Investors Cheer New Product From iRobot
BOSTON (CBS) - Shares of iRobot gained more than 7% Monday, after the Bedford company announced its newest video collaboration robot is ready for delivery.
The autonomous robot, called the Ava 500, uses a combination of mobility and video-conferencing to meet people anywhere in a building, whether it's an office, a hallway or the production floor.
"The robot knows the environment that it's in, and has a map of the place," according to iRobot senior vice president Youssef Saleh. "It actually builds the map itself of the environment it's in, and is able to navigate it on its own."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Anthony Silva reports
Saleh says the Ava 500 is operated by a downloaded app. "You select the office of the person you want to meet with. The robot calls you with the video, and you're there, and you have the ability to walk around, sit, stand, whatever you'd like to do.
The new robot is on sale through Cisco and iRobot resellers in the United States, Canada and Europe. The selling price is around $70,000.
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