July 2nd, 2020 – “IL GIORNO”

During the period of Covid-19, many Art institutions around the world were forced to reinvent their offer, both in terms of content and access methods. They have launched online viewing paths, virtual tours, podcasts, art classes, etc. Some pushed themselves to explore new ways and new worlds in the field of remote accessibility.

But experimentation in museums is nothing new. For 30 years, museums have been places of experimentation with hybrid forms to make the sharing of art possible through additional experiences, but not as substitutes for the standard ones.

The opportunity of the Robotic Telepresence in museums not only opens to the possibility of making a remote visit real but also creates efficient alternatives for the management and the organization of the processes of the museum as an institution.
For example, at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome, where Double 3 is being tested, it was possible to use the Robotic Telepresence during an exchange with the Marmottan Museum in Paris. Paul Cezane’s “Le Cabanon du Jourdan” went to France and “Le ponte japonais” came to Italy. The robot Double 3 allowed the French curator, who was supposed to travel with the painting, to connect with the museum remotely and experience all the reception procedures of the work of art in the new location.

As explained by Dr. Collu, the director of the Gallery: “Relations between cultural institutions cannot be replaced by a robot, but neither can they be interrupted in a complicated period such as the post lockdown. If the curator cannot travel with the painting, the Telepresence allows him/her to rely on colleagues at the museum of arrival to monitor the safety conditions of the installation.

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“With the start of phase 3, organizations will have to identify hybrid forms of working methods to return in the workplace: we are facing the possibility of making a great leap in managerial innovation expected since the 60s”. This is the prediction of Luisa Bagnoli, CEO of Beyond International, a consulting company based in Milan mainly focused on leadership and managerial innovation linked to future trends. “For September companies are talking about working at 50% in presence and 50% remotely – she observes – that means that the teams will no longer have to be present in the same place”.

At the same time this will be an epochal paradigm shift. In fact, before the pandemic, the paradigm of “prediction and control” still prevailed, certainly not that one of shared autonomy “.

Among the companies that in the world have already adopted robotic telepresence there is the Finnish KONE which in Illinois uses the Double device in the internal organization for training courses, to follow remote work groups or for 24/7 technical assistance. Or the Red Interactive Agency in Santa Monica (California) where, after being greeted with skepticism, the tool has become a true extension of the workforce, distributed in various American cities, also in order to find the best resources wherever they are, optimizing the experience of the employees themselves.

One of the first users in Italy is VIS (Vitec Imaging Solutions), a division of the Vitec group (listed in London) that produces supports and accessories for imaging, with brands such as Manfrotto, Joby, Lowepro and Gitzo. In 2019, it had a turnover of 196.6 million pounds out of the 376.1 million of the whole group. Vis, in the first six months of 2020, contributed 53% of the group’s turnover, despite a contraction in turnover caused by the retail lockdown. At the same time, Vitec reduced its debt by 1 million pounds (down to 107.4 million) while maintaining the ability to invest in R&D and M&A.

Double 3, remotely controlled, will be used to communicate between the Feltre plant, the English plants, the Hong Kong buying center and the central operations functions.

“During the lockdown we activated the remote working for our employees on a global scale, recording an increase in productivity – explains Marco Pezzana, CEO of Vis – 50% of people then asked to continue this agile work method  even during the 2^nd phase. For the return, it is not a matter of replacing the skills of the employees with technology: we consider the use of Double 3 as the first robot ‘for’ the person and the main ‘KPI’ will be employee satisfaction”.

June 22, 2020 – Il Giorno

Beyond International has become the exclusive partner of the Californian Double Robotics, manufacturer of Double3 which is the latest generation of telepresence robots.

The Robotic Presence is the possibility for all companies to get their people back safely in the office, guaranteeing social distancing. You can enter the body of the robot by activating it remotely and move around in your office or in a production plant, to manage all the activities that are usually done in presence such as attending a meeting, monitoring processes, giving feedback, train a new employee.

Companies are looking for hybrid forms of work that integrate remote working formulas with forms of real presence in the workplace.
“The robotic presence is the new paradigm of smart working” assures Luisa Bagnoli, founder and CEO of Beyond International. The remote working has now spread and in a few months forced us make a digital mental switch that would have lasted perhaps years under normal conditions (the middle class especially went “online”).

Now the matter is to understand how to create hybrid forms of work, cooperation, how to think of the headquarters as hubs and no longer as offices. The Robotic Presence can be the agile tool to be present in the headquarters. Double 3 is therefore more a service than a product in itself”.

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