Tobita Hiroaki and colleagues at Sony Computer Science Laboratories in Tokyo have created a prototype floating telepresence bot using a helium blimp outfitted with a projected video screen and propellers for steering. It could provide a more maneuverable alternative to ground-based telepresence bots.

It could provide a more maneuverable alternative to ground-based telepresence bots.because it can negotiate desks, chairs, stairs, and other workplace obstacles potentially better than the wheeled models.

Telepresence bots allow a person to have a physical representation in one location while his or her body is located somewhere else. Most currently available models, such as those offered by companies like Anybots and iRobot, consist of screens mounted on remote-controllable wheeled bases.

Hiroaki plans to test the floating bots in real settings to determine how humans respond to the potentially eerie blimps. The design was presented at the recent Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Vancouver, Canada.