At any given meeting at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s business school, it’s become standard to have a few telecommuters dial in through a conference line, and one or two come in as robots.

Essentially, these robots, made by Double Robotics, are iPad stands on wheels that enable remote workers to log in from wherever they are, take control of the robot, and experience the environment through the iPad’s camera. Remote workers controlling the robots can move forward, backward, left, and right to wander around the room and make small talk with colleagues, just as if they were there in person. It’s not uncommon that two robots have meetings with one another if both workers are remote that day. Additionally, workers can adjust the height of their iPad to alter their vantage point and, in turn, change their perspective around the room. Much more real than the standard live video chat where you’re just a face in the room, the robots allow remote workers to actually take up physical space through their robot.

“This all adds to the experience of being there, much more so than any of the other sort of more traditional technological approaches that we’ve all been using,” says Peter Hirst, executive director of the executive education arm of MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

Double Telepresence Robot Photo: courtesy of MIT

Hirst brought the robots to MIT about a year ago when “two things came together,” he says, that forced him to investigate ways to improve the quality of work for his team. The first happened when construction forced his team to move to an office three-quarters of a mile away from Sloan’s main building. The second was more of a gradual build-up of interest and desire from employees to cut down on time commuting. Hirst wanted to allow his team more flexibility, but was also aware that remote workers are often at a disadvantage for future promotional opportunities due to their lack of visibility in the office.

“[Teams] benefit from having spontaneity, from being together, and being able to sort of just bounce ideas off each other,” explains Hirst. “How would that aspect of our creative productivity be affected? We had a lot of conversations about that.”

Additionally, Hirst examined–and reconstructed, if necessary–each position on his team to make sure its design allowed everyone the same opportunity to take advantage of work-from-home arrangements in place.

MIT Sloan School of Management Photo: Flickr user Vitor Pamplona

When the robots arrived, similar to any big change, their arrival came with some adjustments. There were times when people assumed that remote workers were forced to use robots because they’re disabled, which led to some awkward conversations. Other times, people would pick up the robots while remote workers are logged into one, which also causes awkward tensions, says Hirst.