# Topics > Robotics > Telepresence robots >  MeBot, semi-autonomous robotic avatar, Personal Robots Group, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

## Airicist

Developer - Personal Robots Group

robotic.media.mit.edu/portfolio/mebot

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## Airicist

MeBot V4 basic functionality

Uploaded on Aug 6, 2009

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## Airicist

MeBot Short Intro

Published on Jan 24, 2015




> The MeBot is a semi-autonomous robotic avatar that gives a person a richer way to interact remotely with an audience than is allowed with phone and video conferencing. The robot was designed with an emphasis on being able to convey the non-verbal channels of social communication. That is, it is able to communicate some body posture, a wide range of head movement and very expressive hand gestures. It takes advantage of the current advanced technology in wireless communications and the ever-expanding capabilities of mobile devices. MeBot is a push toward a future where remote presence can be achieved easily in a way that saves traveling time but still achieves the same experience as "being there".
> 
> We conducted an experiment that evaluated how people perceived a robot-mediated operator differently when they used a static telerobot versus a physically embodied and expressive telerobot. Results showed that people felt more psychologically involved and more engaged in the interaction with their remote partners when they were embodied in a socially expressive way. People also reported much higher levels of cooperation both on their own part and their partners as well as a higher score for enjoyment in the interaction.

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