Japanese telecom company unveils avatar robot (VIDEO)

Boston Dynamics has some competition in the creepy-robot department. Japanese company Telexistence unveiled a new telepresence prototype robot last week and you wouldn't want to run into it in a dark alley.
 
The Model H is everything you could want from a sci-fi bot. It has an elongated body, alien-looking eyes, no mouth or nose, a stark white-and-black color scheme and wheels for legs. But it's not here to subjugate humanity. It wants to help people reach out to each other across the globe.
 
SoraNews24 brought the Model H to our attention, and now we can't look away.
 
Telexistence released a marketing video for the Model H that shows a man donning VR gloves and a headset and using the bot to shop for a surfboard in Hawaii. The salesperson on the other end acts like it's no big deal.
 
Model H's appearance is a bit of a departure from other robots made to look friendly and cute. Just take a gander at home robots Pepper and Misty II.
 
The Model H is just a prototype right now, but it also represents a fascinating glimpse at a potential future where we just dial ourselves into robot avatars and experience the world vicariously through machines.

 

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