Development of Cellphone-type Tele-operated Android

This paper presents a newly developed portable human-like robotic avatar “Elfoid” which can be a novel communication medium in that a user can talk with another person in a remote location in such a way that they feel each other’s presence. It is designed to convey individuals’ presence using voice, human-like appearance, and touch. Thanks to its cellphone capability, it can be used at anytime, anywhere. The paper describes the design concept of Elfoid and argues research issues on this communication medium.