

Facetime + iPad + Segway = Virtual Physical Presence - quizbiz
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jaysonelliot
We use VGo telepresence robots at our company right now; there are a few other
companies in the space as well.

An engineer from Google has semi-famously made a nice homebrew rig with an
iRobot base and a netbook: [http://procrastineering.blogspot.com/2011/02/low-
cost-video-...](http://procrastineering.blogspot.com/2011/02/low-cost-video-
chat-robot.html)

I'm guessing this unit would run around 12-15k as a product, based on the
hardware involved. Right now, the VGo, which I consider the best solution on
the market, costs $6k per robot.

The big advantage I'd see from a Segway-based solution would be stability and
driveability.

What's really needed is better peripheral vision and A/V qualities - not
something the iPad can deliver right now, but something I think this kind of
rig would really do well if it had.

