(Credit: 20th Century Fox)

Soldiers practically inhabiting the mechanical bodies of androids, who will take the humans’ place on the battlefield.

Or sophisticated tech that spots a powerful laser ray, then stops it from obliterating its target.

Now DARPA wants to bring ‘em into the real world, Wired Danger Room reports.

In the agency’s $2.8 billion budget for 2013, they’ve allotted $7 million for a project titled “Avatar.” The project’s goal: develop interfaces and algorithms to enable a soldier to effectively partner with a semi-autonomous bi-pedal machine and allow it to act as the soldier’s surrogate.”

In other words, an avatar.