Beam, the remote-controlled telepresence robot, gets acquired by Denmark's Blue Ocean Robotics – TechCrunch

Beam, a telepresence robot with a screen that a person can remotely control and use to communicate via video, became a breakthrough success in the world of robotics in part because of its role in helping high-profile, but movement-limited, people like Edward Snowden better communicate with the outside world, and disability rights activists meet with world leaders. Now, the control of Beam the product itself is changing: Suitable Technologies, the creator of the Beam, is selling it to Blue Ocean Robotics, a Denmark-based developer and incubator that describes itself as a "Robot Venture Factory." In an interview we conducted via a Beam robot -- where I dialled into Blue Ocean's offices and navigated a Beam from its docking station around the office and into a private room -- Blue Ocean's CEO and co-founder Claus Risager said his company is not buying Suitable itself: the deal includes only the IP, staff who work on Beam robots, hardware inventory and other related assets. Currently, there are a few versions of the Beam on the market: the two main categories are a smaller robot that is priced around $2,000-$4,000, and a larger Beam Pro that sells for around $15,000 per machine. The key with Blue Ocean's development to date is that it has built a "toolbox" (Risager's term) that it uses to build different robotic hardware -- one of its most successful has been its UVD Robot that can perform remote, ultra-violet-based disinfection in hospitals and other infection-prone environments -- that it will be using to develop iterations of the Beam. That could mean that long-rumored ideas of the Beam getting robotic arms and other appendages could be coming at some point.