14 DAY TRIAL // One would think that it would still be a while before humans reach the stage where they stay mostly inert and interact with things via robotic proxies, but a team of Japanese researchers apparently aren't willing to wait too long.
Anyone wondering what had become of the technology of virtual reality helmets might identify the concept with one component of the Telesar V.
Then again, this isn't so much a component of the robot as it is a means to control it from afar and even experience what it experiences.
Indeed, the Telesar V, invented by a group at Keio University, led by Professor Tachi, can touch and see for the person wearing the VR goggles controlling it and seeing all it sees (the 3D head mounted display covers the entire field of view).
Meanwhile, with a pair of gloves controlling the robot's hands, one feels what the robot touches (shape of objects and temperatures are both relayed).
“The robot consists of a body, arms, and hands. The body has 7 degrees of freedom, the head has 8, and the arm joints have 7, like a person's arms. The robot's hands can't move as freely as a person's, but they do come very close, with 15 degrees of freedom,” says the team.
“Our aim is to make it feel as if you're really in another place, and this is really your body, and to enable you to do the things you can with your own body.”
The robot, in its current form, can determine surface unevenness accurately enough to handle and recognize lego blocks.
“What you can do with this telexistence robot is, you can see the things you usually see, even at a remote location. If you're a physician, for example, to examine a patient, you need to extend your hands. With this system, you have hands that you can move just like your own. You can also hear what's going on around you,” say the inventors.
