What is Telepresence?

Telepresence uses technology to 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. Generally Telepresence is at least partially bi-directional, with both the operator and people on the other end able to interact in a fairly natural manor.

Telepresence essentially transmits sensory information (sound, video etc) to allow the operator to interact with a situation that is at some distance from them as if they were there. Think about it like transportation or teleportation…  without all the messy bits of actually needing to leave your desk.

Virtual Reality can be a special case of telepresence where multiple people shift their senses to a shared space that does not actually exist.

Telepresence in the Future

Generally, as of now we have been able to shift our eyesight and hearing anyplace on earth (and beyond!). What’s Next?

With new sensor technology like the Kinect and Leap Motion, we have new, more natural ways of getting our physical body’s movement into the computer. Once digitized, that information can be sent over the internet, world wide and used to control robots, which can send data back to us.

Slowly our ability to transport ourselves becomes more and more immersive.

What do you think some of the next possibilities are that will open up with these new technologies?What are we still missing?