Video chat apps like Skype or Apple's FaceTime are great, but they all share the same limitation: you don't have any say in where the webcam on the other end is pointed. Enter the Double, a $2,000 robotic iPad stand, similar in design to a Segway scooter, which transfers perspective control to the other end of a call.
Here's how it works: the remote iPad, which initiates the call, has a control interface overlay to manage the Double's movement and orientation. The iPad mounted on the Double display's the driver's face on its screen while streaming live video back.
It's compatible with any iPad with a front-facing camera. The height is remotely adjustable from four to five feet, and the developers claim its Lithium Ion battery will last up to eight hours, as long as you let the built in kick-stand down occasionally to let the auto-balance system rest.
The designers at Double Robotics see their creation as a business and education tool. They suggest using it for everything from conference calls to museum visits to college campus tours. It all reminded us of that Arrested Development episode with Larry the surrogate.
Someone with a bit more imagination might send the Double to a bar to deliver pickup lines without risking a drink to the face. Better yet: scare people! A mobile eye-level iPad probably looks exactly like a disembodied head in the dark. Or wheel it up real close to the fisheye peephole on someone's front door for the ultimate ding-dong-ditch.
How would you use a $2,000 iPod rover? Let us know in the comments.
Jon Fox is a Seattle hipster who loves polar bears and climbing trees. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.
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