Hands on with Double 2 telepresence robot: Better eyes, better balance

The world may live in fear of a robot uprising, but the real world of autonomy remains pretty mundane. There are virtually no robots taking office jobs, but a handful of telepresence bots are making work-life balance a little more reasonable.

One such bot, Double Robotics' Double Robot, made waves a couple of years ago for its simple setup and ease of use. Basically an iPad (an iPad 2, Air or Air 2) on a stick with a smart rolling base, Double let telecommuting office workers have a sort of physical presence in the office and meetings. Their face appears on the iPad screen while they remotely guide the robot from home. When I reviewed it a couple of years ago, I was impressed, but I did see room for improvement. Read more...