Robot avatars will be on display at the Osaka World Expo
People who are unable to go to the World Expo in Osaka, which runs from April to October next year, will be able to see the global event through the eyes of remote-controlled robots.
World Expo 2025 is organized and sanctioned by the International Exhibitions Bureau, the intergovernmental organization that oversees and regulates international exhibitions. Next year's exhibition will take place from April to October.
This will be the third time Osaka has hosted the world expo, having previously held it in 1970 and again in 1990.
The robots, named "avatars" by the team from the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) in Kyoto Prefecture, will be used during the exhibition in the "Future of Life" pavilion.
Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro from Osaka University is responsible for the creation of the pavilion.
About 40 robots will be prepared for use in the pavilion. The avatars for remote participants can be controlled from computers via the Internet by an exclusive system through which the avatars can be moved to the desired location.
Online visitors can explore the pavilion via a camera mounted on the chest or other part of the robot.
Today, robot avatars are used for people who cannot leave their homes and are limited in movement for health reasons. They can attend school classes and participate in social activities using their avatar.
The research team sees the exhibition as an experiment for a future society in which humans and robots safely co-exist in the same environment.
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