This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
If you watched Stephen Colbert Tuesday night, you were introduced to what has to be the most comically inane piece of technology ever made.
It's the Double Robotics Telepresence Robot. It's a robot designed to be at your work while you telecommute from home. It looks and moves like a small Segway, but it has an iPad on the top that runs a live video feed of you from home. You use a second iPad to remotely control the robot, and it also broadcasts your face to others in the office. You then can steer the robot through the hallways and greet people, attend meetings, even talk about how bad last night's episode of "Homeland" was at the office watercooler. I suppose you could even go into the restroom and chat it up with the guy in the urinal next to you. Your boss never has to complain that you're not in the office enough.
This contraption is like a scene out of a sitcom.
Take a look at the company's video of the Telepresence Robot.
Now here's the video of Colbert's hilarious look at Double Robotics' invention.
Oh, and did I just say that it's like a scene out of a sitcom. Actually, there was something like it on "The Big Bang Theory."
— Vince Horiuchi