Hasta La Gadget!

If you happen to be at Macworld/iWorld 2013 which is happening at San Francisco, surely one of the “stars” on parade there would be the Double, which is basically a telepresence robot which relies on an iPad to function as its eyes and ears. The Double hails from Double Robotics of Sunnyvale, where it will rely on a 2nd or 3rd generation iPad (which you will need to provide yourself, of course) that has been mounted on top of a slim pole which itself is attached to another gizmo at the bottom, namely motorized wheels that perform the self-balancing act brilliantly.

The Double will tip the scales at 15-pounds, and it can be directed left, right, backward and forward from an iPhone, although we would not stop you if you have a spare iPad on hand to get the job done as well. Alternatively, there is another way to control it from a website, as long as there is a decent Internet connection in place. In a nutshell, the Double lives up to its name, being a virtual “you” at places and times where you are physically unable to be there.

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“Facetime on wheels” has been used to describe this particular telepresence robot known as Double, and just to get an idea on the kind of potential it has in the market, we are looking at a cool $1 million worth of pre-orders in just three weeks of its announcement. David Cann, the founder and CEO of Double Robotics said, “It’s a Segway for your iPad.” Basically, when you hook up an iPad to your Double, it will function as a roving telepresence device (although not on Mars). Sporting a sturdy aluminum base, urethane and plastic wheels, the Double comes with custom control systems and iOS software so that you can drive it around remotely, carry out video chats with whoever it encounters, and also help you see what the camera on your iPad picks up.

Seems to be the ideal device for one who wants to send in a “body double” for inspection purposes, and if it is capable of all-terrain movement, it would be extremely useful in investigating dangerous areas such as a collapsed mine or being of use to the military in gathering intelligence. Not only that, it helps you attend a meeting when you are unable to be there physically, although I believe that we would be more comfortable with a holographic representation like how the top Umbrella Corporation management meet instead of talking to an iPad.

Each Double unit will have a starting price of at least $1,999, and that excludes the price of the iPad, of course.

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Teleconferencing has changed the way business is conducted. Small companies can hire talent in another city, large corporations can save money by having international meetings in a conference room, and managers can keep tabs on off-site workers through services like Lua. But as technology never rests, neither does the teleconference industry, and Y Combinator-backed Double Robotics proves it.

The company has built an incredibly creative iPad stand that works as a robotic body double for you. It’s a bit like the Swivl, but built for the enterprise.

Founder David Cann tells me that the greatest competitor to the Double is Anybots — you remember, the robot that made Arrington tolerable to his employees. The biggest difference, however, is price. While Anybots can go for approximately $10,000, the Double only costs around $2,000. “We’re doing it the lean startup way,” said Cann, “rather than the traditional way of developing robotics which is very expensive and complicated.”

But how did the team circumvent such high costs and complexities, you ask?

According to Cann, they applied the same method of developing software to developing hardware, keeping the whole project under their roof. They bought a lot of their own equipment to test and develop the hardware, allowing them to iterate much more quickly than your usual hardware developer.

What’s perhaps most interesting about the origin of the Double was that it wasn’t even a glimmer in the eye of the Double Robotics founders. They were actually developing a product that required partnerships with Chinese manufacturers, and they found themselves increasingly frustrated by the fact that they couldn’t keep an eye on the project.

After learning more about mobile robots, the guys realized that they could visit the factory every day and look over the progress being made.

“We never came out with that product because we decided to pivot,” said Cann. “Mobile Robots are expensive and complicated, and we thought we could do it better.”

The Y Combinator-backed Double, as it were, can extend to 5′ or back down to 3.6′ to be in line with people standing or sitting in the room. It uses Opentok to essentially let you video chat with those people.

The Double has a dual-wheel for its base, letting you turn sharp corners and travel around a room or work site all from the comfort of your own home.

You can control the robot through any other iOS device, or through a web interface, which lets you travel throughout the room, decide which height to rest at, and of course, chat with those in the room.

As far as the future is concerned, the Double’s story is as-yet unwritten. Cann explains that they had no idea that mobile robots would be in high-demand by so many different types of users. Clients range from startups who’ve hired talent elsewhere, to major corporations, to doctors who have patients at various hospitals.

Right now the company has put the Double up for pre-order on its newly launched website for $1,999. Though, if you’re a cautious buyer, you may want to wait until Double is available for retail later this year, at the price of $2,499.

Check out how it works in the video below: