Man telecommutes by sending in a robot replacement

We've been warning of humankind's eventual obsolescence at the hands of our robot overlords as long as we can remember, so it's basically horrifying to see someone not only fail to heed our advice, but actively hasten our eventual extinction by replacing himself with a robot. Programmer Ivan Bowman works from home, but still maintains his presence in the office through the use of a bot he calls IvanAnywhere -- a clever play on his name and the name of his employer, iAnywhere. Basically a webcam-on-wheels, IvanAnywhere motors around the office, takes meetings, and even gives presentations, all while the real Ivan remains safely pantless in his home office. Actually, that sounds pretty smart -- anyone got a spare webcam?

[Via Make: Blog]

[Invisiblemoose @ Sep 6th 2007 7:46PM]

Now that's pretty awesome...

[Calviin @ Sep 7th 2007 10:13AM]

I would assume it has a base station he returns it to at night so it can charge back up for the next day. I wonder how long the batteries last without being plugged in.

[newgalactic @ Sep 6th 2007 7:48PM]

What a dork. That's really gotta piss his coworkers off. I would so not "talk to the robot" if that thing came up to me. I would so stick gum onto his stupid smug LCD face.

[Alex @ Sep 6th 2007 8:09PM]

Dude, you gotta realize though that they are probably all programmers also and are therefor extremely jealous of him.

[paul34 @ Sep 6th 2007 8:49PM]

yea... I think if I was working there I would've laughed my butt off and thought it was so cool.

Because it is.

[Pc_Madness @ Sep 6th 2007 9:58PM]

Or put some gum on the camera lens :p

[Javi0084 @ Sep 6th 2007 8:06PM]

Thats neat but now he has no excuse to miss meetings!! He didn't think about that, did he?

[Invisiblemoose @ Sep 6th 2007 8:11PM]

Because it's so difficult to pilot a robot into a conference room...

Besides, he could always zip out to the kitchen for a sandwich... Mmm..

[Irwin @ Sep 6th 2007 8:19PM]

he should make more and sell em'
whose down?

[ZRX @ Sep 6th 2007 8:54PM]

LOL....I get this visual image of 6 robots getting jammed in the doorway of the meeting room as they all try to get through the door at the same time.

[Michael @ Sep 6th 2007 9:09PM]

Why stop at one? I'd have at least 6 of them . . . all looking like daleks.

[Invisiblemoose @ Sep 6th 2007 11:55PM]

Lol... Nice.

[K-Canuck @ Sep 6th 2007 9:38PM]

That guy better watch out and not spill his "Timmy's" :D

Hmmm... wonder what happens when the bot turns its back. Just think of the fun you could have with your coworkers if they were all robots (well... even more so)?!

[stevo @ Sep 6th 2007 10:03PM]

Or you could just hire a guy to do the same thing like George Bluth did.

[Campbell @ Sep 6th 2007 10:04PM]

From the Makezine website "IvanAnywhere has even attended company parties"

That has to be the single most pathetic thing I've heard this year...

[BananaBoat @ Sep 6th 2007 11:30PM]

This man is a pioneer in the field of lazy. Not only does he neglect to come in for work himself; he made the robot out of a cardboard box. Solid Snake would be envious of his work in transforming an ordinary cardboard box into a world class item. I salute you, you lazy mother.

[NovaLand @ Sep 7th 2007 12:24AM]

I'd do a pre-rendering of my face, doing "the paperclip" while being idle. There's no need for them else to see my ugly face all the time. Besides, i'd be able to not sit at my desk at home all the time to prove i'm really working.

[Daniel @ Sep 7th 2007 8:39AM]

So if Ivan stays at home, who plugs in the robot for charging?

[JK @ Sep 7th 2007 9:33AM]

Better article here:
http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/236315

"Like the other employees on the floor, IvanAnywhere has his own office of sorts, a notch behind a cubicle with some batteries and a sign reminding the last person in the office to plug the robot in before leaving.

IvanAnywhere's batteries need to be recharged daily, a fact forgotten by his co-workers on at least one occasion.

"I was wandering the halls at night looking for somebody to plug me in," Bowman says."

[Fruition @ Sep 7th 2007 12:09PM]

If the guy can build a robot replacement, can't he build a self-serve charger? Just make some metal contacts on the bottom of the robot, then have a base station with contacts on top and a ramp leading up to it.

[Pauly @ Sep 7th 2007 10:49AM]

Looks like the virtual Dr. - aka Dr Roboto.
A docotor who visits patients from his home office via robot.

http://www.robotliving.com/2007/05/22/paging-dr-roboto/

[James @ Sep 7th 2007 3:56PM]

OK, I'm *positive* I remember seeing something that looked like a professional version of this (e.g. no cardboard or tape) in a movie or TV show, where (I think) the boss of the office telecommutes via a rolling robot with a screen and a webcam, but for the life of me I can't remember what the show (or movie) was. People laugh at him behind the robot's back, or something... man, this is gonna kill me...

Help?

[Falcon98 @ Sep 7th 2007 9:52PM]

I think this guy has the right idea. What percentage of people do you think can work from home without a decrease in productivity? I would hazard a guess that it is a largish percentage. Perhaps even with an overall increase in productivity.

Short sighted people seem to think that this is a lazy mans tool. I disagree, this is a smart reponsible company that is paving the way for a better future for us all.

The problem with the world is that we have all this technology but few people actually know how to use it correctly.

The benifits I see from this are:
* Saved floor space at a physical company site. Saving the company money.
* Saved petrol emissions from driving to work. Not just for this individual but all the other people who can get to work faster because this guy has his car in the garage.
* Employers could offer a slightly reduced remunneration package for a employee to work from home. There are big savings for the employee.
* The employee saves time and money be being able to eat from home and not from take away stores. Potential health benifits.
* Decrease the risk of spreading infections disease. eg. Flu
* More time with the family. I don't need to lay out the benifits here.

The list goes on...

It is about time employers start looking at employees not as bludgers that wont work if left to their own devices, but responsible workers who are mature enough to work from home unsupervised.

You can always sack them if they are found abusing the freedom that WFH (Work from Home) allows. I would be first in line to take the idiot who lost his jobs place.

How about the added and potentially best benifit. It pretty much makes that pesky micro-manager boss a thing of the past. They could be replaced with productivity software.

"Too many Chiefs and not enought Indians" ring a bell.

[Rosstafari @ Sep 8th 2007 4:13AM]

Oh man. I can't stop laughing at the name of it, IvanAnywhere. It's such a generically brilliant choice. Can't wait to make one of these to set up with an automated script that'll go around and do some busywork for me while I sleep in.