Tech startup lets users see, touch, and hear through a robot thousands of miles away

The company has reached the finals of the prestigious ANA Avatar XPRIZE global robotics competition, a four-year global competition that focuses on avatars and connectivity

Spotted: UK robotics company Cyberselves has developed telepresence technology that allows users to teleport themselves into a robot and control it in a fully intuitive and immersive way. According to Cyberselves, the human operator can see, hear, and feel through the robot, so that they can perform tasks at a distance as if they were there in person.

The technology sends signals through a cloud-based, low-latency communications platform called Animus, allowing gestures made by a human operator in Europe to be carried out almost simultaneously by a robot in the United States.

An important advantage of Cyberselves’ ‘Teleport’ application, is that it can be used on any robotic system. By contrast, other telepresence technologies require specific types of robotic hardware.

“Our Teleport app makes the remote operation of robots both powerfully effective and functionally simple,” explains Daniel Camilleri, co-founder and chief technology officer at Cyberselves. “With a smartphone, browser or VR headset, the user can take remote control of any robot in a way that is intuitive to the human body. The system has already been integrated with underwater ROVs, land-based UGVs and humanoid social robots.” 

Cyberselves has reached the final of the $10 million Avatar XPRIZE – a four-year global competition, which focuses on the development of an avatar system that takes human’s senses, actions, and presence to a remote location in real time.

For the September semi-finals, each of the competing avatar systems was required to complete a children’s jigsaw puzzle, pick up and toast a wine glass, and lift a vase to feel its texture. The systems were then judged on their ability to complete these tasks while conveying a sense of presence to the user.

Other recent robotics innovations spotted by Springwise have been applied to important real-world applications. These include robot forest rangers and an advanced robot to assist technicians with the inspection and repair of wind turbine blades. In the future, telepresence technology could be highly beneficial for this type of application.