????現(xiàn)在為了進(jìn)一步開(kāi)發(fā)這項(xiàng)技術(shù)，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(kāi)發(fā)一款名叫Ava 500的遠(yuǎn)程呈現(xiàn)機(jī)器人,。這款機(jī)器人的外觀也很像RP-VITA，可以通過(guò)iPad進(jìn)行控制,。用戶可以在地圖上選取一個(gè)地點(diǎn)作為目的地,，或者選取一個(gè)員工或患者的名字或是病房號(hào)，Ava 500就會(huì)自動(dòng)出發(fā)走向那里,，中途還會(huì)自行躲避行人和其它障礙物,。等到會(huì)診結(jié)束，它又會(huì)回到自己的底座上充電,。

????在醫(yī)療領(lǐng)域,，這個(gè)概念經(jīng)受了最嚴(yán)苛的檢驗(yàn),。目前這些遠(yuǎn)程機(jī)器人的問(wèn)題主要是復(fù)雜性的問(wèn)題,。簡(jiǎn)單的機(jī)器人只能從事簡(jiǎn)單作業(yè),，而復(fù)雜的機(jī)器人則需對(duì)操控者進(jìn)行培訓(xùn)，有時(shí)甚至需要一個(gè)單獨(dú)的機(jī)器人專家來(lái)操作,。以目前最先進(jìn)的遠(yuǎn)程機(jī)器人為例,，它要么需要由一個(gè)護(hù)士從一個(gè)地方挪到另一個(gè)地方，要么需要終端用戶通過(guò)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(shí)候解決了有無(wú)的問(wèn)題。它們使醫(yī)生們突破了環(huán)境的限制,，可以同時(shí)在更多地方“現(xiàn)身”,。但是它們不一定提高了醫(yī)生的效率，事實(shí)上有時(shí)反而降低了醫(yī)生的效率,。一個(gè)訓(xùn)練有素的神經(jīng)科醫(yī)師,，他每操縱一個(gè)機(jī)器人一分鐘，可以說(shuō)這一分鐘的工作都對(duì)不起他的工資,。因此InTouch Health的CEO王友侖表示,，這種系統(tǒng)造成了時(shí)間和人才的浪費(fèi)。

????機(jī)器人原本應(yīng)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(jī)器人產(chǎn)品,，而不是沒(méi)什么大用處的遙控玩具,。iRobot公司的安格爾說(shuō)：“沒(méi)有人因?yàn)榭萍级矚g科技，因?yàn)榭萍纪鶝](méi)有把人們的生活變簡(jiǎn)單,，而是變得更復(fù)雜了,。”iRobot的工程師們希望任何人只要經(jīng)過(guò)最簡(jiǎn)單的培訓(xùn)就能使用RP-VITA,，他們也希望醫(yī)護(hù)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(wù)，讓醫(yī)護(hù)人員能夠把更多的精力放在提供醫(yī)療服務(wù)上,。安格爾說(shuō)：“那些需要醫(yī)生花時(shí)間操縱機(jī)器人或是需要護(hù)士推著機(jī)器人走的方案根本不在我們考慮的范圍內(nèi),。”

????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."