TelePresence

TelePresence: video teleconferencing gets real

Quickly: Cisco's high-definition video conferencing  TelePresence system will change how large companies communicate.   Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance that they were present, or to have an effect, at a location other than their true location.

Telepresence requires that the senses of the user, or users, be provided with such stimuli as to give the feeling of being in that other location. Additionally, the user(s) 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.

Telepresence videotelephony is a higher level of videoconferencing, deploying greater technical sophistication and improved fidelity of both video and audio.

This is the company's next generation video conferencing. It features high-definition video, exceptional sound, and specialized rooms with the conferenced individuals "sitting" around a table with the live participants -- the pic shows the experience is a close emulation of an in-person meeting. Cisco has deployed 240 systems worldwide and has staged 120,000 meetings -- for a claimed cost savings and productivity gain of $150 million. The company calculates that it eliminated 24 million cubic feet of carbon emissions as a result.

The system got high grades from meeting participants. If in-person is 100% and traditional video conferencing is 40%, the attendees put TelePresence at 80%.   The projection technology was priced at approximately $130,000 in 2009, plus the leasing costs of ultra-high speed telecommunication lines. 

Telepresence is represented in media and entertainment.

Film

• Avatar (2009)
• Gamer (2009)
• Sleep Dealer (2008)
• Surrogates (2009)
• Telepresence (1997)