So little time, so many places, and so limited travel budget. It is impossible to visit every interesting destination on earth personally. What if there was a robot that could visit some of the destinations for you, would you pay for the service? Teletrip is trying to do exactly that: the company is building a network of remote controlled devices that are located in popular tourist spots.

Here is how Teletrip works. Teletrip sets up tablets on wheels in popular tourist destinations. The tablets come with special software, and they are connected to the Internet. If you want to see how Avenue des Champs Élysées in Paris really looks like, and a Teletrip device is available on the spot, you can hire it. Teletrip charges you by minute. You logon to the Teletrip site, and control the device that is actually on Champs Élysées. You can move it (it has wheels), rotate and tilt it. The tablet camera shows you the surroundings.

Teletrip is a startup at its early stages, but the concept and a couple of remote controlled devices are ready. The company is asking people around the world to become hosts for Teletrip devices in their neighborhoods. Plans for drones and underwater devices are being sketched as well.

We have traveled a lot, and we will travel a lot. A remote controlled device like Teletrip could help us with planning and researching a trip, but it can’t replace the experience. Google has great tools, like Earth and Street View Maps, making basic research from our own couch convenient. Of course Teletrip gives you a bit more because you can tell it to peek around the corner that Google Street View has missed, but still we are not convinced. Teletrip may have created a technology that works, but it may have better applications than travel.

Introduction video by Teletrip:

Via tnooz.