‘WE WANTED TO CREATE A DEVICE THAT MADE BEING
THERE WITH LOVED ONES AS EASY AS POSSIBLE.’
Vu is cofounder of OhmniLabs, a Santa Clara-based company that
creates telepresence robots, which he and colleagues call Ohmni. The
robots have a moveable, eye-level video chat screen for a head on a
pole with a speaker in the middle for a body. This is attached to a
wheeled platform that can be navigated around a house or facility.
Want to drop in on some distant friends or relatives? Simply
go online to place your video call, and Ohmni will beam your
face into their living room, or kitchen, or wherever else they are
keeping their robot. If you don’t like that spot, you can use your
mouse or trackpad, or your arrow keys, to change it, moving the
robot around the house to any room you want. The video chat
component is similar to placing a Skype or FaceTime call, without
being stuck in one place or requiring someone you’re calling to
carry their video-chat devices around.
In the past couple of years, the robots have become mini-celebrities
of sorts, with coverage on programs like the “Today Show,”
CNBC’s “Power Lunch” and BBC News. They have even rolled
down the catwalk, clad in glitter, at London’s Fashion Week.
The company is now working with new versions of Ohmni that
have a robotic arm. The goal is to have them eventually do small
household tasks, like picking things up, turning off a water faucet
and opening a door.
Vu, a Vietnamese immigrant, uses Ohmni to keep in touch with
his family back home.
64 South Bay Accent
“I would drive Ohmni into the kitchen and talk with my
grandma making a meal, or drive to the living room and watch
TV with my dad, or watch my mom playing piano. It’s an amazing
experience,” he told VentureBeat.
Connecting immigrants with home
Vu launched OhmniLabs in 2015 with his cofounders, Tingxi Tan
and Jared Go. All were immigrants who had been away from home
for a while and were missing their families. One of the reasons
they developed the robot was to connect and share memories and
experiences with relatives and friends.
“We wanted to create a device that made being there with loved
ones as easy as possible,” Vu explains. His family in Vietnam has
an Ohmni, and, according the inventor, they’re all on board with
the technology. “They love it!” says Vu, who particularly enjoys
visiting his grandmother through Ohmni. “It’s amazing to spend
time with her and it didn’t take long for her to get used to it.”
Vu was born in Vietnam in 1982, and his intelligence and skills
were recognized early on. He attended a school for the gifted called
Talent High in Ho Chi Minh City, graduating in 1999. When he
was invited on a trip for students who had excelled academically,
he met Minh Nguyen, another student on the trip, and the two
have been friends for 22 years.
Nguyen sums up the respect she has for Vu by simply saying,
COURTESY OF OHMNILABS; PREVIOUS SPREAD: LEFT, COURTESY OF OHMNILABS,
RIGHT, CHRIS SCHMAUCH, GROOMING BY ROSE HILL