Category Archives: Willow Garage

Suitable Tech acquires Willow Garage!

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Sanford Dickert

Bringing the two groups together gives Suitable their home once again (the predecessor of the Beam was created there) and a staff that are already versed in build and maintenance of robotics. Continue reading →

Posted in Remote Presence News, Scott Hassan, Suitable Technologies, Willow Garage | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

InnoRobo was a-buzz about Willow Garage…

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Sanford Dickert

But, in our exploration of the event, one of our team wore their Willow Garage jacket they owned from a previous era.   In doing so, a great many people would suddenly come up to us and say “How is everything at Willow Garage?” or say “I heard things are changing at Willow Garage, all good?” After informing them of the former employment with Willow, we asked what was causing such a strong reaction to the change they heard about. Continue reading →

Posted in InnoRobo, Public Service Announcement, Willow Garage | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Willow Garage changing is a good thing.

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Sanford Dickert

News of Willow Garage’s change of organization may have surprised some, but from our point-of-view, it was only a matter of time. Continue reading →

Posted in Remote Presence News, Scott Hassan, Willow Garage | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Suitable Technologies enters the field…

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Sanford Dickert

One of the many under-cover companies has now popped up on the radar in the telepresence space, as announced in Technology Review India which informs us about Suitable Technologies, a spin-off from Willow Garage that is taking my favorite RPS system (the Texai) and working on improving it for delivery in the second half of 2012. Continue reading →

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Why does BusinessWeek make dire warnings for the future?

Posted on January 15, 2011 by Sanford Dickert

Into my inbox came my google Alert about another intriguing article about robots in the office. BusinessWeek, source of the CEOs Guide to Robots in the Workplace, has come up with another article on The Robot in the Next Cubicle. Sadly, the article seems to put robots out of reach of the office market, discussing very expensive systems and giving a scary warning that over half of all jobs could be handled by robots by 2030. Continue reading →

Posted in Anybots, Anybots QB, Remote Presence News, Remote Presence Systems, RPS Companies, Willow Garage | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The coming challenge of remote presence social norms as per MIT Tech Review

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Sanford Dickert

If these robots are to introduce an era of effortless interaction with machines, the changes may have to come from us, not them. “As these machines appear in the workplace, we will see completely new social norms forming around them,” says Takayama. We humans may have to learn to judge people represented by electronic bodies differently from those we can see in the flesh. Continue reading →

Posted in Anybots, Remote Presence Systems, VGo Communications, Willow Garage | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment