Goodbye Commutes: Telepresence Robots Are Taking Off

Don't be surprised if you begin to see robots rolling down the hallway of your child's elementary school. "Remote presence" technology has been around for several years, but it is becoming more and more popular in educational settings as a solution for sick children who physically cannot go to school. This past week, the New York Times featured a school in South Carolina where a 9-year-old with an immune deficiency disease uses a VGo robot to attend class without leaving her bedroom.

The VGo robot features two-way video so children can see the classroom and vice-versa, while the machine is powered via WiFi. It's about four feet tall and weighs under twenty pounds, and looks much like a Segway with a video screen displaying the child's face. The children control the machine by mouse from a home computer, and can flash lights on the robot to signify that they have a question.

VGo is a New Hampshire-based company that launched in 2007, but has grown in popularity since being featured in a Verizon ad in the most recent Super Bowl. The Times said that at least 50 students across the country are using the bots, each with a price tag of roughly $7,000 (including maintenance fees).

The machines were originally being purchased by business executives and doctors to monitor offices while traveling, but recently more and more schools have received funding from state or local government to purchase the VGos to aid the sick and disabled. Education officials in Huntsville, Texas, for example, have started a program called Morgan's Angel in which they've already purchased five robots (with a goal of five more before 2014).

VGo is not the only company in the telepresence robot game. InTouch Health Inc. and Suitable Technology have each created their own version, respectively called the RP-6 and The Beam. The Beam was unveiled at the most recent SXSW and received the title "Most Terrifying Thing At SXSW" by The Huffington Post, as this robot's ad makes it seem more like a watchdog or Big Brother machine, rather than a good-intentioned tool to help individuals. The video for The Beam (below) even demonstrates the robot sneaking up on employees, Roomba-style, before the remote boss surprises them by asking a question via speakers.

The RP-6, as well as InTouch Health's other products like the RP-Vita and RP-Express, are specifically used by doctors to consult patients from remote locations. The neurosurgery department at UCLA has engaged in a project funded by the USArmy Medical Research and Material Command (as well as the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center) to implement the RP-6, and see if it improves communication and information retrieval for doctors on the move.

Dr. Neil Martin, chief of neurosurgery at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, said in an article published on UCLA's neuroscience website, "We recognize that leveraging the health care expert's time offers the possibility of improved patient care, reduced length of stay and cost savings…we are able to monitor and access our patients anytime from our homes and offices in a way not previously possible."

Can a robot touch your lymph nodes to see if you have mono? Not yet. But, say an emergency starts in the middle of the night when a surgeon is not in the hospital. InTouch's products could allow a doctor to quickly access a medical situation and recommend action even if he or she is not there to perform an operation.

These education and medical drones are already dropping in price and improving in technology. There are still flaws—cost, the need to have network access, mobility—but don't be surprised if you see a robot spinning around in your local school play.