Low-cost video chat robot

#1

Post by ztan » Sat, Feb 12, 2011, 5:16 AM UTC

Re: Low-cost video chat robot

#2

Post by tsmith » Sat, Feb 12, 2011, 5:20 AM UTC

This is the same guy that made the awesome wiimote 3d goggles (TED talk here: http://www.ted.com/talks/johnny_lee_demos_wii_remote_hacks.h... )

EDIT: Added TED talk link.

Re: Low-cost video chat robot

#3

Post by ztan » Sat, Feb 12, 2011, 5:22 AM UTC

tsmith wrote: post #2

This is the same guy that made the awesome wiimote 3d goggles (TED talk here: http://www.ted.com/talks/johnny_lee_demos_wii_remote_hacks.h... ) EDIT: Added TED talk link.

He was hired by MS and worked on the Kinect team afterwards.

Re: Low-cost video chat robot

#4

Post by martinshen » Sat, Feb 12, 2011, 5:25 AM UTC

It always amazed me that Avaya, Cisco and other Telepresence companies have not built one of these.

Re: Low-cost video chat robot

#5

Post by cambriar » Sat, Feb 12, 2011, 6:01 AM UTC

tsmith wrote: post #2

This is the same guy that made the awesome wiimote 3d goggles (TED talk here: http://www.ted.com/talks/johnny_lee_demos_wii_remote_hacks.h... ) EDIT: Added TED talk link.

Johnny Lee has put together and shared some amazing work. I remember really enjoying his Procrastineering articles.

Re: Low-cost video chat robot

#6

Post by ztan » Sat, Feb 12, 2011, 6:03 AM UTC

For those who don't know, Anybot is YC founder Trevor Blackwell's other (main) company. They are currently shipping a telepresence bot for $15000. (And my understanding is that the bot does not currently support two way video?)

Also, Yuri Milner used the Anybot for the Startup Fund announcement to all the founders in the YC office.

http://anybots.posterous.com/

Re: Low-cost video chat robot

#7

Post by fizx » Sat, Feb 12, 2011, 6:15 AM UTC

We have an anybot, and it's worth it for the levity it brings the office. You should also follow our robot on twitter.

http://twitter.com/#!/raelbot

Re: Low-cost video chat robot

#8

Post by ynniv » Sat, Feb 12, 2011, 6:19 AM UTC

Stop using the term "killer." Please. I see that this is ztan's second submission, so it seems in appropriate to blame him, but for the good of the community I refuse to upvote sensationalist linkbait titles. The article had a title, it was "Low-cost video chat robot," and that is appropriately descriptive.

Re: Low-cost video chat robot

#9

Post by gojomo » Sat, Feb 12, 2011, 6:20 AM UTC

Soon after an iPad2 with camera arrives, I'd expect similar units to be available as an iOS-dock accessory.

Re: Low-cost video chat robot

#10

Post by ztan » Sat, Feb 12, 2011, 6:24 AM UTC

fizx wrote: post #7

We have an anybot, and it's worth it for the levity it brings the office. You should also follow our robot on twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/raelbot

Do you think this $500 DIY bot would give a similar level of levity compared to the $15000 Anybot?