Finally, An Arrington We Can Stand. An Arrington We Can Unplug
Okay, the future is officially here. A few days ago, the team from Mountain View-based startup Anybots swung by TechCrunch headquarters to deliver a special new addition to our office: Anybots robot model QB, which stands around five feet tall and can zip around the office at 3.5 miles per hour on a pair of sturdy wheels. It looks like a cross between a Segway and E.T., with some optical sensors and cameras making up its ‘face’. Oh, and it’s currently being controlled by my boss, Michael Arrington, who has been using it to remotely roam the TechCrunch office to make sure we’re working hard while he’s up in Seattle. At least, that’s what he’s supposed to be doing — he’s spending most of the time gleefully running over our feet as he blinds us with a green laser beam. The future really is amazing.
In the video above, Mike takes control of QB via an internet browser to help me interview Anybots robotics engineer Daniel Casner. And by help, I mean he shows us what happens when you drive the robot directly into a wall and repeatedly bump into Daniel in an attempt to get him to spill Anybots secrets (it didn’t work). Note that the little wire hanging down from the robot’s head is actually a microphone that’s transmitting to our camera.
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