Robotic avatar systems allow human operators to instantly transport
their senses, actions, and presence over long distances, without the
need for resource-hungry and time-consuming travel and avoiding
potential risks present in the remote environment. Applications of
avatars include emergency response, healthcare, space, professional
services, telecommuting, attending meetings, visiting friends and
relatives, and tourism.
Telepresence through avatars is a hot topic
in robotics research because avatars represent the next generation of
telepresence devices that allow people to not only communicate through
audio and video, but also to navigate remotely, manipulate objects in
the distant environment, and physically interact with humans.
Developing and using robotic avatar systems touches on many areas,
including humanoid robots, telerobotics, haptics, tactile sensing,
robotic hands, VR/AR, and human-robot interaction. Through avatar
systems, real-word interaction experience data is generated, which can
be a basis for learning world models and autonomous functionalities.
The workshop will be a forum to discuss and reflect different
perspectives on the current state of avatar technology and future
research challenges. The program will consist of invited talks,
contributed talks and demos, and a panel discussion.
We are soliciting contributed presentations and demonstrations on all
aspects related to robotic avatars, including but not limited to:
Presentation or demonstration proposals have to be submitted as a
PDF in
2+n format (at most 2 pages of content and n pages of references in the
IROS double column format). Templates are available here: LaTeX, Word.
All submissions have to be made through EasyChair and will be
peer-reviewed.
Final versions of accepted presentations and demonstrations will be
made available on the workshop website.