Telepresence

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Telepresence is a human/machine system in which the human uses (head-mounted) displays and body-operated remote actuators and sensors to control distant machinery. It provides a virtual environment for humans to control devices (e.g. robots) in a hostile or remote real environment. The ability to control the camera view gives a completely different emotional impression of the environment rather than remote viewing, which is similar from a hardware perspective, but not a personal perspective.

Transparent telepresence is the experience of being fully present at a live real world location remote from one's own physical location. Someone experiencing transparent telepresence would therefore be able to behave, and receive stimuli, as though at the remote site—when we talk about telepresence in this article, we only talk about transparent telepresence.

The resulting vicarious interactive participation in activities, and the carrying out of physical work, brings benefits to a wide range of users. Examples include: the emergency and security services, entertainment and education industries, and those of restricted mobility such as the disabled or elderly.

Jean Vertut is a French pioneer of robotics and remote technology. Vertut developed remote control and robotics technology for the Commisariat de l'Energie Atomique, notably including computer-enhanced teleoperation, an early form of telerobotics.

Contents

[edit] How it works

For any telepresence system there are three essential sub-systems, i.e. the home site technology which interfaces to the user and the communication link, the communication link itself which interfaces to the home site and the remote site, and the remote site technology which interfaces with the communication link and possibly a remote site human. The advent of high resolution video cards and powerful PCs which are able to process virtual environments in real time has made telepresence in Virtual Reality Environments more practical. The improvement of compression technology and improved consumer quality cameras has made imagery much more immersive. Head mounted displays are still several generations behind, being either expensive or SVGA quality, but a gradual improvement over the last two decades shows promise that Telepresence is almost available.

The user is immersed in a 3D world that is transmitted from a remote site. This medium for human interaction, enabled by digital technology, approximates the illusion that a person is in the same physical space as others, even though they may be thousands of miles distant. It combines the display and interaction techniques of virtual reality with new computer-vision technologies. Thus with the aid of this new technology, users at geographically distributed sites can collaborate in real time in a shared, simulated, hybrid environment submerging in one another’s presence and feel as if they are sharing the same physical space. It is the ultimate synthesis of media technologies:

  • 3D environment scanning
  • projective and display technologies
  • tracking technologies
  • audio technologies

In a telepresence environment, computers recognize the presence and movements of individuals and objects, track those individuals and images, and then permit them to be projected in realistic, multiple, geographically distributed immersive environments on stereo-immersive surfaces. This requires sampling and resynthesis of the physical environment as well as the users' faces and bodies, which is a new challenge that will move the range of emerging technologies, such as scene depth extraction and warp rendering, to the next level.

These environments will therefore facilitate not only interaction between users themselves but also between users and computer generated models and simulations. This will require expanding the boundaries of computer vision, tracking, display, and rendering technologies. As a result, all of this will enable users to achieve a compelling experience and it will lay the groundwork for a higher degree of their inclusion into the entire system.

[edit] Applications

[edit] Teleconferencing

Cisco Systems is referring to telepresence as an advanced way of teleconferencing or video conferencing, using high speed internet connections and high definition video. Cisco's chief executive officer John Chambers in June 2006 at the Networkers Conference compared telepresence teleporting from Star Trek, and said that he saw the technology as a potential billion dollar market for Cisco.[1]

[edit] Subsea work

The cost of operations using deep water divers is extremely high due to safety regulations, hyperbaric equipment, time spent in decompression, and support vessel costs. Telepresence systems for inspection and teleoperation for repair and maintenance would again realise cost benefits and in addition would remove divers from a hazardous environment.

[edit] 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, or even hostage situations, are some examples.

[edit] Pipeline inspection

Small diameter pipes, otherwise inaccessible for examination, are now viewed using pipeline video inspection.

[edit] 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. The armed forces have an obvious interest since the combination of telepresence, teleoperation, and telerobotics can potentially save the lives of battle casualties by allowing them prompt attention in mobile operating theatres by remote surgeons.

[edit] Education

The benefits of enabling schoolchildren to take an active part in exploration have been shown by the JASON and the NASA Ames Research Centre programmes. 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 artefacts themselves, e.g. undersea exploration of coral reefs, ancient Egyptian tombs, and more recent works of art.


[edit] Advertising and sales

Tour operators and property agents would be able to use telepresence to allow potential customers to sample holiday locations and view properties remotely before investigating further.

[edit] Entertainment

Telepresence systems could be incorporated into theme or nature parks to allow observers to travel through coral reefs, explore underground caves, or in amusement parks the elderly or infirm could experience the thrill of live roller coaster rides without the associated risks.

In the games, the user can interact using telepresence, sharing robots to interact one human with the other (paired objects as remote surrogate actors); that is, if one partner shakes the object, the remote object also shakes.

[edit] Telepresence Art

In 1998, Diller and Scofidio created the "Refresh", an Internet-based art installation that juxtaposes a live webcamera with recorded videos staged by professional actors, each image accompanied with a fictional narrative making it difficult to distinguish which is the live webcamera.

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.[1]

[edit] Telepresence and AI

Marvin Minsky 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."

[edit] Commercial Telepresence Robots

MILO is one of the first commercially available telepresence robots—other than research robots—that came to market in 2005. There are currently 15 robots deployed through the company's Early Adopters Program exploring various applications within the telepresence space, including Elderly Care, Commercial Security, Process Automation, Real-Time Inventory Tracking, and more.

TrueLook is a product produced by a company called Perceptual Robotics in the mid 90's. Perceptual Robotics, Inc. (PRI) used the term Telepresence to describe its remote controlled robotic web cams due to the sense of "being there" they provided. Later renamed TrueLook, the product still exists although PRI does not. PRI was sold to divine, inc. in 2002 then the TrueLook product was later acquired by Silk Road Technologies, where it remains available.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Tom Sanders, "Cisco sets sail for teleconferencing" vnunet.com, June 21, 2006

[edit] External links

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