Into the Age of Telepresence
Telepresence [1] is the use of technology to allow the “apparent participation in distant events”. Breakthroughs in telepresence technology already allow individuals to actively participate and socially engage in events from afar through robotic interfaces. Here are some examples of the leading telepresence robots:
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1. The Telenoid: The Telenoid was designed to transfer the presence of its human operator on the “other side”. The android robot doesn’t have a specific age or sex, allowing participants to try to imagine the facial expressions of the robot’s human operator. The robot is able to engage through an advanced video conferencing tool that looks to optimize the emotional connection with participants. Interestingly, the Telenoid cannot move on its own and needs to be held like a baby.
2. OriHime: This robot was created to fight off loneliness for sick patients in the hospital. The OriHime allows patents to interact with their loved ones remotely through through pre-programmed movements like nodding yes or no to questions. Similar to the Telenoid, the robot was designed generically so that participants are able to imagine the face of their sick friend or family member on the robot.
3. MH-2 shoulder robot: Have you ever wanted an extremely intelligent parrot on your shoulder? If so then the MH-2 shoulder robot may be the right telepresence robot for you! Similar to Google Glass, the shoulder robot tells you when there is something interesting to be seen and provides users with general information like the weather and the time, as well as access to their address book and telephone. Wearers are able to tailor the robots movements to their reactions.
4. Me-Bot: This telepresence robot comes out of the Personal Robotics Group at the MIT Media Lab. Similar to models with tablets that you may have seen, the Me-Bot uses the smartphone camera together with motorized arms and a neck to allow users to remotely interact with their surroundings. The robot is able to mimic the movements of the user to enhance the emotional interaction with participants. Some research has shown that using the Me-Bot instead of standard video conference calling increases response and engagement.
Telepresence still hasn’t reached the point of fully functioning robots from a distance, but it is only a matter of time. There are a number of ethical and legal questions that arise in the age of telepresence, such as who can be held responsible for the actions of the robot and if these robots will one day replace the need for humans to socially interact in the world. These and other questions will need to be addressed as telepresence technology advances in its complexity.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telepresence
