temi, the world's first, truly intelligent, mobile, personal robot is set to roll into homes and businesses across Australasia.
The 1m tall free-wheeling bot that doubles as a voice-controlled personal assistant, takes telepresence robots to the next level.
Exaptec, a Melbourne-based company specialising in telepresence robots, has been appointed exclusive distributors for temi for Australian and New Zealand.
“It’s a real coup for Exaptec and consumers in Australia and New Zealand,” Exaptec CEO and founder Nicci Rossouw told Inside Robotics.
“There were quite a few people and companies vying for the distributorship.”
Developed in Israel by tech startup Robotemi, this super smart bot features state-of-the-art AI, and a system of 16 different sensors and cameras.
“Robotemi approached Exaptec last November and I flew to Israel early December and the deal was done,” an excited Ms Rossouw said.
And visitors to Scienceworks’ Robotica: Festival of Futurism in Melbourne this Saturday will get a sneak peek of temi’s amazing talents.
“We’ve been invited to attend the Scienceworks event and temi will be roving around interacting with visitors,” Ms Rossouw said.
“He may even deliver some hotdogs to guests on his inbuilt tray,” she says.
temi, which has wireless internet connectivity, can be controlled by a computer, tablet, or smartphone app. It features an LCD touch screen, colour display, video-camera, microphones and 20-watt Harman Kardon speakers.
Built-in technology includes 3D mapping, navigation, user detection and tracking, obstacle avoidance, path planning and face recognition.
Main applications
Ms Rossouw says temi offers endless possibilities for home, business, healthcare, education and aged care.
“Education and aged care are sectors where we see the most growth potential, but basically everyone that sees temi will want one,” she says.
Telepresence robots are commonly used as tour guides, security guards, factory inspectors and healthcare consultants.
They can be used in schools and education institutions to help students with chronic illnesses and kids in remote areas to stay connected. A telepresence robot can move around the room and interact face-to-face with individual students, just as an on-premises teacher might.
Likewise, in business, it can be used to help an employee whose disability or location prevents them from traveling, still have a presence in the office.
Compatible with Alexa
Earlier this year, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the developers announced that temi will soon support Amazon’s smart home device Alexa.
According to the company, temi will be the first robot device to feature Alexa – and that support could redefine how we interact with robo personal assistants.
Through Alexa, users can instruct temi to play music, pull up a YouTube video, search for restaurants, or get weather forecasts.
Yossi Wolf, CEO of Robotemi said the Alexa Smart Screen and TV Device SDK will enrich Temi with even more skills.
“This will take Temi to a new level of interactivity, usability, and familiarity,” he said in a statement.
Temi is expected to go on sale in Australia and New Zealand in April.
Exaptec is taking pre-orders now.
Contact 1300 850 034 or visit www.exaptec.com.au for more information.
Nicci Rossouw … major coup
Yossi Wolf … taking telepresence robots to the next level
