Omnipresenz lets armchair explorers control real human avatars

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Traveling isn't only for the rich these days, you know, what with more and more budget airlines and services like Airbnb and Couchsurfing popping up. But if you'd rather do some armchair exploration at this point in time, and you've already seen most of what Street View can offer, then this Indiegogo campaign might tickle your virtual wanderlust. The Barcelona-based project, called Omnipresenz, will give you the power to control a human avatar wearing a camera-equipped helmet that feeds you real-time video and audio as he walks around town. You can also instruct the avatar to complete tasks as he explores locations for you through the interface you can see below the fold. If you ask him to do something nice for others, which takes money to accomplish (buy food for a stray or give a stranger some flowers, for instance), the service's users will have to vote on it first and raise funds to get it done.


Pledging €10 ($12) on Indiegogo will give you two hours of access to the system per week for a month, while €30 ($37) will give you four hours per week, assuming you're not too late to nab one of those limited edition reward tiers. There are special, slightly more expensive options that come with something extra, such as the €40 ($49) one that sends you on a treasure hunt, solving riddles and finding clues while your avatar does all the footwork.


It's the most expensive tiers that caught our eye, though, because by the looks of it, Omnipresenz is also selling virtual boyfriend-girlfriend experiences for a price. A €100 ($124) pledge promises you a romantic two-hour dinner with your avatar, while for €220 ($273), you can get the "deepest possible experience" with him/her wherein "you can be a little kinky" -- whatever being "a little kinky" means.


That said, since you're dealing with a real human being and not a robot or an RPG character, your avatar can decline requests he finds highly inappropriate. Some avatars could be more open-minded than others, but you absolutely cannot ask them to do anything against the law -- the administrators will wield their banhammer if you persist. The Omnipresenz team hopes to raise €33,000 ($41,000) to launch the project's beta phase in February 2015. Take note that while only Barcelona-based avatars will be available during beta, you can sign up as a customer wherever you are. If successful, or if the campaign raises more money, the team plans to place avatars in other metropolises around the globe, including New York, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.



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Source: Indiegogo


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