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The quarantines and lockdowns this year have changed the way we interact with each other: a lot less time sitting across from each other at the same table, and a lot more time seeing each other on screens. I imagine that even after this is all over and things return to normal (fingers crossed), a lot of businesses will have discovered the benefits of allowing employees to work from home-videochat may continue to be one of the ways we connect with each other.
So, why not make it a little more interesting?
Ross Atkin designed the Smartipresence, a telepresence robot that you assemble yourself, now on Kickstarter. It’s an expansion to the Smartibot, which he successfully funded two years ago. I got to try out samples of the Smartibot and the Smartipresence, so here’s a quick look at how they work.
We’ll start with the Smartibot, which is available now from the Crafty Robot website for £55 (about $72 USD). The kit comes with three sheets of cardboard to build different configurations: the regular Smartibot, the Unicorn, and the Teabot (which can hold a mug of tea). There’s the circuit board that’s the brains of the outfit, plus a battery box, two motors, two small screwdrivers, and the various screws and nuts to assemble it, along with a few other bits like rubber bands for the wheels.
