Following multi-million dollar competitions to put private spacecraft on the moon, reimagine C02 and tackle illiteracy in the developing world, the organization has just announced a new initiative to accelerate the development of real-life robotic avatars, which could one day be used to carry out tasks like caregiving or disaster relief from miles away.

Introduced today, the ANA Avatar XPrize is offering US$10 million in prize money to usher in an era where telepresence robots can be used to transplant human skills to any place in the world, at any time.

To claim the $8 million grand prize, the winning team will need to demonstrate a multipurpose robotic avatar that an untrained operator can use to complete various tasks from at least 100 km (62 mi) away. That includes an ability to see, hear, touch and interact with its environment, so that it can effectively assist people regardless of location be it through care-giving, disaster relief, or specialized trade skills for maintenance or repair.