New prize to inspire creation of robotic avatars

A new $10m prize will encourage the development of robotic avatars which can be remotely controlled by humans.

The four-year ANA Avatar XPRIZE is the latest in a string of competitions aimed at boosting innovation in various fields, from medicine to space flight. It was announced this week at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, by XPRIZE chairman Peter Diamandis.

“Our ability to physically experience another geographic location, or to provide on-the-ground assistance where needed, is limited by cost and the simple availability of time,” said Diamandis. “The ANA Avatar XPRIZE can enable creation of an audacious alternative that could bypass these limitations allowing us to more rapidly and efficiently distribute skill and hands-on expertise to distant geographic locations where they are needed, bridging the gap between distance, time and cultures.”

To win the prize, teams must demonstrate a robotic avatar that can complete a series task ranging from simple to complex, in a physical environment at least 100kms away. The key is that these robots must be able to be controlled intuitively by people with no training in how to use them.

Diamandis told an audience at the festival that these avatars could be used for disaster relief scenarios where it’s too dangerous to send a human, to provide social care for the elderly remotely, or to enable skilled operators to act remotely.

You could, he suggested, have a robotic avatar in your home, and then instead of physically calling out a plumber or an electrician have them control this robot remotely to make repairs, particularly in rural or remote areas.

Interested teams of scientists and engineers have until the end of October to register their interest. There will be milestone competitions in April 2019 and 2020 with a $1m prize each, with the $8m grand prize due to be awarded the following year.