Avatar-Darwin a Social Humanoid with Telepresence Abilities Aimed at Embodied Avatar Systems

Human compassion has driven the creation of social robots that provide aid and interactions to people in need. However, such systems are preprogrammed and are therefore asocial as they lack adaptability and authenticity in their interactions. In this paper, the miniature biped DARwIn-OP was upgraded into Avatar-DARwIn, a humanoid telepresence platform that broadcasts human cognition. To address a body correspondence problem related to miniature humanoid embodiment, a “Marionette Method” of scaling was developed. Furthermore, results have shown that operator motions were successfully retargeted to Avatar-DARwIn, allowing operators to complete an array of social tasks. Additionally, a System Usability Scale (SUS) Test was administered amongst a pool of eleven participants to evaluate operator experience and system functionality. Data collected from SUS testing (based on a 5-point LIKERT scale) found that operators felt a high sense of telepresence as this category received a score of 4.36. Overall, this teleoperated, real-time telepresence system allows human operators to embody a miniature social humanoid to connect people around the world, regardless of distance.