The iRobot company really managed to hit a home run with its famous Roomba robot, a device that could actually take care of all the cleaning duties around a house in a very simple, and, most importantly, automatic manner. However, iRobot also launched quite a large number of other bots based on the Roomba platform, including here the device you're about to see as follows, namely a little fellow dubbed ConnectR, which can keep you in close contact with you loved ones, even if you happen to be miles and miles away.



Thus, this portable device has been equipped with high-quality microphones and a video camera and is located on-site in the home of the host. Using a computer keyboard, mouse or joystick, the visitor party can drive the robot around and interact with whomever it meets. Moreover, the host also has full control over the ConnectR via a remote control.



In order to be able to provide a more authentic experience, the camera installed on the ConnectR provides both wide-angle and close-up viewing, with the zoom level being 16.7x from the widest view to the narrowest. In addition, the camera features 220 degrees of tilt, enabling complete control of the viewing angles.



The robot is also quite easy to control, since the user-friendly interface lets you connect to and control the robot from any Windows XP-enabled PC. Moreover, the device even offers users some pretty useful privacy options, as the host can always switch off the audio, camera or both. Additionally, an encrypted password protection system keeps access to the robot private and secure.



Unfortunately, the ConnectR will be available only to the few lucky participants in the company's pilot program, for a yet undisclosed price.