BBC_Knowledge_2014-06_Asia_100p

T

he best substitute for my

presence in the office was

the Beam. It was simple to use,

reliable and quick. Back at home

it sent back the best audio and

video from the office and at work

it felt more dynamic and stable.

But there’s a simple reason for

this: it’s nearly six times the price.

The Double is cheaper. It’s by

no means a budget device, but

it’s an affordable way to bring

telepresence to an office. It’s

more innovative than the Beam

Pro and there’s little doubt in my

mind that the Double represents

what RPDs will look like in the

future, with its clever use of

gyroscopes to stay upright. It’s

thin, relatively light and makes

no noise at all. But for now, its

reliance on the iPad remains a bit

of a weakness. The tablet’s

speaker is a little on the quiet

side and the picture from the

front-facing camera is a little

grainy, particularly in low light.

The pair of desktop devices,

the Romo and Kubi, meanwhile

are innovative, relatively low-

cost devices that provide

a convenient way to see if

telepresence will work for you.

P

robably not. Of course I had

to come back to work at

some point. While I was happy

pootling about in my robot body,

no device can permanently

replace your presence at work.

For a start, the beginning of

every conversation required a

10-minute chat just to explain

why I was a floating head on a

screen. Volume was also an

issue. At times the whole office

could hear conversations meant

for the person sat next to me;

that was until I turned down

the volume.

I was also trapped on my

floor. Stairs were my Kryptonite

and elevators killed the Wi-Fi

connection, so an escort was

needed to take the devices to

another department. While the

camera on the Beam was the

sharper of the two and had a

digital zoom, neither would

pick out fine details. The poor

video quality may have been

due to the internet bandwidth,

but it was tricky to see images

being pointed out on my

colleagues’ computers.

Then there was the inter-

action. If you’ve ever made a

video call on Skype, you’ll know

how tricky having a natural

conversation can be. With my

face beamed to a screen, there’s

none of the body language

present that people sub-

consciously read when they’re

talking. This results in stilted

chats that were tricky to

navigate. When I stopped talk-

ing, colleagues had to wait to

see if I’d finished the sentence.

Despite this, telepresence tech-

nology has come a long way

and can only get better.

THE WINNER: BEAM PRO

FINAL VERDICT

VITAL

STATS

HEIGHT:

WEIGHT:

SCREEN:

SPEED:

PRICE:

BEAM

1.6m

45kg

17-INCH LCD

0.7M/S

US$16,000

ROMO

7.6cm (body only)

800g

4-INCH IPHONE

0.3M/S

US$149

DOUBLE

1.2-1.5m

7kg WITHOUT IPAD

9-INCH IPAD

0.4M/S

US$2,499 + $299 (CHARGING DOCK)

KUBI

31cm (body only)

3kg

DEPENDS ON TABLET USED

N/A

US$499

How the telepresence

devices stack up

Can you avoid the office altogether?

How a

morning

coffee break

might look in

the future