First steps towards mutually-immersive mobile telepresence

ABSTRACT

Mutually-Immersive Mobile Telepresence uses a teleoperated robotic surrogate to visit remote locations as a substitute for physical travel. Our goal is to recreate to the greatest extent possible, both for the user and the people at the remote location, the sensory experience relevant for business interactions of the user actually being in the remote location. The system includes multi-channel bidirectional video and audio on a mobile platform as well as haptic feedback. This paper describes our first system prototypes and initial experiences using them.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.4 INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPLICATIONS
      H.4.3 Communications Applications
          Subjects: Computer conferencing, teleconferencing, and videoconferencing

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.2 User/Machine Systems
          Subjects: Human information processing
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.1 Multimedia Information Systems

  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
      I.2.9 Robotics

General Terms:
Design, Human Factors

Keywords:
audio conferencing, haptics, human visual perception, multi-channel audio, multi-user networked applications, multimedia, robotics, user interface hardware, video conferencing