US military scientists have just started to develop hi-tech battlefield avatar troops, according to several sources including US technology publication Wired.


DARPA - the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - is reportedly now working on Project Avatar, the results of which could one day see US military personnel engaged in remote-controlled combat with enemy forces from distant locations, in the style of the 2009 film ‘Avatar'.


A key report on Project Avatar was published by Wired which, quoting representatives from DARPA, explained how it will "...develop interfaces and algorithms to enable a soldier to effectively partner with a semi-autonomous bi-pedal machine and allow it to act as the soldier's surrogate."


DARPA Project Avatar


Remote-controlled military technologies are already in widespread service, with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) being just one example.


In some ways, DARPA's Project Avatar seems to be a natural extension of these technologies, giving to ground missions a capability similar to that now being enacted by pilotless aircraft, all the while limiting the potential for human injury. Indeed, foreseen roles for these robots could include some of the riskiest missions currently undertaken by real-life troops, including casualty evacuation.


Robotic Troops Programme


With avatars performing this evacuation role in particular, any direct injury and death risk will be significantly lowered and DARPA's investing $7m into this advanced robotic troops programme.


As recently reported by Armed Forces International, the agency has also just has unveiled its Battlefield Illusion programme, which is looking at ways of making opposing military personnel see things that just aren't there or, at least, to see them very differently.


Earlier this year, DARPA released new footage of Boston Dynamics' LS3 (Legged Squad Support System) design - a military troop support robot intended to lighten the often-weighty equipment load carried by soldiers. The footage showed the LS3 robot moving, at speed, with accompanying notes describing how the system's intended to interact with troops to a degree.


Project Avatar seems to point to a deeper troop/robot relationship, with the prospect of ‘key advancements in telepresence and remote operation of a ground system', according to Wired's quoted DARPA material.


Armed Forces International will present further coverage of Project Avatar in future News Items.


Image copyright US Navy. Used solely for representational purposes



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