MantaroBot telepresence robot works via Skype, offends our aesthetic sensibilities

We don’t see much in this space from Mantaro, an engineering and development company that usually works on things like network management systems and switches for telecoms. That’s why we were pleasantly surprised when the company announced an affordable telepresence robot . How affordable, you ask? Well, in a marketplace where these things can easily cost well over ten grand, MantaroBot can be yours for a cut-rate $3,500. Unfortunately, in a marketplace where these things can easily cost over ten grand, MantaroBot also looks like it cost a cut-rate $3,500. But you know what? Sometimes one must choose function over form. And what you get here is pretty straightforward: the remote operator steers the robot and communicates using a Skype plug-in (PC only) that also allows 180 degree panning and tilting of the onboard HD camera. This bad boy also features infrared sensors for obstacle detection, communication link monitoring (if you go offline, MantaroBot stops in its place) and more. Available now. PR after the break. Continue reading MantaroBot telepresence robot works via Skype, offends our aesthetic sensibilities MantaroBot telepresence robot works via Skype, offends our aesthetic sensibilities originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 10:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Posted by on December 7, 2010. Filed under News, Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry