An avatar is a false body you control remotely. In video games, avatars are common, since they’re the characters we play. Avatars are especially capable in MMORPGs where they can do many things and even show emotions through special commands. Now, a research team has put together a robotic avatar which a person can control with their thoughts. This involved using a functional magnetic resonance imaging system to read the user’s thoughts by way of tracking blood flow in the brain. The resulting commands were then sent to the robot, some 1,250 miles away. A camera in the robot allowed the user to see what his electronic counterpart was doing. This is sort of a big thing. ExtremeTech has the story.
In the immediate sense, there’s little use for this technology. The mind-reading device is too large, the robots too cumbersome and inefficient. If either part of the equation changes, though, it would allow a single person to monitor and control many robots on the job, working with them as if they were part of his own body. That has some implications for the future.