Robotics firm Anybots proposes that its robotic avatars could replace the physical presence of people at far away locations. In the future, you'll be able to attend workplace conferences and tour facilities remotely by controlling one of their robots:
You log in through the Internet and after a few keystrokes the 'bot, called QB, comes alive, leaving its charging station and ready to meet, brainstorm, greet visitors or just generally creep people out.[...]
The robot avatar isn't actually meant to replace videoconferencing, but the idea is to be able to participate in more than just meetings. With QB, you can observe a workplace, participate more directly in tasks, or just be there for those casual conversations — all from thousands of miles away.
Three years ago, Alex wrote about another invention of the Anybots company: the world's first dynamically balanced robot.
Link | Image: Anybots
Japan can use them as ambassadors too.
But I'm inclined to think that there are cheaper ways that work just as well.