Telepresence on the Rise?

[WanderingGaze22]

Due to the pandemic being around for so long and having to constantly wear masks, I remembered years ago, a company made a mobile virtual presence device which allows its user to communicate with via camera and be able to move it remotely like a drone. Do you believe society will incorporate such technology into our way of life? What exactly are the upsides of operating a mobile camera from your home? What are the downsides? Say it does succeed in winning people over, will it really affect parts of daily life such as shopping? Seeing as some cities are considering using automated stores already like the one in this article, it wouldn't be difficult to adapt would it?

https://www.grocerydive.com/news/meet-t ... re/597002/

[Sculptor1]

Are you talking about the tech that put a tablet on top of a robot with the remote person's real time video playing who could command the "robot" to help him examine and move around the environment?
Its a silly tech and the reason it has not been adopted, even in these times of covid, is because it is a solution looking for a problems that does not exist.
Remote contact exists in the form of Skype, and Zoom. I imagine this type of tech will increase in quality, perhaps moving to 3D where it look like people were in the room. This is more likely since the host envirnoment is not inconvienienced by a dumb robot cluttering up the place. The host environment can switch off the visitor as necessary and provide 3D tours where appropriate.
I recall Asimov's "The Naked Sun" where people only communicate this way and rarely physically interact. Their planet is very low population and each person has a large estate operated by serving robots.
There were severe psychological differences to Bailey the visiting earthman who, by contrast was used to over populated underground existence.

[WanderingGaze22]

So basically, operating a drone to take our place for menial task such as shopping would prove to be unproductive. What are your thoughts on automated supermarkets BTW?

[Sculptor1]

So basically, operating a drone to take our place for menial task such as shopping would prove to be unproductive. What are your thoughts on automated supermarkets BTW?

I don't know where you live but we enjoy Supermarket deliveries in the UK. You go online order your goods and a mice man delivers the goods with a smile.
This is an efficient system which reduces road use. Are you suggesting that we send out remote drones to bag and pay for our shopping? THis would be a less efficient way of working than already exists.
Not sure by what amount a supermarket can be automated, but I understand the the delivery system I mention here alrady has a high degree of automation.

[Terrapin Station]

Sounds like a fantasy for someone with severe social anxiety.

[AverageBozo]

Do you believe society will incorporate such technology into our way of life? What exactly are the upsides of operating a mobile camera from your home? What are the downsides? Say it does succeed in winning people over, will it really affect parts of daily life such as shopping? Seeing as some cities are considering using automated stores already like the one in this article, it wouldn't be difficult to adapt would it?

https://www.grocerydive.com/news/meet-t ... re/597002/

First of all, let me admit to my Luddite-ism in regard to vertically-built-micro-fulfillment-remote-digital shopping.I still need to sniff the fruit and pinch the veggies, and I want to taste the samples when there are some.

But teleshopping is already here and it will go through iterations of improvement and advances, just because updates can be made.

Human surrogate shoppers can do some things a robot cannot currently do, like sniffing the fruit and squeezing the veggies.

Society will at least be twerked by surrogate shoppers who no longer derive income from this task.

And, to adapt to the procedure of controlling a remote camera that is attached to a robot moving around a grocery store will be difficult only for the true Luddites and late adapters who pop up around the globe.

Grocery stores are not the only ones who could apply this type of technology. There’s other businesses, doctors’ offices and legal consultations that could utilize this kind of technology, to name a few.

[AgentSmith]

Virtual Presence Devices? You mean those sitting in the House of Representatives (representative democracy), ambassadors (diplomacy), and substitute teachers?