Forget about waiting in line for security checks, the mad rush to board or sitting in the cramped space of economy for hours, Japan’s biggest airline is hoping to reinvent travel by developing a telepresence robot that could fly in your place.
Story by Sasha Brady, Lonely Planet
All Nippon Airways (ANA) recently unveiled a telepresence robot called Newme that allows people to travel without actually having to to board a plane. Newme, which stands about 1.5 metres high and looks like an iPad on wheels, has the capability to transmit high-definition 2k video that lets its user see and interact with the bot’s surroundings in a way that allows them to feel present without leaving home.
Newme comes with customisable body accessories that can be adjusted to suit the user’s needs for more fluid control, adding more mobility and adaptability than traditional video conferencing. So say you have a work conference in another city where you really need to be present but you don’t want to travel and leave the kids, just put on your VR headset, grab the controllers and send the bot to network in your place.
