iRobot/Business WireThe company most well known for automated vacuum cleaners has been cleared by the FDA to use its latest robotic solution in hospitals , but not for the reason you might think. No, the RP-VITA won’t be taking any jobs from janitors; instead, this Remote Presence Robot will be able to stand in when doctors can’t be on location.
According to iRobot, the RP-VITA is able to move around entirely autonomously, mapping its own environment on the go and avoiding collisions as it travels from one patient’s room to the next. Doctors can access the robot’s interface through an iPad, which means checking up on a patient is virtually always possible.
This isn’t the first “remote presence solution” being employed in the hospital. In fact, remote surgery has been common all around the world for about ten years, but if this trend continues, the efficiency and the speed of a hospital visit could increase exponentially.
Hook a Nintendo 64 up to this thing and it might just win the Nobel Peace Prize. You can have that one, iRobot, but any more ideas from this think tank will cost you!
[Business Wire via Gizmodo]
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