San Jose, Calif. – I got a unique opportunity at the recently concluded Cisco Editor’s Day to have a live interview with a robot. It’s my first.
Watch the video and let me know what you think.
The robot is called the AVA 500 and it was built by iRobot Corp. of Bedford, Mass. Doing the talking is Justin through an integrated Cisco TelePresence EX60 unit mounted on top. The robot’s main purpose is for video-conferencing using an H.323/SIP with 1080p resolution.
Justin was in another room controlling the AVA 500 with iPad, but he could have been anywhere in the world. AVA 500 does need to be charged.
Some of the uses we talked about are for healthcare, education and in the office. The robot is smart enough not to get itself into trouble with an embedded security encryption and Cisco’s Aironet 1600 wireless access point connectivity.
iRobot was founded in 1990 by the robotics team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It uses a Roomba navigation system, which you might remember can clean your floor.
The AVA 500 is available through Cisco certified solution providers so there is a channel opportunity here. The company has a formal channel partner program with joint marketing tools, demand generation, technical training, deal registration and a partner portal site.
iRobot is positioning the AVA 500 with Cisco TelePresence as new way to gain personal freedom of collaboration within a workforce.
