Russia’s First Avatar Robot May Be Created Within 10 Years

The first avatar robot may be created in Russia within the next 10 years, deputy head of the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects Sergei Gabruk said Tuesday.

KAZAN (Sputnik) — "A wide range" of the organizations of Russia’s military-industrial complex are currently working on this project, Gabruk told RIA Novosti on the sidelines of an IT conference.

"I think it will be created within 10 years. Serious work is currently underway on creating anthropomorphic interfaces that would allow to immerse a person into a new reality, where the sensors and the moving system of a robot are being projected onto the sense organs and kinematics of a human being."

According to Gabruk, "an avatar – is a robot that to some extent merges with a human [operator], so that the human starts feeling himself [as if] in the body of this robot."

In March 2014, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that the first prototype of the Russian avatar robot was expected to be ready for field testing in 2015.

According to Rogozin, an operator will be able to control the android through a sensor suit and a "virtual reality" helmet that provides stereoscopic vision.