A team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a physical-virtual interface (PVI) by combining the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset and teleoperated robotics.

Dexterous Observational Roving Automaton, or DORA, is unlike most other telepresence robots on the market by offering greater and flexibility immersion within the environment. DORA’s swiveling head mimics the movements of the user’s head, allowing them to freely look around the environment without having to move a whole robotic rig. The user can also view the feed in 3D via the headset thanks to DORA’s dual cameras copying our stereoscopic vision.

“The system is made up of a 3 Degrees of Freedom head gimbal that tracks the orientation of the user,” Emre Tanirgan of University of Pennsylvania explains, “along with a 3 Degrees of Freedom translation stage system that takes advantage of the positional tracking of the DK2 to track the user's head position.”

“In addition, the gimbal and stages sit on a mobile base that the user can control with a standard game controller,” he adds. “Everything is wireless. We've also made a clean GUI envisioning the future of this system, where a user can sign in and then choose a location to go to, to connect to the robot stationed at that location.”

Designed for navigation and exploration of remote locations, DORA's torso could be attached to bulkier robots to provide users with more immersive visuals. Potential applications may extend to bomb disposal, virtual tourism and disaster recovery. It’s applications could also extend surrogate exploration in dangerous environments, such as NASA JPL's project to explore active volcanos using robotic counterparts.

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The team and DORA will compete in US$10,000 student research competition Intel-Cornell Cup in Cape Canaveral, Florida, this week.

Jenna Pitcher is a freelance journalist writing for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter