Telepresence
Encyclopedia
Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance of being present, or to have an effect, via telerobotics
, at a place other than their true location.
Telepresence requires that the users' senses be provided with such stimuli
as to give the feeling of being in that other location. Additionally, users may be given the ability to affect the remote location. In this case, the user's position, movements, actions, voice, etc. may be sensed, transmitted
and duplicated in the remote location to bring about this effect. Therefore information
may be traveling in both directions between the user and the remote location.
A popular application is found in telepresence videoconferencing
, the highest possible level of videotelephony
. Telepresence via video
deploys greater technical sophistication and improved fidelity of both sight and sound
than in traditional videoconferencing
. Technical advancements in mobile collaboration
have also extended the capabilities of videoconferencing beyond the boardroom for use with hand-held mobile devices, enabling collaboration independent of location.
, who outlined his vision for an adapted version of the older concept of teleoperation
that focused on giving the remote participation a feeling of actually being present.
The first commercially successful telepresence company, Teleport (which was later renamed TeleSuite), was founded in 1993 by David Allen and Harold Williams. Before TeleSuite, they ran a resort business from which the original concept emerged, because they often found businesspeople would have to cut their stays short to participate in important meetings. Their idea was to develop a technology that would allow businesspeople to attend their meetings without leaving the resorts so that they could lengthen their hotel stays.
Hilton Hotels
had originally licensed to install them in their hotels throughout the United States and other countries, but use was low. The idea lost momentum, with Hilton eventually backing out. Teleport later began to focus less on the hospitality industry
and more on business-oriented telepresence systems. Shareholders eventually held enough stock to replace the company's original leadership, which ultimately led to its collapse. David Allen purchased all of the assets of TeleSuite and then renamed the new company Destiny Conferencing.
Although Destiny survived, the idea did not become more popular until other large corporations, such as HP and Cisco
, moved into the field; they began releasing similar systems around the mid-2000s. David Allen sold Destiny Conferencing on January 5, 2007 to Polycom
for $60 million.
An important research project in telepresence began in 1990. Headquartered at the University of Toronto
, the Ontario Telepresence Project "was a three year, $4.8 million pre-competitive research project whose mandate was to design and field trial advanced media space
systems in a variety of workplaces in order to gain insights into key sociological and engineering issues. The OTP, which ended December, 1994, was part of the International Telepresence Project which linked Ontario researchers to counterparts in four European nations. The Project’s major sponsor was the Province of Ontario through two of its Centres of Excellence—the Information Technology Research Centre (ITRC) and the Telecommunications Research Institute of Ontario (TRIO)." (quoting from the project's final report) The Project was an interdisciplinary effort involving social sciences and engineering.
Rather than travel
ing great distances in order to have a face-face meeting, it is now commonplace to instead use a telepresence system, which uses a multiple codec video system (which is what the word "telepresence" most currently represents). Each member/party of the meeting uses a telepresence room to "dial in" and can see/talk to every other member on a screen
/screens as if they were in the same room. This brings enormous time and cost benefits. It is also superior to phone conferencing (except in cost), as the visual aspect greatly enhances communications, allowing for perceptions of facial expressions and other body language.
Mobile collaboration
systems combine the use of video, audio and on-screen drawing capabilities using newest generation hand-held mobile devices to enable multi-party conferencing in real-time, independent of location. Benefits include cost-efficiencies resulting from accelerated problem resolution, reductions in downtimes and travel, improvements in customer service and increased productivity.
Telepresence has been described as the human experience of being fully present at a live real-world location remote from one's own physical location. Someone experiencing video telepresence would therefore be able to behave, and receive stimuli, as though part of a meeting at the remote site. The aforementioned would result in interactive participation of group activities that would bring benefits to a wide range of users.
. Ideally, the entire field of view
of the user is filled with a view of the remote location, and the viewpoint corresponds to the movement and orientation of the user's head. In this way, it differs from television
or cinema
, where the viewpoint is out of the control of the viewer.
In order to achieve this, the user may be provided with either a very large (or wraparound) screen, or small displays mounted directly in front of the eyes. The latter provides a particularly convincing 3D
sensation. The movements of the user's head must be sensed, and the camera
must mimic those movements accurately and in real time. This is important to prevent unintended motion sickness.
Another source of future improvement to telepresence displays, compared by some to holograms, is a projected display technology
featuring life-sized imagery.
, based on the foundational telephone
technology dating back more than 130 years. Very high-fidelity sound equipment has also been available for a considerable period of time, with stereophonic sound
being more convincing than monaural
sound.
s, inertial sensors
, or absolute spatial position sensors. A robot
in the remote location then copies those movements as closely as possible. This ability is also known as teleoperation
.
The more closely the robot re-creates the form factor of the human hand, the greater the sense of telepresence. Complexity of robotic effectors varies greatly, from simple one axis grippers, to fully anthropomorphic robot hands
.
Haptic
teleoperation refers to a system that provides some sort of tactile force feedback to the user, so the user feels some approximation of the weight, firmness, size, and/or texture of the remote objects manipulated by the robot.
Adaptive telepresence solutions may use the same technology, but the environments at both ends are not highly controlled and hence often differ. Adaptive solutions differ from telepresence lite solutions not in terms of control of environments, but in terms of integration of technology. Adaptive solutions use a managed service, whereas telepresence lite solutions use components that someone must integrate.
, John Chambers
in June 2006 at the Networkers Conference compared telepresence to teleporting
from Star Trek
, and said that he saw the technology as a potential billion dollar
market for Cisco.
Rarely will a telepresence system provide such a transparent implementation with such comprehensive and convincing stimuli that the user perceives no differences from actual presence. But the user may set aside such differences, depending on the application.
The fairly simple telephone
achieves a limited form of telepresence using just the human sensory element of hearing, in that users consider themselves to be talking to each other rather than talking to the telephone itself.
Watching television
, for example, although it stimulates our primary senses of vision
and hearing
, rarely gives the impression that the watcher is no longer at home. However, television sometimes engages the senses sufficiently to trigger emotional responses from viewers somewhat like those experienced by people who directly witness or experience events. Televised depictions of sports events, or disasters such as the September 11 terrorist attacks, can elicit strong emotions from viewers.
As the screen size increases, so does the sense of immersion, as well as the range of subjective mental experiences available to viewers. Some viewers have reported a sensation of genuine vertigo
or motion sickness
while watching IMAX
movies of flying or outdoor sequences.
Because most currently feasible telepresence gear leaves something to be desired; the user must suspend disbelief to some degree, and choose to act in a natural way, appropriate to the remote location, perhaps using some skill to operate the equipment. In contrast, a telephone user does not see herself as "operating" the telephone, but merely talking to another person with it.
, where the user is given the impression of being in a simulated environment. Telepresence and virtual presence rely on similar user-interface equipment, and they share the common feature that the relevant portions of the user's experience at some point in the process will be transmitted in an abstract (usually digital
) representation. The main functional difference is the entity on the other end: a real environment in the case of telepresence, vs. a computer
in the case of immersive virtual reality.
or Co-Web refers to a browser-based platform that promises to replicate the power of face-to-face communications via web-touch without sacrificing the quality of human interactions, using the human sensory elements of vision, sound and manipulation.
s, which are teleoperated from Earth.
.
, and telerobotics
can potentially save the lives of battle casualties by allowing them prompt attention in mobile operating theatres by remote surgeons.
Recently, teleconferencing has been used in medicine (telemedicine or telematics), mainly employing audio-visual exchange, for the performance of real time remote surgical operations - as demonstrated in Regensburg, Germany in 2002. In addition to audio-visual data, the transfer of haptic (tactile) information has also been demonstrated in telemedicine.
Research has been conducted on the use of telepresence to provide professional development to teachers. Research has shown that one of the most effective forms of teacher professional development is coaching, or cognitive apprenticeship
. The application of telepresence shows promise for making this approach to teacher professional development practical.
The benefits of enabling schoolchildren to take an active part in exploration have also been shown by the JASON and the NASA
Ames Research Center programs. The ability of a pupil, student, or researcher to explore an otherwise inaccessible location is a very attractive proposition; For example, locations where the passage of too many people is harming the immediate environment or the artifacts themselves, e.g. undersea exploration of coral reefs, ancient Egyptian tombs, and more recent works of art.
True telepresence is a multidisciplinary art and science that foundationally integrates engineering, psychology, and the art of television broadcast.
In 1998, Diller and Scofidio created the "Refresh", an Internet-based art installation that juxtaposed a live web camera with recorded videos staged by professional actors. Each image was accompanied with a fictional narrative which made it difficult to distinguish which was the live web camera.
In 1993, Eduardo Kac
and Ed Bennett created a telepresence installation "Ornitorrinco on the Moon", for the international telecommunication arts festival "Blurred Boundaries" (Entgrenzte Grenzen II). It was coordinated by Kulturdata, in Graz, Austria, and was connected around the world.
From 1997 to the present Ghislaine Boddington of shinkansen and body>data>space has explored, in a multi group process called The Weave using performing arts techniques, the extended us of telepresence into festivals, arts centres and clubs and has directed numerous workshops leading to exploration of telepresence by many artists worldwide. This work has been most recently applied to extending skills in tele-intuition for young people in preparation for the future world of work through the body>data>space / NESTA
project "Robots and Avatars" an innovative project explores how young people will work and play with new representational forms of themselves and others in virtual and physical life in the next 10–15 years.
An overview of tele-presence in dance and theatre through the last 20 years is given in Excited Atoms a research document by Judith Staines (2009) which one can download from the On The Move website
was one of the pioneers of intelligence-based mechanical robotics and telepresence. He designed and built some of the first mechanical hands with tactile sensors, visual scanners, and their software and computer interfaces. He also influenced many robotic projects outside of MIT, and designed and built the first LOGO
"turtle."
• Sheridan, Thomas B. (1992), "Telerobotics, Automation, and Human Supervisory Control, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Second edition (2003) ISBN 0-2625-1547-4
Telerobotics
Telerobotics is the area of robotics concerned with the control of robots from a distance, chiefly using wireless connections , "tethered" connections, or the Internet...
, at a place other than their true location.
Telepresence requires that the users' senses be provided with such stimuli
Stimulus (physiology)
In physiology, a stimulus is a detectable change in the internal or external environment. The ability of an organism or organ to respond to external stimuli is called sensitivity....
as to give the feeling of being in that other location. Additionally, users may be given the ability to affect the remote location. In this case, the user's position, movements, actions, voice, etc. may be sensed, transmitted
Data transmission
Data transmission, digital transmission, or digital communications is the physical transfer of data over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel. Examples of such channels are copper wires, optical fibres, wireless communication channels, and storage media...
and duplicated in the remote location to bring about this effect. Therefore information
Information
Information in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...
may be traveling in both directions between the user and the remote location.
A popular application is found in telepresence videoconferencing
Videotelephony
Videotelephony comprises the technologies for the reception and transmission of audio-video signals by users at different locations, for communication between people in real-time....
, the highest possible level of videotelephony
Videotelephony
Videotelephony comprises the technologies for the reception and transmission of audio-video signals by users at different locations, for communication between people in real-time....
. Telepresence via video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
deploys greater technical sophistication and improved fidelity of both sight and sound
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
than in traditional videoconferencing
Videoconferencing
Videoconferencing is the conduct of a videoconference by a set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously...
. Technical advancements in mobile collaboration
Mobile collaboration
Mobile collaboration is a technology-based process of communicating utilizing electronic assets and accompanying software designed for use in remote locations...
have also extended the capabilities of videoconferencing beyond the boardroom for use with hand-held mobile devices, enabling collaboration independent of location.
History
The term telepresence was coined in a 1980 article by Marvin MinskyMarvin Minsky
Marvin Lee Minsky is an American cognitive scientist in the field of artificial intelligence , co-founder of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AI laboratory, and author of several texts on AI and philosophy.-Biography:...
, who outlined his vision for an adapted version of the older concept of teleoperation
Telerobotics
Telerobotics is the area of robotics concerned with the control of robots from a distance, chiefly using wireless connections , "tethered" connections, or the Internet...
that focused on giving the remote participation a feeling of actually being present.
The first commercially successful telepresence company, Teleport (which was later renamed TeleSuite), was founded in 1993 by David Allen and Harold Williams. Before TeleSuite, they ran a resort business from which the original concept emerged, because they often found businesspeople would have to cut their stays short to participate in important meetings. Their idea was to develop a technology that would allow businesspeople to attend their meetings without leaving the resorts so that they could lengthen their hotel stays.
Hilton Hotels
Hilton Hotels
Hilton Hotels & Resorts is an international chain of full-service hotels and resorts founded by Conrad Hilton and now owned by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton hotels are either owned by, managed by, or franchised to independent operators by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton Hotels became the first coast-to-coast...
had originally licensed to install them in their hotels throughout the United States and other countries, but use was low. The idea lost momentum, with Hilton eventually backing out. Teleport later began to focus less on the hospitality industry
Hospitality industry
The hospitality industry consists of broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, restaurants, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and additional fields within the tourism industry. The hospitality industry is a several billion dollar industry...
and more on business-oriented telepresence systems. Shareholders eventually held enough stock to replace the company's original leadership, which ultimately led to its collapse. David Allen purchased all of the assets of TeleSuite and then renamed the new company Destiny Conferencing.
Although Destiny survived, the idea did not become more popular until other large corporations, such as HP and Cisco
Cisco
Cisco may refer to:Companies:*Cisco Systems, a computer networking company* Certis CISCO, corporatised entity of the former Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation in Singapore...
, moved into the field; they began releasing similar systems around the mid-2000s. David Allen sold Destiny Conferencing on January 5, 2007 to Polycom
Polycom
Polycom is a multinational corporation with approximately 3,200 employees worldwide and an annual revenue of approximately $1.2 billion in 2010. The company manufactures and sells telepresence and voice communications solutions.-Company History 1990:...
for $60 million.
An important research project in telepresence began in 1990. Headquartered at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, the Ontario Telepresence Project "was a three year, $4.8 million pre-competitive research project whose mandate was to design and field trial advanced media space
Media space
Media spaces are "electronic settings in which groups of people can work together, even when they are not present in the same place and time. In a media space, people can create real-time visual and acoustic environments that span physically separate areas...
systems in a variety of workplaces in order to gain insights into key sociological and engineering issues. The OTP, which ended December, 1994, was part of the International Telepresence Project which linked Ontario researchers to counterparts in four European nations. The Project’s major sponsor was the Province of Ontario through two of its Centres of Excellence—the Information Technology Research Centre (ITRC) and the Telecommunications Research Institute of Ontario (TRIO)." (quoting from the project's final report) The Project was an interdisciplinary effort involving social sciences and engineering.
Benefits
An industry expert described some benefits of telepresence: "There were four drivers for our decision to do more business over video and telepresence. We wanted to reduce our travel spend, reduce our carbon footprint and environmental impact, improve our employees' work/life balance, and improve employee productivity.".Rather than travel
Travel
Travel is the movement of people or objects between relatively distant geographical locations. 'Travel' can also include relatively short stays between successive movements.-Etymology:...
ing great distances in order to have a face-face meeting, it is now commonplace to instead use a telepresence system, which uses a multiple codec video system (which is what the word "telepresence" most currently represents). Each member/party of the meeting uses a telepresence room to "dial in" and can see/talk to every other member on a screen
Display device
A display device is an output device for presentation of information in visual or tactile form...
/screens as if they were in the same room. This brings enormous time and cost benefits. It is also superior to phone conferencing (except in cost), as the visual aspect greatly enhances communications, allowing for perceptions of facial expressions and other body language.
Mobile collaboration
Mobile collaboration
Mobile collaboration is a technology-based process of communicating utilizing electronic assets and accompanying software designed for use in remote locations...
systems combine the use of video, audio and on-screen drawing capabilities using newest generation hand-held mobile devices to enable multi-party conferencing in real-time, independent of location. Benefits include cost-efficiencies resulting from accelerated problem resolution, reductions in downtimes and travel, improvements in customer service and increased productivity.
Implementation
Implementation of human sensory elements
To provide a telepresence experience, technologies are required that implement the human sensory elements of vision, sound, and manipulation.Vision
A minimum system usually includes visual feedbackFeedback
Feedback describes the situation when output from an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or occurrences of the same Feedback describes the situation when output from (or information about the result of) an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or...
. Ideally, the entire field of view
Field of view
The field of view is the extent of the observable world that is seen at any given moment....
of the user is filled with a view of the remote location, and the viewpoint corresponds to the movement and orientation of the user's head. In this way, it differs from television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
or cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, where the viewpoint is out of the control of the viewer.
In order to achieve this, the user may be provided with either a very large (or wraparound) screen, or small displays mounted directly in front of the eyes. The latter provides a particularly convincing 3D
Three-dimensional space
Three-dimensional space is a geometric 3-parameters model of the physical universe in which we live. These three dimensions are commonly called length, width, and depth , although any three directions can be chosen, provided that they do not lie in the same plane.In physics and mathematics, a...
sensation. The movements of the user's head must be sensed, and the camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
must mimic those movements accurately and in real time. This is important to prevent unintended motion sickness.
Another source of future improvement to telepresence displays, compared by some to holograms, is a projected display technology
Electronic visual display
An electronic visual display is display technology which incorporates flat panel displays, performs as a video display, output device for presentation of images transmitted electronically, for visual reception, without producing a permanent record....
featuring life-sized imagery.
Sound
Sound is generally the easiest sensation to implement with high fidelityFidelity
"Fidelity" is the quality of being faithful or loyal. Its original meaning regarded duty to a lord or a king, in a broader sense than the related concept of fealty. Both derive from the Latin word fidēlis, meaning "faithful or loyal"....
, based on the foundational telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
technology dating back more than 130 years. Very high-fidelity sound equipment has also been available for a considerable period of time, with stereophonic sound
STEREO
STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
being more convincing than monaural
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
sound.
Manipulation
The ability to manipulate a remote object or environment is an important aspect for some telepresence users, and can be implemented in large number of ways depending on the needs of the user. Typically, the movements of the user's hands (position in space, and posture of the fingers) are sensed by wired gloveWired glove
A wired glove is an input device for human–computer interaction worn like a glove.Various sensor technologies are used to capture physical data such as bending of fingers. Often a motion tracker, such as a magnetic tracking device or inertial tracking device, is attached to capture the global...
s, inertial sensors
Inertial measurement unit
An inertial measurement unit, or IMU, is an electronic device that measures and reports on a craft's velocity, orientation, and gravitational forces, using a combination of accelerometers and gyroscopes. IMUs are typically used to maneuver aircraft, including UAVs, among many others, and...
, or absolute spatial position sensors. A robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
in the remote location then copies those movements as closely as possible. This ability is also known as teleoperation
Teleoperation
Teleoperation indicates operation of a machine at a distance. It is similar in meaning to the phrase "remote control" but is usually encountered in research, academic and technical environments...
.
The more closely the robot re-creates the form factor of the human hand, the greater the sense of telepresence. Complexity of robotic effectors varies greatly, from simple one axis grippers, to fully anthropomorphic robot hands
Shadow Hand
The Shadow Dexterous Hand is a humaniform robot hand system developed by The Shadow Robot Company in London. The hand is comparable to a human hand in size and shape, and reproduces all of its degrees of freedom...
.
Haptic
Haptic communication
Haptic communication is the means by which people and other animals communicate via touching. Touch, or the haptic sense, is extremely important for humans; as well as providing information about surfaces and textures it is a component of nonverbal communication in interpersonal relationships, and...
teleoperation refers to a system that provides some sort of tactile force feedback to the user, so the user feels some approximation of the weight, firmness, size, and/or texture of the remote objects manipulated by the robot.
Degree of implementation: immersive vs. adaptive, or lite
Telepresence's effectiveness varies by degree of fidelity. Research has noted that telepresence solutions differ in degree of implementation, from "immersive" through "adaptive" to "lite" solutions. At the top are immersive solutions where the environments at both ends are highly controlled (and often the same) with respect to lighting, acoustics, decor and furniture, thereby giving all the participants the impression they are together at the same table in the same room, thus engendering the "immersive" label.Adaptive telepresence solutions may use the same technology, but the environments at both ends are not highly controlled and hence often differ. Adaptive solutions differ from telepresence lite solutions not in terms of control of environments, but in terms of integration of technology. Adaptive solutions use a managed service, whereas telepresence lite solutions use components that someone must integrate.
Transparency of implementation
A good telepresence strategy puts the human factors first, focusing on visual collaboration configurations that closely replicate the brain's innate preferences for interpersonal communications, separating from the unnatural "talking heads" experience of traditional videoconferencing. These cues include life–size participants, fluid motion, accurate flesh tones and the appearance of true eye contact. This is already a well-established technology, used by many businesses today. The chief executive officer of Cisco SystemsCisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
, John Chambers
John Chambers (CEO)
John T. Chambers is Chairman of the Board and CEO of Cisco Systems, Inc. Chambers joined Cisco in 1991 as senior vice president, Worldwide Sales and Operations. Since January 1995, when he assumed the role of CEO, the company has grown from $1.2 billion in annual revenues to its current run-rate...
in June 2006 at the Networkers Conference compared telepresence to teleporting
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
from Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
, and said that he saw the technology as a potential billion dollar
Dollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...
market for Cisco.
Rarely will a telepresence system provide such a transparent implementation with such comprehensive and convincing stimuli that the user perceives no differences from actual presence. But the user may set aside such differences, depending on the application.
The fairly simple telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
achieves a limited form of telepresence using just the human sensory element of hearing, in that users consider themselves to be talking to each other rather than talking to the telephone itself.
Watching television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, for example, although it stimulates our primary senses of vision
Visual perception
Visual perception is the ability to interpret information and surroundings from the effects of visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight, or vision...
and hearing
Hearing (sense)
Hearing is the ability to perceive sound by detecting vibrations through an organ such as the ear. It is one of the traditional five senses...
, rarely gives the impression that the watcher is no longer at home. However, television sometimes engages the senses sufficiently to trigger emotional responses from viewers somewhat like those experienced by people who directly witness or experience events. Televised depictions of sports events, or disasters such as the September 11 terrorist attacks, can elicit strong emotions from viewers.
As the screen size increases, so does the sense of immersion, as well as the range of subjective mental experiences available to viewers. Some viewers have reported a sensation of genuine vertigo
Vertigo (medical)
Vertigo is a type of dizziness, where there is a feeling of motion when one is stationary. The symptoms are due to a dysfunction of the vestibular system in the inner ear...
or motion sickness
Motion sickness
Motion sickness or kinetosis, also known as travel sickness, is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system's sense of movement...
while watching IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
movies of flying or outdoor sequences.
Because most currently feasible telepresence gear leaves something to be desired; the user must suspend disbelief to some degree, and choose to act in a natural way, appropriate to the remote location, perhaps using some skill to operate the equipment. In contrast, a telephone user does not see herself as "operating" the telephone, but merely talking to another person with it.
Virtual presence (virtual reality)
Telepresence refers to a user interacting with another live, real place, and is distinct from virtual presenceVirtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
, where the user is given the impression of being in a simulated environment. Telepresence and virtual presence rely on similar user-interface equipment, and they share the common feature that the relevant portions of the user's experience at some point in the process will be transmitted in an abstract (usually digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
) representation. The main functional difference is the entity on the other end: a real environment in the case of telepresence, vs. a computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
in the case of immersive virtual reality.
The cooperative web
The Cooperative webCooperative web
The Cooperative Web or Co-Web refers to a browser-based platform that promises to replicate the power of face-to-face communications via web-touch without sacrificing the quality of human interactions. A Co-Web enabled...
or Co-Web refers to a browser-based platform that promises to replicate the power of face-to-face communications via web-touch without sacrificing the quality of human interactions, using the human sensory elements of vision, sound and manipulation.
Applications
Application examples could be cited within emergency management and security services, B&I, and the entertainment and education industries.Connecting communities
Telepresence can be used to establish a sense of shared presence or shared space among geographically separated members of a group.Hazardous environments
Many other applications in situations where humans are exposed to hazardous situations are readily recognised as suitable candidates for telepresence. Mining, bomb disposal, military operations, rescue of victims from fire, toxic atmospheres, deep sea exploration, or even hostage situations, are some examples. Telepresence also plays a critical role in the exploration of other worlds, such as with the Mars Exploration RoverMars Exploration Rover
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission is an ongoing robotic space mission involving two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars...
s, which are teleoperated from Earth.
Pipeline inspection
Small diameter pipes otherwise inaccessible for examination can now be viewed using pipeline video inspectionPipeline video inspection
Pipeline video inspection is a form of telepresence used to visually inspect the interiors of pipelines. A common application is to determine the condition of small diameter sewer lines and household connection pipes....
.
Remote surgery
The possibility of being able to project the knowledge and the physical skill of a surgeon over long distances has many attractions. Thus, again there is considerable research underway in the subject. (Locally controlled robots are currently being used for joint replacement surgery as they are more precise in milling bone to receive the joints.) The armed forces have an obvious interest since the combination of telepresence, teleoperationTeleoperation
Teleoperation indicates operation of a machine at a distance. It is similar in meaning to the phrase "remote control" but is usually encountered in research, academic and technical environments...
, and telerobotics
Telerobotics
Telerobotics is the area of robotics concerned with the control of robots from a distance, chiefly using wireless connections , "tethered" connections, or the Internet...
can potentially save the lives of battle casualties by allowing them prompt attention in mobile operating theatres by remote surgeons.
Recently, teleconferencing has been used in medicine (telemedicine or telematics), mainly employing audio-visual exchange, for the performance of real time remote surgical operations - as demonstrated in Regensburg, Germany in 2002. In addition to audio-visual data, the transfer of haptic (tactile) information has also been demonstrated in telemedicine.
Sign language communications via videotelephony
- Main articles: Video Relay ServiceVideo Relay ServiceA Video Relay Service , also sometimes known as a Video Interpreting Service, is a videotelecommunication service that allows deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired individuals to communicate over video telephones and similar technologies with hearing people in real-time, via a sign language...
, a telecommunication service for deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired (mute) individuals communicating with hearing persons, and also Video Remote InterpretingVideo Remote InterpretingVideo Remote Interpreting uses video or web cameras and telephone lines to provide sign language interpreting services, for deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech-impaired individuals, through an offsite interpreter, in order to communicate with hearing persons...
, used when both parties are at the same location.
Education
Cognitive apprenticeship
Cognitive apprenticeship is a theory of the process where a master of a skill teaches that skill to an apprentice.Constructivist approaches to human learning have led to the development of a theory of cognitive apprenticeship...
. The application of telepresence shows promise for making this approach to teacher professional development practical.
The benefits of enabling schoolchildren to take an active part in exploration have also been shown by the JASON and the NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Ames Research Center programs. The ability of a pupil, student, or researcher to explore an otherwise inaccessible location is a very attractive proposition; For example, locations where the passage of too many people is harming the immediate environment or the artifacts themselves, e.g. undersea exploration of coral reefs, ancient Egyptian tombs, and more recent works of art.
Telepresence art
In 1998, Diller and Scofidio created the "Refresh", an Internet-based art installation that juxtaposed a live web camera with recorded videos staged by professional actors. Each image was accompanied with a fictional narrative which made it difficult to distinguish which was the live web camera.
In 1993, Eduardo Kac
Eduardo Kac
Eduardo Kac is an American contemporary artist internationally recognized for his interactive net installations and his bio-art. Kac was born in 1962, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He lives and works in Chicago....
and Ed Bennett created a telepresence installation "Ornitorrinco on the Moon", for the international telecommunication arts festival "Blurred Boundaries" (Entgrenzte Grenzen II). It was coordinated by Kulturdata, in Graz, Austria, and was connected around the world.
From 1997 to the present Ghislaine Boddington of shinkansen and body>data>space has explored, in a multi group process called The Weave using performing arts techniques, the extended us of telepresence into festivals, arts centres and clubs and has directed numerous workshops leading to exploration of telepresence by many artists worldwide. This work has been most recently applied to extending skills in tele-intuition for young people in preparation for the future world of work through the body>data>space / NESTA
NESTA
The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts is an independent endowment in the United Kingdom established by an Act of Parliament in 1998....
project "Robots and Avatars" an innovative project explores how young people will work and play with new representational forms of themselves and others in virtual and physical life in the next 10–15 years.
An overview of tele-presence in dance and theatre through the last 20 years is given in Excited Atoms a research document by Judith Staines (2009) which one can download from the On The Move website
Telepresence and artificial intelligence
Marvin MinskyMarvin Minsky
Marvin Lee Minsky is an American cognitive scientist in the field of artificial intelligence , co-founder of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AI laboratory, and author of several texts on AI and philosophy.-Biography:...
was one of the pioneers of intelligence-based mechanical robotics and telepresence. He designed and built some of the first mechanical hands with tactile sensors, visual scanners, and their software and computer interfaces. He also influenced many robotic projects outside of MIT, and designed and built the first LOGO
Logo (programming language)
Logo is a multi-paradigm computer programming language used in education. It is an adaptation and dialect of the Lisp language; some have called it Lisp without the parentheses. It was originally conceived and written as functional programming language, and drove a mechanical turtle as an output...
"turtle."
Film
- Ra.OneRa.OneRa.One is a 2011 Indian science fiction superhero film written and directed by Anubhav Sinha. The film features Shahrukh Khan in dual roles, and also stars Kareena Kapoor, Armaan Verma and Arjun Rampal in the lead...
(2011) - Avatar (2009)
- G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)
- Gamer (2009)
- Surrogates (2009)
- Sleep DealerSleep DealerSleep Dealer is a 2008 futuristic science fiction film directed by Alex Rivera.-Plot:'Sleep Dealer' is set in a future, militarized world marked by closed borders, virtual labor and a global digital network that joins minds and experiences, where three strangers risk their lives to connect with...
(2008) - AvalonAvalon (2001 film)is a 2001 science-fiction film by Japanese filmmaker Mamoru Oshii. The name of the film originates from the island Avalon in the legend of King Arthur.-Overview:...
(2001) - The MatrixThe MatrixThe Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
(1999) - Telepresence (1997)
Comics
- Lamar Waldron's "M.I.C.R.A. Mind Controlled Remote Automaton" (1987), related the story of a college female paralyzed by a neck injury, who volunteered to be the remote pilot of an android body created by one of her professors.
Virtual reality communities
- Active WorldsActive WorldsActive Worlds is a 3D virtual reality platform. The Active Worlds client runs on Windows. Users assign themselves a name, log into the Active Worlds universe, and explore 3D virtual worlds and environments that other users have built. Users can chat with one another or build structures and areas...
and Second LifeSecond LifeSecond Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
allow voice chatVoice chatVoice chat is a modern form of communication used on the Internet. The means of communicating with voice chat is through any of the messengers, mainly Skype, Yahoo! Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, inSpeak Communicator or Windows Live Messenger...
with 3D avatarsAvatar (computing)In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character. It may take either a three-dimensional form, as in games or virtual worlds, or a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums and other online communities. It can also refer to a text...
See also
- Avatar (computing)Avatar (computing)In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character. It may take either a three-dimensional form, as in games or virtual worlds, or a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums and other online communities. It can also refer to a text...
- Cisco TelePresenceCisco TelepresenceCisco TelePresence, first introduced in October 2006, is a product developed by Cisco Systems which provides high-definition 1080p video, spatial audio, and a setup designed to link two physically separated rooms so they resemble a single conference room even though the two rooms may be on opposite...
- List of video telecommunication services and product brands, services and brands across multiple categories
- Media spaceMedia spaceMedia spaces are "electronic settings in which groups of people can work together, even when they are not present in the same place and time. In a media space, people can create real-time visual and acoustic environments that span physically separate areas...
- Mobile collaborationMobile collaborationMobile collaboration is a technology-based process of communicating utilizing electronic assets and accompanying software designed for use in remote locations...
- Presence (telepresence)Presence (telepresence)Presence is a theoretical concept describing the effect that people experience when they interact with a computer-mediated or computer-generated environment . Lombard and Ditton described presence as “an illusion that a mediated experience is not mediated”...
, analysis of the scientific basis behind telepresence - Presence InformationPresence informationIn computer and telecommunications networks, presence information is a status indicator that conveys ability and willingness of a potential communication partner—for example a user--to communicate...
, the factors that determine ones computer-based degree of presence (busy/free, etc.) - TelecollaborationTelecollaborationTelecollaboration refers to a set of software technologies that enable the integration and extension of personal desktop collaboration into high definition videoconferencing solutions....
- Teleconferencing, a more basic form of conferencing that employs sound, or sound and data only
- Telepresence technologyTelepresence technologyTelepresence technology is a term used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to refer to the combination of satellite technology with the Internet to broadcast information, including video in real-time from cameras used on its remotely operated vehicle on Okeanos Explorer....
, used by NOAA for oceanographic research - TeleroboticsTeleroboticsTelerobotics is the area of robotics concerned with the control of robots from a distance, chiefly using wireless connections , "tethered" connections, or the Internet...
, deployment of robotics via telecommunications, with applications such as telesurgury, remote mining, etc. - TelexistenceTelexistenceTelexistence is fundamentally a concept named for the general technology that enables a human being to have a real-time sensation of being at a place other than where he or she actually exists, and being able to interact with the remote environment, which may be real, virtual, or a combination of...
- UnotchitUnotchitUnotchit is the name of the company founded by Margaret Atwood which is developing Longpen.- External links and references :* * * * from Neil Gaiman* from Neal Pollack...
- Video Relay ServiceVideo Relay ServiceA Video Relay Service , also sometimes known as a Video Interpreting Service, is a videotelecommunication service that allows deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired individuals to communicate over video telephones and similar technologies with hearing people in real-time, via a sign language...
, a communication service for the deaf or speech-impaired - VideoconferencingVideoconferencingVideoconferencing is the conduct of a videoconference by a set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously...
, one-to-many or many-to-many video teleconferencing using a Multipoint Control Unit - VideophoneVideophoneA videophone is a telephone with a video screen, and is capable of full duplex video and audio transmissions for communication between people in real-time...
, one-to-one video calling without the benefit of a Multipoint Control Unit - VideotelephonyVideotelephonyVideotelephony comprises the technologies for the reception and transmission of audio-video signals by users at different locations, for communication between people in real-time....
- Virtual fixtureVirtual fixtureA virtual fixture is an overlay of abstract sensory information on a workspace in order to improve the telepresence of a remotely manipulated task.- Concept :The concept of virtual fixtures was first introduced in as an overlay of...
- Virtual realityVirtual realityVirtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
- Visual networkingVisual networkingVisual networking refers to an emerging class of user applications that combine digital video and social networking capabilities. It is based upon the premise that visual literacy, "the ability to interpret, negotiate and make meaning from information presented in the form of a moving image," is a...
Further reading
- "Telepresence" (Minsky 1980; Sheridan 1992a; Barfield, Zelter, Sheridan, & Slater 1995; Welch, Blackmon, Liu, Mellers, & Stark 1996)
- "Virtual presence" (Barfield et al., 1995)
- Oliver GrauOliver GrauOliver Grau is a German art historian and media theoretician with a focus on image science, modernity and media art as well as culture of the 19th century and Italian art of the Renaissance.-Works:...
: Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion, MIT-Press, Cambridge 2003 - Eduardo KacEduardo KacEduardo Kac is an American contemporary artist internationally recognized for his interactive net installations and his bio-art. Kac was born in 1962, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He lives and works in Chicago....
: Telepresence and Bio Art—Networking Humans, Rabbits and Robot (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005) - "Being there" (Reeves 1991; Heeter 1992; Barfield et al., 1995; Zhoa 2003)
- "A perceptual illusion of non-mediation "(Lombard & Ditton 1997)
- "The suspension of disbelief" (Slater & Ushoh 1994)
- unknown title (Sheridan, 1992, 1992; Barfield & Weghorst, 1993; Slater & Usoh, 1994; Barfield, Sheridan, Zeltzer, Slater, 1995)
• Sheridan, Thomas B. (1992), "Telerobotics, Automation, and Human Supervisory Control, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Second edition (2003) ISBN 0-2625-1547-4
External links
- Being There, ProAV Magazine, 7 November 2008
- "The Boss Is Robotic, and Rolling Up Behind You" article by John Markoff in The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
September 4, 2010 - 2011, Telepresence Interoperability Protocol for Developers http://www.imtc.org/tip/