????現在為了進一步開發這項技術，iRobot公司又引入了它的第二大合作伙伴——思科公司（Cisco）。思科公司將與iRobot公司合作開發一款名叫Ava 500的遠程呈現機器人。這款機器人的外觀也很像RP-VITA，可以通過iPad進行控制。用戶可以在地圖上選取一個地點作為目的地，或者選取一個員工或患者的名字或是病房號，Ava 500就會自動出發走向那里，中途還會自行躲避行人和其它障礙物。等到會診結束，它又會回到自己的底座上充電。

????在醫療領域，這個概念經受了最嚴苛的檢驗。目前這些遠程機器人的問題主要是復雜性的問題。簡單的機器人只能從事簡單作業，而復雜的機器人則需對操控者進行培訓，有時甚至需要一個單獨的機器人專家來操作。以目前最先進的遠程機器人為例，它要么需要由一個護士從一個地方挪到另一個地方，要么需要終端用戶通過鍵盤或操縱桿操縱。這些解決方案的存在是有必要的，起碼在最需要專家的時候解決了有無的問題。它們使醫生們突破了環境的限制，可以同時在更多地方“現身”。但是它們不一定提高了醫生的效率，事實上有時反而降低了醫生的效率。一個訓練有素的神經科醫師，他每操縱一個機器人一分鐘，可以說這一分鐘的工作都對不起他的工資。因此InTouch Health的CEO王友侖表示，這種系統造成了時間和人才的浪費。

????機器人原本應該提高人們的效率，而不是降低效率。這就是為什么iRobot公司相信，RP-VITA最終可以成為一款真正的遙控機器人產品，而不是沒什么大用處的遙控玩具。iRobot公司的安格爾說：“沒有人因為科技而喜歡科技，因為科技往往沒有把人們的生活變簡單，而是變得更復雜了?！眎Robot的工程師們希望任何人只要經過最簡單的培訓就能使用RP-VITA，他們也希望醫護人員不需要掌握額外的技能，就能讓RP-VITA自行處理某些任務，讓醫護人員能夠把更多的精力放在提供醫療服務上。安格爾說：“那些需要醫生花時間操縱機器人或是需要護士推著機器人走的方案根本不在我們考慮的范圍內?！?/p>

????Today, the company doubled down on the idea by introducing its second big partner for the AVA platform: Cisco (CSCO). The networking giant will work with iRobot on the Ava 500 telepresence robot, which looks much like the VITA. The Ava is controlled via iPad, allowing users to choose pick a destination on a map or from a list of employee, names, and rooms they want the device to navigate to. So directed, the robot travels autonomously, avoiding people and other obstacles on its way. When a meeting is finished, the robot returns to its base for charging.

????But it is in medicine that the concept faces its most rigorous tests. The problem with the current spate of telerobotics is really one of complexity. Simple robots can only perform simple tasks, and complex robots require training -- and sometimes a separate roboticist -- to operate. The most advanced telemedicine robots, for example, must either be physically moved from place to place by a nurse or remotely piloted via keyboard controls or a joystick from the user end. These solutions exist out of necessity, addressing a supply and demand problem where specialists are concerned. They do allow doctors to be in more places than he or she could otherwise physically be, but they don't necessarily make doctors or nurses more efficient. In fact, the opposite is often true. Every minute a highly trained neurointensivist spends driving a robot around is a minute spent working far below his or her pay grade. And when nurses and doctors aren't operating at the top of their licenses, says InTouch Health CEO Yulun Wang, the system is bleeding time and talent.

????Robotics should amplify efficiency rather than stunt it, and that's why iRobot believes that in RP-VITA it finally has a real telerobotics product rather than another fun-for-minutes toy. "No one likes technology for technology's sake," says iRobot's Angle. "Often it complicates people's lives rather than simplifies it." With RP-VITA, iRobot engineers wanted something anyone could use intuitively with a minimum of training, and they wanted something that could handle tasks that didn't require a nurse's or doctor's specific skills on its own, freeing the health care practitioners to worry about providing health care. "The idea that the doctor was going to spend time driving the robot or ask the nurse to push the robot was a non-starter."