As readers of my blog know, I'm a big fan of flexible work arrangements , virtual presentations, and telepresence.
One limitation of all these approaches is that you lose the "over the cubicle effect" - the ability to wander around the office and chat with your colleagues.
The Texai robot is an attempt to merge teleconferencing with mobility and it's under development at Willow Garage . I encourage you to watch this video demonstration.
The project began as a solution to a problem. Two Willow Garage engineers, Dallas Goecker and Curt Meyers, working 2000 miles apart, needed a more efficient method of interacting and collaborating throughout the day. Skype and conference calls hindered the casual conversations more representative of day-to-day, in-person interactions around the office. Seeking a better solution, Dallas and Curt applied their knowledge of building battle bots and the PR2 to create Texai.
A teleconferencing solution that enables you to wander from meeting to meeting and cubicle to cubicle without having to worry about Skype, Webex, or ISDN lines. That's cool!
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