Alter-Ego Interface Technology

A communication style in which robots serve as alter egos to represent our own bodies in distant locations is being considered for future wireless network services. As a step in that direction, research is under way on telerobots that execute commands sent from an operating interface such as cell phones and humanoid robots that convey human gestures and facial expression according to signals from human bodies. Here we describe a human interface for these alter-ego robots and a new communication style that is made possible by such humanoid robot mediators.