Telepresence Robots with iPad Heads

Thanks to sci-fi movies, people prefer robots they could overpower if something goes wrong, says Yeh-Liang Hsu, a designer of telepresence robots at Yuan Ze University in Chungli, Taiwan. He says heights of 70cm or less are best.

Much more from the Economist, which believes that the Telenoid, a large  humanoid phone in a rubbery skin, is "is unlikely to catch on outside Japan."