Last week I had a chance to see one of iRobot’s latest products in action. Our CTO injured his back camping and was unable to fly to Massachusetts for an important strategic planning meeting. Instead, he attended via Ava, our remote telepresence robot. He “walked” about the front of the room and “looked back and forth” across the audience as he gave his 45-minute presentation from the comfort of his office in Pasadena. Until now, I have assumed that the value proposition of this robot would be autonomous mobility (just tell it where the meeting is supposed to be and it navigates there all by itself). Now, however, I have come to fully appreciate how the humanoid dimensions and ability to move and look around while presenting create a much more immersive and engaging experience. I wonder if I could attend the next offsite from say Barbados using Ava.