-With two eyes, two wheels, a sphere shaped head and a long neck, Anybots' Cubie Robot is strikingly humanlike and is designed to go where people go.
-So here it is.
This is the Cubie, right?
-Correct.
This is the Cubie.
It's ultra mobile telepresence unit that you control via browser.
-Hi.
Good to see you.
-And it allows you to be present without having to physically be at some place.
-So you can be working at home while the Cubie is your
eyes and ears at an office.
Miles or even continents away.
-He walks in, attends with me for a little bit, can hear what's going on, can speak, can see who's there.
He controls his own movement.
-While Anybots' $10,000 Cubie might be well suited for businesses, smaller, cheaper bots are also being developed for consumers.
There is Motrr's Galileo, Romotive's Romo, and Claire Delaunay's Botiful.
-Can I go back to my side?
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Delaunay is bringing her idea to reality in her Silicon Valley garage.
-So, I have an invention, it's a small telepresence robot.
It walks with your cellphone and it use Skype as a way to call the robot and to move on the other environment.
-Delaunay says her bot targets families with small children who can't stand still long enough for a conversation with the grandparent in front of the computer webcam.
-I really designed Botiful to be a like a cute tiny mole that you can have into your house.
-Delaunay is seeking funding to bring her idea to reality through the
entrepreneurial website Kickstarter.
Eventually, she plans on pricing her bots at $300 or less.
-We finally reach a technological brand where their hardware is finally like cheap to do this kind of gadget.
Can see?
-Yes I can see.
-In the not too distant future, robots like these could be rolling up to the boardroom or the dining room.
In Silicon Valley, I'm Kara Tsuboi, CNET.com for CBS News.
