ANA bets on virtual traveller to spur real-world ticket sales

ANA is placing a US$10m bet on the future of virtual travel as it aims to tap into the estimated 94% of the world’s population who do not travel by air in a single year. As part of that effort the carrier is backing a global competition to invent, by 2021, an avatar — an artificial proxy for a human — that can perform tasks and allow observers to “remotely see, hear, and interact with physical environments and other people”. The aim is to create technology that would be useful not just for virtual travel but ultimately also for medical assistance and disaster relief. Eventually, skills for craftsmen and athletes also could be distributed using an avatar. ANA and the XPRIZE Foundation envision the avatar to be a mix of virtual reality, artificial intelligence, haptic technology and telepresence robotics. <br/>