Video: What It's Like to Control a Robot Avatar

Using a robotic avatar to go places a human body can't is the stuff of sci-fi dreams. That's why Japanese airline ANA is sponsoring the Avatar XPrize.

"So the goal of the Avatar Xprize is a contest that will bring all the makers together to create a general purpose avatar system," said Dr. Harry Kloor, an innovator for the contest. "If I have one in a village, for instance, I can have every doctor, every engineer every machinist, whatever you need, when you need it, it could be there."

The current system on display requires the user to wear several pieces of equipment—a headset, a vest and a pair of gloves with haptic feedback, allowing the user to feel what the robot feels.

Right now, the prototype can only do simple tasks like wave and shake hands, but seeing out of a robot's eyes is still making science fact out of science fiction.

To learn more, check out the video below from CNET: