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!

L2 – Admin,
Telepresence Forum