Comparison
A telepresence robot is a video call that can roll into the room. A tablet on a tripod is a video call that stays where you left it. Most households and many offices only needed the second one.
Temi is an indoor robot with a touchscreen, voice, mapping, and follow-me behaviour. It is built for check-ins, wayfinding, and light service. It is not a cheaper iPad. It is a mobility project with Wi-Fi, a dock, and floors that have to cooperate.
ⓘ Quick Answer
Buy Temi if the whole point is that the screen arrives without a person carrying it — remote family check-ins in a large single-level home, visitor greeting, or clinic telepresence. If a human can walk a tablet ten metres, keep the tablet. Temi typically costs several thousand dollars and stays indoors on suitable floors.
What Temi adds that a tablet does not
- It can map a floor and move to a person or a saved location.
- It can follow, within the limits of clutter, thresholds, and battery.
- It presents a dedicated rolling kiosk instead of someone’s personal phone.
What it does not add: stairs, outdoor paths, heavy carrying, or a guarantee that grandma will prefer a robot to a FaceTime on the kitchen table.
When the tablet is the honest product
Small homes, one-room offices, and families who already call every night do not have a navigation problem. They have a habit problem. A robot will not create the habit. It will create a dock you trip over.
Also be honest about Wi-Fi. Dead spots that annoy a phone will strand a robot in a hallway. Mapping a cluttered home is work. Someone has to charge it and fetch it when it sulks at a rug.
💡 What to Check
Walk the route with a rolling suitcase. If that is awkward, Temi will be worse. Then ask what still works if the cloud account or app changes — the same longevity questions as any connected robot.
Who should still look at Temi
Large level interiors, clinics and offices that want a shared rolling screen, and households where the remote relative cannot be asked to “just carry the iPad”. Score it as a service robot, next to Pepper for social greeting and Relay for moving objects. Temi is presence. It is not delivery and not a housekeeper.
Mobility test
A robot is justified if
- The screen must move while nobody on site can carry it.
- The floor is mostly level, indoor, and mapped.
- Wi-Fi covers the whole route, including the annoying corner.
- Budget is in the thousands, plus support, not appliance money.
Final Thoughts
Telepresence is a job. Mobility is an extra cost on that job. Compare Temi on Robot.help only after a tablet-on-a-stick has failed for a real reason, not a futuristic one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Temi go upstairs?
Treat it as a single-level indoor machine unless the vendor has a documented lift integration for your building. Stairs are a no.
Is it for home or business?
Both show up in real deployments. The same test applies: does the screen need to roll, or can a person carry it.
Will it replace in-person visits?
It can help with check-ins. It does not replace hands-on care, and it should not be bought as if it did.