Autonomous robotic avatars

A method comprising:

• transmitting, by a message transmitter, a message to a remote robotic avatar instructing the remote robotic avatar to identify a physical object at a second location, wherein a characteristic of the physical object is described in the message;
• determining, by one or more processors, a first position at a first location relative to the first object, wherein the first position is more than a predefined distance away from the first object;
• determining, by one or more processors, a second position at the second location that correlates with the first position by being a scaled distance away from the second object relative to the remote robotic avatar;
• transmitting, by the message transmitter, a message directing the remote robotic avatar to reposition itself to the second position at the second location;
• and
• transmitting, by the message transmitter, an instruction to the remote robotic avatar to approach the second position at the second location and to initiate a teleoperative session between an entity in the first location and the remote robotic avatar at the second location.

A robotic avatar comprising:

• a sensor receiver for receiving sensor readings from a set of one or more sensors at a first location, wherein the set of one or more sensors detect a first person approaching a first object in the first location, and wherein the first object is a particular type of object;
• an instruction receiver for receiving a message instructing the robotic avatar to identify a second object in a second location, wherein the second object is the particular type of object of the first object, and wherein the robotic avatar is in the second location that is remote from the first location;
• an autonomous locomotion system for approaching the second object in response to receiving the message instructing the robotic avatar to approach the second object at the second location;
• one or more processors for:
• determining a first position at the first location relative to the first object, wherein the first position is more than a predefined distance away from the first object;
• determining a second position at the second location that correlates with the first position by being a scaled distance away from the second object relative to the robotic avatar;
• and
• repositioning the robotic avatar to the second position at the second location;
• and
• a teleoperative device for performing a teleoperative session between the first person in the first location and the robotic avatar at the second location.