iRobot's RP-VITA mobile telepresence robot iPad app eyes-on (video)
It's a mouthful, we know, but the gist of the below video is this: a few months back, iRobot unveiled RP-VITA, a teleconferencing robot with a rolling base. The company's got all sorts of plans for the 'bot, but is starting things off with medical applications. It's co-branded the device with InTouch Health, positioning it as a method for allowing doctors to tend to patients remotely. An iRobot employee took RP-VITA for a spin around InTouch's Southern California mock hospital location, courtesy of an iPad at the robotics company's Bedford, MA location.
The interface appears to be quite user-friendly -- just touch a location and RP-VITA starts driving, using its sensors to avoid obstacles along the way as a video feed show you where you're going. Once you reach a patient, you can tap on their image to interact with them (in the case of the dummies in the demo, however, that was easier said than done, of course). Along the bottom, the app offers the doctor large, easy-to-read vitals.
Check out a full video of the demo after the break.
