iRobot ConnectR ~ You're Never Far Away

As far as we can tell, iRobot is the first company to put a visiting robot on the market. The iRobot ConnectR is marketed as a virtual visiting platform that hooks into your wireless PC network and lets people direct it from far away, so they can use its audiovisual capabilities to interact with others without visiting them face to face. Remember those little rovers still running around on Mars? Kind of like those, only closer, and you don't have to worry about a time-lag.

The ConnectR is absurdly easy to use. All you have to do is download some software and follow some simple instructions on the receiving end, and you're in business; the robot even includes an audio presentation to run you through the process. The person controlling the robot from afar just downloads a simple program that lets them use a mouse, joystick, or keyboard to drive the robot. So if Grandma wants to talk to the kiddos, she doesn't have to leave the house -- all she has to do is link into your ConnectR unit. Or if you're five thousand miles away on a business trip, you can monitor the activities of your pets when they're least expecting it.

These are the kinds of tasks iRobot has built the ConnectR for, but we think we're safe in saying that meeting-prone businesses are also likely to buy into the coming ConnectR craze. Here's why. As most of us know, traveling by airplane has become a real pain in the rear; security's painfully tight and slow, customer service is starting to decline again, and prices are going ever upward. Between airfare, car rental, and room and board, a single business trip can cost hundreds of dollars -- or more. So why not break out an iRobot ConnectR or two at the destination, and meet up virtually instead of paying for face-time? The ConnectR is cheaper than many virtual meeting systems, and unlike most of those you can move around and look at different people, zoom in on specific items or faces, and make your presence felt as something more than a face on a screen or a distant voice on the phone.

Please note that the ConnectR is the newest iRobot product, and only a few have been made available for this year's Pilot Program. Sadly, other customers have already snapped them up. However, the ConnectR has proved so popular that iRobot's doubtless revving up production right now. We'll let you know when you can get one.

November 2008: Latest updates are in green.

On to part fourteen:

• The Age of Roboticus
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