Robotics at SIGGRAPH 2012
Check out one of the more popular exhibits at SIGGRAPH 2012 Emerging Technologies called TELESAR V, that enables human beings to experience a real-time sensation of being and interacting in a remote location. The Telexitstance Robot Telesar V from researchers at Japan’s Keio University could bring us a step closer to a real out of body experience.
The Telesar V can deliver a remote experience straight to its operator, transmitting sight, sound and touch data using a series of sensors and a 3D head-mounted display. The robot’s operator wears a 3D display helmet, which relays the robot’s entire field of view. A set of headphones transmit what the robot can hear. Wearing a headset with virtual reality goggles, the user can see and hear what the robot ‘experiences’, and through a pair of sensor equipped gloves feel the shape and temperature of objects Telesar V touches or picks up.
As far as movement goes, the Telesar V has 17 degrees of freedom in the body, 8 in the head and 7 in the arm joints (which is the same as a human). The hands have 15 degrees of freedom, which is a good amount less than the roughly 30 degrees of freedom a normal human hand has (and some other robotic hands emulate), but enough to allow the robot to easily manipulate objects.
While Telexistance technology may seem fantastical, its aim to “free people from time and space constraints” could have revolutionary applications for conducting precise work in critical situations such as those encountered in the wake of last year’s Fukushima Disaster or a doctor or surgeon could remotely interact with a patient at a distant office.
Check out the video above to see the Telesar V Robot in action.
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