The Telenoid R1, better known as the “tele-operated android”, created by Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro is the latest innovation in business technology. This Japanese robot has been designed to look like a human and adopt human-like characteristics. Ishiguro’s invention aims to enhance and improve business communications using a motion-tracking webcam to transmit your voice, facial expressions and head movements to the Telenoid, via a high-bandwidth web connection.

Whilst the Telenoid is the latest in business tools, this video shows how businesses may prefer established technologies such as video conferencing and telepresence. Both have a huge advantage within businesses across the globe, essentially because they make human communication visual, focussed, and personal.

Conference attendees are portrayed life-sized on high-definition screens, while room lighting and furnishings are carefully matched to enhance the effect. Audio is high fidelity too, and the end result is a world away from the stuttery boardroom technology of old.

At $3000 the Telenoid is far more cost effective than the telepresence suite that can cost upwards of $300,000 to install, or $300 per hour to rent. That is a big outlay during the downturn – even if businesses can reduce travel expenses over time. But which technology will deliver and perform best over time?