big traps.

~~~
jvolkman
This sounds so comical, but I imagine it gets old fast.

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poutrathor
A bit disappointed that nobody talks about the environmental impact.

Remote work --> good, better than commuting.

Telepresence Robots --> horrible, one more battery powered, electronic filled,
2 years life span manufactured thing.

We have to learn to use LESS material things.

------
buboard
This thing might be good for a hospital or sth, but remote work is not at all
about remote-controlled bots. There are plety of conferencing tools doing a
better job of providing presence.

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pwinnski
...says a company making telepresence robots, aka iPads on sticks.

Hard pass.

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yumraj
A thought experiment:

If the entire team is remote then does it make sense for the company to rent a
room, say 1 per team, and fill it with such robots, 1 per person for social
interaction?

I'm assuming the answer is no.

What about a team where everyone except 1 person is remote, does it make sense
to have this for everyone and put it in the room with the non-remote person?

I believe the answer is still no.

Continuing...

Now, how about if half the team is remote? I'm assuming the answer is still
no.

Continuing....

Then, how about the entire team is on-site, except 1 person. Do we need a
robot for 1 person who is remote?

If the answer is still no, then there is no need for such a product.

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anotherevan
While reading the article, I envisaged a comedy sketch with a lavish office
entirely populated by telepresence robots.

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zwieback
They are just too goofy, maybe putting a pair of Google Glass on each robot
would make them more appealing?

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kemiller
No, office work will take on more of the practices of remote work, not the
other way around.

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imsofuture
Yeah, don't think so.

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correlator
I hope not.

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scotth
yeah, right

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anm89
nah

