The Packers every year organize about 800 player and alumni appearances, but with COVID-19 surging in the upper Midwest, those could not happen. The answer in '20 has been a surprisingly affordable, simple robot sold by San Jose-based OhmniLabs. The team recently joined the Lions, Falcons and Atlanta United as users of the startup's Telepresence robot, which retails for $2,700 according to its website. It is a motorized, three-wheeled cart that carries around a high-res video screen at roughly the height of human faces. It is just a video chat, but something about the movement of the robot into the physical space of the fan makes it feel like more than just another Zoom call. Packers Community Outreach & Player/Alumni Relations Dir Cathy Dworak said, "For $6,000, we're able to go into the community, engage with fans, children, adults, and really hopefully make some sort of impact during a trying time in the world." The Lions debuted their robot on Oct. 4 when they put a cancer survivor on the remote controls, and sent the robot onto the Ford Field sidelines before the game for autographs and a meet and greet.
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