Website of the YearA tech group is developing a robot that will take sick children on virtual tours of London Zoo.
Wevolver is an open-source technology group based in London that brings people together to work on innovative projects.
The group is currently working on a project called Robots For Good that will help hospital-bound children visit the animals of London Zoo in immersive virtual reality.
The idea is to build a robot that will move around the zoo on behalf of the children at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
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Advertise with NZME.The kids will control the robot remotely and experience everything it sees in 3D through a virtual reality headset.
The group's co-founder, Richard Hulskes, got the idea after visiting the hospital's school and meeting the children there.
Cameron Norris, who is developing the concept, explained how it all came about in a Reddit AMA.
"Richard began speaking with some people from the school of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital here in London and the idea struck him to combine the InMoov with an Oculus to help the kids who were totally bed bound," he told Reddit.
The project looks to combine the Oculus Rift, a virtual-reality display, with a 3D-printable robot.
"We're hooking up a binaural audio recording system to the robot's head to create a three-dimensional soundscape, making this a very convincing audio-visual experience," Mr Norris explained.
"The children will also have full control over the robots actions, so they really will 'be' the robot."
The kids will be involved in the project by building and testing the robots with the help of developers, giving them an opportunity to learn about the technology involved.
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Advertise with NZME.The human-sized InMoov robot was developed by French model-maker and sculptor Gael Langevin.
It will move using Open Wheels, an open source version of a Segway developed by Boris Landoni.
The technology being used is open source, meaning it can be developed and used by anyone.
The aim of the project is to help change the lives of sick children worldwide who don't have the chance to experience the world outside hospital.
Mr Norris says they will be testing the robot in the next few months at Great Ormond Street Hospital School and the London Zoo to see how the kids, and animals, interact with the technology.
The group is still looking for engineers, designers and software developers to help bring the robot to life.