Telepresence and Holography / Holograms - November 2008

Editor’s viewpoint on their differences, likenesses and future...

We all just recently viewed an historic CNN holographic interview on an historic Election Night. CNN stated this type of imaging has never been done before on National TV and I believe that. I haven’t seen anything like it. The live interview caught me by surprise and sure had the “wow” factor attached to it didn’t it? Here’s a link to the actual interview.

CNN Hologram Video

The question now has to be asked. Is it Telepresence?

I’m no expert on the subject but I’m going to throw my hat into the ring, go out on a limb and say yes, I believe it is. Although I know many video conferencing purists are rolling their eyes and grabbing their guns right about now with my statement.

While I do know that Telepresence still hasn’t been universally defined (Houston, we have a problem), here’s how I see it…. Broken down to its simplest form - “tele” (through electronic means) and “presence” (present). This is how I’m justifying my opinion by lumping holography and Telepresence together. Just as Telepresence is surely an offshoot of video conferencing, holographic imaging (like we viewed on CNN) surely has to be considered an offshoot of Telepresence. The interviewer was “telepresent” from Chicago and beamed into the CNN Election Headquarters. She was most assuredly - “telepresent”. There was negligible latency, the imaging was fantastic and both interviewers were rehearsed on what they would say. I’ve just recently read that CNN actually “downgraded” the experience to make it “movie” quality and not as good as it could have been. Maybe they thought us mere mortals would be shocked if they showed their complete hand. I have a feeling it was so big to them, they didn’t want it to get upstaged by the historic election. I’m willing to bet we’ll see the “true” power of this technology in the upcoming weeks and months when they can put the pedal to the medal and show it off without having it sidetracked.

What an amazing time for this technology (all differences and opinions aside). Telepresence Doctors, nurses, teachers, schools and healthcare (healthpresence) will benefit from the recent gains in this state-of-the-art industry whether holograms, Telepresence or holography. Airlines also have to see the threat to a portion of their business travel. Hell, who wants go through security and fly to Miami for a two-hour conference when you can look them in the eye via Telepresence?

Beam me up Scotty! Simply amazing…!

Visit the free Telepresence Forum for more information and discussion

Your Editor and Administrator - L II
"Ride on the Next Plane of Existence" TM

Telepresence – The Communication Revolution

With time comes technology.  First the telephone; then television; now telepresence.  Through history, each respective technology mentioned above has brought human communication and interaction to a higher level then its predecessor.  The telephone connected with voice and left Morse code in its wake.  The visual sensation of television took over for radio. Today, technology brings us telepresence.  History will write what this technology will leave behind it, but telepresence promises to not just write a chapter, but a full-fledged book on the history of human communications.

Note the word “human” in the last sentence - it’s important to understand just what telepresence is.  Telepresence is the art of human presence without being there.  I like to call it - the next plane of existence.  Through real time, hi resolution three-dimensional sight and sound, telepresence makes video conferencing look like your black and white TV of the 60’s.  Telepresence promises to take visual television and voice telephony to a completely new level, the “human” level.  Interacting with humans is what we do.  It’s why a CEO must fly to Denver and meet with his management team to impress and convey to them his visions for their future and it’s why a salesman must drive to California and meet eye to eye with his vendors to close a deal.  Missing from television, video, telephone, Morse code, radio and almost all forms of long distance communication is “complete human interaction”.  That is what telepresence is.  Telepresence is a word coined from “tele” and “presence”. “Communication by presence”.  Telepresence is the perfect technology at the perfect time.

The benefits of telepresence are tremendous.  I’ll get into just a few here.

Green:  Not just a lowered carbon footprint, but no carbon footprint!  That’s about as green as it gets in this day and age.

Travel:  No fuel cost.  No airline tickets, hotels/motels, rental cars, etc.  You say 100,000 miles a year for a normal salesman?  Zero with telepresence.  You see the unbelievable savings here – Billions and billions of dollars!

Lost time:  No lost time.  Hard to believe with telepresence there’s no lost time but that’s a hard fact.  What is the CEO of a Fortune 500’s time worth? $10,000/ per hour?  $1 Million a day?  With telepresence that same CEO is able to stay put and do what he does best – run his company, get a return on his investment and not have to run around the world burning precious time and money.

These are just a few of the cost savings benefits of telepresence.  I haven’t even mentioned the medical aspects, public at large savings and global ramifications!  I’ll write about those benefits in upcoming Editor Views.

By the way....I'm no expert in the subject of telepresence.  Far, far from it!  I am fascinated by the technology and the benefits telepresence affords mankind.  I've watched in amazement as the pioneers of telepresence have finally brought it to the forefront of usable technology.  Recently, Internet bandwidth, cameras, sound, effects and even the name have all have converged to create the perfect storm, and we have a front row seat to see and feel this paradigm shift in our communication culture.  Since 1972 when I became a Ham Radio Operator and in the 80's dissecting Commodore 64 computers, I've witnessed first-hand the progress communication technology affords us and this very special technology - telepresence, is hands down the most fascinating, usable communication platform I've ever seen!  I believe in my bones that telepresence will turn communications on its head soon, possibly in the next few months to a year.  As you see on Telepresence Today's home page, I'm not the only one.  CEO John Chambers of 35 Billion/yr Cisco recently stated "I believe a new wave of innovation is coming that will make the first wave of the Internet seem small."  Marriott Hotels has purchased telepresence systems for their state-of-the-art hotels from HP in the last month, US World and News Report has written on the subject of telepresence, even the NBA has jumped on board to ride this tsunami wave.  If I sound excited, you're right!  It's here!  See you in my next Editor View!  Hold on tight!

Ride on the "Next Plane of Existence" TM

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To learn more about Telepresence, the revolutionary new style of immersive video conferencing; visit these websites:

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