Beam Yourself to Work in a Remote-Controlled Body

Another innovation of Beam is that it has two Wi-Fi radios, so it can connect to two wireless networks at the same time. That removes the problems of "hopping" between the multiple Wi-Fi networks present in a typical workplace, says Hassan, which can cause breaks in video and audio streams. When Beam moves toward the edge of one network's range and into that of another, its spare radio connects to the new signal while the first keeps working, allowing an instant handoff, says Hassan.

Beam also has a wide-angle camera to reduce the tunnel vision effect of looking at the world through a regular camera, and a second camera that allows the pilot to see around the unit's base. An array of six microphones, including some on the rear of the Beam's screen, allow for noise-canceling so the distant pilot can hear clearly. It also allows the user to hear voices to the unit's side and rear, useful in group situations.

Suitable Technologies got started after Willow Garage hired an engineer that lives in Indiana and built a prototype roving telepresence system called Texai to make it easier for him to communicate with colleagues at the company's labs in Menlo Park. Before long he was wheeling up to his own desk every day, and several other companies expressed interest in the design (see our profile of Leila Takayama, a social science researcher who researched how to make that prototype better suited to social interactions). That engineer now works at Suitable Technologies, and commutes using a prototype of the product launched today. Research on Texai continues at Willow Garage—for example, into how to give it the ability to correct an operator's steering when the unit's about to run into something.

AI, robotics, Suitable Technologies, telepresence, Willow Garage

View the Original article