In a bizarre “Metaverse Vacation” where a ROBOT explores the vacation spot – while you wear goggles and an exoskeleton at home

Forget getting on a plane and packing your sunscreen – robots might one day go on vacation for us while we stay at home.

Of course, many of us really want to lounge on the beach and see the sights, but scientists in Italy have shown how this can be done with a man more than 185 miles from his avatar.

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Instead of fighting through tourists Venicethe robot did the hard work for him while he stayed across the country in Genoa.

Though he wasn’t just sitting around.

In order to make it as realistic as possible, he has been equipped with many sensors, a VR headset and a running board, all of which are imitated by the iCub3 robot on site.

This means that the user can not only see everything in real time, but also touch and feel it.

The robot even smiles whenever you do it.

Experts behind it believe it could one day be used to transport our senses out into the world metaverse even.

The 1.25 meter tall prototype struts around on two legs and follows every movement.

It also copies smiles, conversations and handshakes.

So when a guide hugs the avatar in Venice, the operator in Genoa felt it too, thanks to haptic feedback technology.

“On the one hand, the recent pandemic has taught us that advanced telepresence systems could very quickly become necessary in various areas such as healthcare and logistics,” said research leader Daniele Pucci of the Italian Institute of Technology.

“On the other hand, avatars can allow people with severe physical disabilities to work through the robotic body and complete tasks in the real world.

“This could be an advancement in rehabilitation and prosthetics technologies.

“What I also see in our near future is the application of this system to what is called the Metaverse, which is actually based on immersive and distant human avatars.”

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In other news, the new Harry Potter video game Hogwarts legacy will feature some familiar faces, despite being set hundreds of years before most of the characters were even born.

A major Mars mission to find out if life could have ever existed on the planet delayed by up to six years at best, as Europe scrambles to replace Russian parts.

Internet users were asked not to use a popular piece antivirus software for fear it could be exploited by the Kremlin to spy on or launch cyberattacks.

And Instagram might be planning to bring back a way to see what you are friends like on the platform.

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