Imagine walking through Paris, inspecting a disaster zone or treating a patient hundreds of miles away 鈥� all without leaving the room.
That鈥檚 the future a team of 麻豆原创 researchers is building, and their groundbreaking work has earned international recognition.
A team of 麻豆原创 researchers has won an industry award for using robotics and digital twins to blend human intuition with technological innovation.
Their work, Be There Without Being There: Humanoid Robot Immersive Telepresence, received the Auggie Award for Best Interaction Product at this year鈥檚 Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, California. Auggie Awards, which received over 330 entries across 18 categories, are among the world鈥檚 most recognized honors in the augmented and virtual reality industry.
The award-winning 麻豆原创 team includes computer science student researchers Judah Rowe 鈥�23 鈥�25MS, junior Liam Abramov, seniors Seniah McField and Megan Bailey, Assistant Professor Mohsen Rakhshan, and is led by 麻豆原创 Institute for Simulation and Training Interim Director and Agere Chair Professor of Computer Science Carolina Cruz-Neira. In addition to this honor, Cruz-Neira received the 2026 Auggie Award for Innovator of the Year.
Together, they developed a system that pairs a humanoid robot with an immersive digital environment, allowing a person to interact with a remote location as if they were physically there.
The technology creates a real-time digital twin of the robot鈥檚 surroundings while mapping the user鈥檚 body movements directly onto the robot.
鈥淔rom a technical [standpoint], this is perhaps the first working product or system that actually [allows] a human to be physically functional in a remote location as if they were really there,鈥� Cruz-Neira says. 鈥淲e map the body of the human to the robot. So the human walks, the robot walks. The human moves, and the robot moves. The human turns the head, the robot turns the head. It’s almost like the concept in the movie Avatar.鈥�
While Cruz-Neira and Rakhshan guided the project, she says the talented 麻豆原创 students are responsible for successfully implementing physical telepresence.
鈥淭his project was done entirely by 麻豆原创 students,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey are the ones who solved all the problems. They brought it to this level of sophistication to win the award.鈥�
The technology has applications across industries wherever people cannot safely or easily be physically present.
A robot could enter buildings damaged by hurricanes or earthquakes to assess structural damage and search for survivors. Healthcare providers could remotely examine patients with limited mobility or those living far from medical facilities. 聽Someone unable to travel could experience strolling along the Champs-脡lys茅es in Paris through the robot鈥檚 perspective.
The most important aspect of the work is its ability to blend human intuition with technological innovation, Cruz-Neira says.
鈥淎t the end of the day, we have a human element, and robots can help us extend our human capabilities through this amazing technology,鈥� she says. 鈥淭his project is about [using] technology to augment or extend our human capabilities to help us do things more safely and more effectively.鈥�
The team continues refining the technology to enhance the human experience. Future developments include incorporating artificial intelligence to give the robot greater autonomy and adding a sense of touch that would allow users to remotely feel temperature and texture, as well as manipulate objects.
Cruz-Neira says the project demonstrates not only what鈥檚 possible through emerging technologies, but also what 麻豆原创 students can accomplish when given the opportunity to tackle complex real-world challenges. The students have taken this project from the lab into the real world. They鈥檝e built a robust working prototype that鈥檚 an exceptional display of real value for the community.
鈥溌槎乖� is making [its] mark in the world as the technology university,鈥� she says. 鈥淭his project demonstrates that as a university, we鈥檙e part of the future that we like to talk about. [We鈥檙e helping build it.]鈥�
