World number 1 tennis doubles partners and real life twins, Bob and Mike Bryan teamed up to do a cool commercial for Esurance featuring a mobile robot which allowed them to explore NYC without leaving the locker room. The robot, currently available from Double Robotics for an easy $2,499…not including the essential tablet (iPad or similar), lets you cruise about on a virtual Segway, carrying on conversations, snapping photos, consuming hot dogs…oh well, maybe not the hot dogs…=O
But imagine you’re attending ASAE’s Great Ideas conference (or any conference or meeting for that matter), wandering from session to session, asking questions, chatting with fellow attendees, taking selfies…all from the comfort of your own office, living room, deck, kitchen, hot tub…wherever! This is just the next logical step down the virtual event road.
Lots of interesting implications for meeting planners, venue designers, travel planners, airlines and more.
- How many seats? Theatre style? Crescent rounds?
- What about wi-fi bandwidth?
- How do we ensure clear path? Charging stations?
- Does overall attendance go up? How much cannibalization of in-person attendance?
- Pricing?
- …???
At least these guys won’t complain about the temperature!
P.S. And what are the new opportunities for Virtual Volunteers!!!