INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Sydney Woman Placed Telepresence Robot In Queue For iPhone 6s At Apple Store

By Anne Sewell
Published on: 07:46 PST, Sep 24, 2015

Some people can’t wait to buy the latest technology and often queue through the night to get it. One woman in Sydney, Australia, got clever and sent a telepresence robot to queue in her place for her new iPhone 6s.

Apple fans have got this time-honored tradition of trying to be first in the queue when the latest iPhone comes out. Not to be outdone, Lucy Kelly borrowed a telepresence robot (which is basically an Internet-connected iPad perched on a remote-controlled movable base station) from the media agency she works for and placed it in the queue outside the Apple store in Sydney.

When the store in Sydney opens at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, her fourth-in-line place will be assured by the robot (coincidentally also named Lucy) and she will be one of the first to buy her new iPhone 6s.

CNET quotes Kelly as telling Mashable that they use the telepresence robots for everything. She is employed at a media agency Atomic 212, and they regularly use the robots around the office, including for demonstrations.

“We use them for everything, just to show new technology. It is a cool demonstration of what the future of technology will be.”

She explained that she wanted to be among the first in line for the new iPhone 6s but couldn’t spend two days away from work, waiting in the queue.

“So my boss said, ‘Just take the robot down, you’ll still be able to do your work, but you’ll still be waiting in line.’ “

Kelly is operating the robot from both her home and office, and she placed it at the Apple Store in Sydney at 5:00 a.m., in fourth place in the queue. Before the Apple store opens its doors, however, Kelly will take over the vigil.

Some might think that a telepresence robot wouldn’t be taken seriously by those in such a competitive queue for a new iPhone 6s, but geeks being geeks, Kelly says have apparently welcomed their robotic queue-member with open arms and as can be seen above, many have posed for photos with it.

“Everyone thinks it is pretty cool, they were happy to let a robot go ahead.”

Kelly added she is constantly connected to the robot using an app that allows her to see via the iPad’s camera, and she is able to communicate with others in the queue using the robot’s speakers and microphone, so it is almost like she is actually there.

Reportedly, the robot will wait overnight in a special tent which has a charger to keep the piece of tech up and running. Just before the Apple store opens its doors, however, Kelly will take over its patient vigil and will happily take home her brand new iPhone 6s.

According to AppleInsider, the first person in the that queue has been camping outside the store for 17 days, but their wait will be over at 8:00 a.m. local time in the morning.

Reportedly, Australia is one of 12 regions that will carry both the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus at launch, along with Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the UK, and the US.

[Image: Apple Store Sydney CC BY-NC 2.0 rafael torales]

Share this article: Sydney Woman Placed Telepresence Robot In Queue For iPhone 6s At Apple Store
australia
More from Inquisitr