This Silicon Valley Billionaire Wants to Give Us All Robot Bodies

"Here" is a funny word. So says Scott Hassan, the media-shy Silicon Valley billionaire who once set out to build the first fully autonomous humanoid robot, and ended up hawking what looks like a flatscreen atop two long legs with wheels. If Hassan has his way, this seemingly simple device--called a Beam--will close the loop between cyberspace and meat-space. The Beam was designed as a video conferencing tool, allowing instant, face-to-face communication--kind of like FaceTime or Skype, except you can drive the screen on legs around the room remotely, with a keyboard. It could one day become much more.