A big problem with teleoperation is lag and packet loss. JAXA has been looking into this. It seems that highly motivated operators can tolerate a full second o

A big problem with teleoperation is lag and packet loss. JAXA has been looking into this. It seems that highly motivated operators can tolerate a full second of lag. In the DARPA robotics challenge, competitors were able to create movable views with lag by 3d scanning the environment and streaming the 3d scans. That's entirely suitable for a "work bench." In fact, the background might as well be blanked out and replaced with a synthetic grid. You need an application where humans cannot go or the labor the operator is doing is more valuable than the cost of transporting the operator there and the robot. I can envision many contexts in the upcoming decades where teleoperation is going to be very useful. The long term health costs of human beings suiting up to go into environments without protection from radiation could be quite high.