Disney’s New Telepresence Robot Is So Precise it Can Be Used to Thread a Needle

The well-fixed way to make a automaton as deft and able as a human being is to plainly let a human control condition it . That ’s howDisney Research ’s new telepresence robotworks , but with improved hydraulics on circuit card , it ’s now capable of duplicate a homo ’s motions with singular precision — to the spot where it can even be used to remotely thread a needle .

Disney Research ’s latest institution is far from the first telepresence automaton to be revealed . In fact , the technology has been used to allow robotic figures in theme park to react to and interact with park guests thanks to a performer concealing nearby .

What ’s innovational about this telepresence robot is its use of a new intercrossed breeze and water fluid mechanics system that allow for its coat of arms to more intimately mirror the movements of a human operator , and also provide near - instantaneous physical feedback , which allow for finer controller . By using a mix of hydraulic and pneumatic lines , there are one-half as many transmission line race through the automaton ’s limbs , which reduces its weight , its overall size , and increases its response time and precision .

A circle of stereophonic cameras on the robot ’s head supply real - time feedback to an operator wearing 3D goggles so that they can accurately fudge its arms without see what the bot is actually doing .

There are some restriction to this approach , though . The human operator may not be involve to see the robot to control it , but they must be relatively close to it as the controls they use are instantly connected to the bot through those hydraulic and pneumatic cables . So using this system of rules to , for exercise , inspect a atomic power plant post - meltdown , might not be feasible . But Disney Research plans to use it to further study human - robot interactions , and it ’s safe to assume the technology might one day end up in use in its theme common .

[ Disney Research ]

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.