Dstl presents telexistence technologies to reduce personnel risk

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) in the UK has demonstrated innovative telexistence concepts that could give military personnel, emergency services, or humanitarian workers the capability to undertake dangerous tasks in hazardous environments without physically being present.

During a recent event organised by the UK MoD Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), an array of different telexistence technologies were displayed by industry suppliers to potential military and government users.

Dstl explained in a 1 November announcement that telexistence combines three separate technologies to allow the ability to sense, touch, feel, and interact with objects. 

This is achieved using a remotely operated system and relies on the integration of telepresence to see and hear, robotics or wearable assistive technologies for interaction, and haptic feedback or sensors to touch and feel.

Dstl foresees a variety of applications for telexistence technologies in hazardous missions such as explosive ordnance disposal, to reduce the risk to personnel.

The MoD agency added that telexistence has also the potential to reduce logistical burden and allow specialists to support several operations as and when needed, rather than being deployed to a specific operation in case their skills are required.