Friday, August 29, 2008

RoboDynamics Announces the First Installation of its Telepresence Robot TiLR at the X PRIZE Foundation

RoboDynamics is an innovative robotics company that develops enterprise Robotic Telepresence platforms such as TiLR. By using TiLR the X Prize Foundation is shifting the paradigm of face to face communications whereby a person can now transport himself instantly to their offices without actually being at their office. This new mode of collaboration will dramatically reduce downtime, increase productivity, and eliminate travel. The robot is installed at the Google Lunar X Prize offices within the X Prize Foundation.

Santa Monica -- RoboDynamics Corporation, the first company to commercialize an affordable Robotic Telepresence Platform, is announcing its first installation of their robot TiLR at the offices of the X PRIZE Foundation.

With this temporary beta-installation the X PRIZE Foundation becomes the first organization to test and evaluate the benefits of a Robotic Telepresence Platform. Robotic Telepresence provides the ability to instantly transport a person to a remote location without the person actually going there. Robotic Telepresence is similar to video conferencing in that there is a real time audio/video link, but also provides the means for the user to commandeer the robot and move about the remote location as though the user was actually there.

"We are honored to have an organization of the caliber of the X PRIZE Foundation to be the first evaluation site for our TiLR platform," said Fred Nikgohar, CEO of RoboDynamics. "It is only befitting that the X PRIZE Foundation, whose Google Lunar X PRIZE is a race to put a telepresence robot on the surface of the moon and provide a live video feed of the lunar surface, is our first test site."

At the heart of RoboDynamics' telepresence platform is TiLR, a four foot tall robot which features a bright LCD screen and a powerful Canon camera. An operator logs into TiLR remotely using a standard PC and commandeers the robot at the remote location while having a real time audio/video link with the robot. Leveraging state of the art technologies in robotics, wireless, and artificial intelligence, TiLR provides the ability for a person to be in two places at the same time. By deploying TiLR and harnessing Robotic Telepresence, organizations can reduce downtime, eliminate travel, increase productivity, and maximize collaboration.

"We're very excited to have this opportunity to be the first official test site for this revolutionary technology. We see tremendous benefits in having the ability to collaborate with people in this new, intuitive, and natural way," said Michael Fabio, Google Liaison and Community Manager for the Google Lunar X PRIZE.

ABOUT ROBODYNAMICS CORPORATION
RoboDynamics is an innovative robotics company that focuses on enterprise and industrial Robotic Telepresence. We have a world class team of engineers with deep expertise in robotics, artificial intelligence, electronics, and mechanics. Our process is to begin with the customer, conduct world class R&D to create revolutionary technology, and culminate it all into a unique product that changes the paradigm of collaboration across the enterprise and industrial landscape. Our mission is to leverages state of the art robotic technologies to change the way people live and work. For more information please visit www.robodynamics.com.

ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION
The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. In 2004, the Foundation captured the world's attention when the Burt Rutan-led team, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world's first private spaceship to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for suborbital spaceflight. The Foundation has since launched the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, and the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. The Foundation and its revolution partner BT Global Services are creating prizes in Exploration (Space and Oceans), Life Sciences, Energy & Environment, Education and Global Development. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org.


Press Contacts:

Alex Lea
RoboDynamics Corp.
alexlea@robodynamics.com

Mike Fabio
Google Lunar X PRIZE
prcontact@xprize.org