Robotic Presence For a Telecommuter 186
McGregorMortis writes "Ivan lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and telecommutes to work in Waterloo, Ontario. But in meetings, speaker-phones suck: can't hear everybody, can't move around, no visual contact. So Ivan made an IvanAnywhere robot to give him a physical presence in the office. If Ivan wants to talk to a coworker, he just steers radio-controlled IvanAnywhere into that person's office for a chat."
Wow! Isn't Ivan beautiful!! (Score:1, Funny)
Fun and non-productive uses for this: (Score:5, Funny)
Anyone else some suggestions?
Re:Fun and non-productive uses for this: (Score:5, Funny)
Btw, the captcha for this message was "wasted". Did the server already know what I was about to post when I clicked Reply?
Re:Visitors (Score:4, Funny)
Well maybe, but next time, please lock the door before you begin your "meeting". And perhaps you could use a bit more "paperwork" to clean up afterwards. The rest of us don't want to think about your "Powerpoint", bloody or otherwise...
Bowman, eh? (Score:3, Funny)
Old fashioned (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Video conferencing no use? (Score:5, Funny)
Here, let me draw you a picture of the pertinent bits: I could probably care less about the gossip, but it would require a conscious effort, and I don't really care, so...
Anyway, back to surfing bad ASCII pr0n!
A great way to separate dull people and nerds (Score:3, Funny)
A robot with a screen and speakers is not very different than a real human (you can guess how I see humans and how much I value social contact, can't you?) and in fact sometimes you may prefer to interact with the robot rather than the actual person (especially if your coworkers are dull). Perhaps robots like this will encourage companies to send all dull people out of office and let their robots at the office, or (preferably) send the nerds at their homes. Either way will increase productivity, as mixing nerds and dull people in the same group is not a way to work harmoniously:
Re:Erm... (Score:5, Funny)
We did already try using an AIBO and putting it on the table in our conference room, it was rather amusing, and also worked well (they have a speaker, camera and Wi-Fi built in, so you can control it and talk through it, was pretty cool). Shame that one of the managers just left it lying on its charger for 2 years and knackered the battery.. he should have just given it to me to take home!
Re:Fun and non-productive uses for this: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Fun and non-productive uses for this: (Score:5, Funny)
2 - Bite my shiny metal ass!
Re:Video conferencing no use? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Fun and non-productive uses for this: (Score:3, Funny)
(Waving robotic arms in air) "Warning! Warning! Danger! Danger!"
Re:Let's put it this way (Score:4, Funny)
Re:That's really an avatar! (Score:2, Funny)