Review: Ohmni, a Telepresence Robot for the Rest of Your Family

Most telepresence robots are designed for business use. They're expensive, but the argument is that they work significantly better than a phone call and they pay for themselves since you don't have to spend so much time and money traveling instead. OhmniLabs, a Silicon Valley robotics startup with CMU roots (they're advised by Manuela Veloso) wants to make telepresence robots easy and affordable enough that people start using them to stay connected with their families. In order for that to work, their telepresence robot (called Ohmni) is designed to be as independent as possible--you can send it to someone who isn't at all comfortable with tech, and they can take it out of the box, turn it on, and it'll just work. It's potentially ideal for family members who you don't live close to, or elderly family members who you like to talk to (and check up on) regularly. It seems like a good idea in theory, so we decided to give it a try.