Telepresence: The Future of Videoconferencing and Telecommuting

Posted on May 1, 2007

An article on the BT Group's website talks about fantastic improvements in videoconferencing technology that will make it possible for people to have virtual meetings with anyone that appear as lifelike as a face-to-face meeting. The technology is called telepresence.

Imagine being in two places at the same time. Impossible? Well, maybe, but with the advances currently being made in videoconferencing technology you might well believe you can be in two places at once.
It's called telepresence and it is so life-like it's been installed in restaurants in the US so that diners can eat together even if they are in different parts of the country.
"It means that if you're on the East Coast you can be eating dinner while someone on the West Coast is having lunch," explains Aaron McCormack, CEO of BT Conferencing. "It's just like having a meal together except you're thousands of miles apart. The only thing you can't do is pass the salt."
This might sound like something out of a 1950s sci-fi novel but it really is happening. Telepresence isn't just a camera, microphone and a TV screen. Those taking part see life-size images of people who can be on the other side of the world. The image and sound quality is so good, it's as if you're with them in the same room.
Media-Saturn group - Europe's biggest retailer of consumer electronics, with operations in 14 countries - has recently agreed to adopt BT's telepresence service called BT Unified Communications Video. It enables people from different countries to hold virtual meetings of unprecedented technological quality, with those taking part seeing life-size images of one another. The images are so realistic that people believe they really are sitting at the same table.
One person who's already used the service described it as being "virtually indistinguishable from a face-to-face meeting". It's clear that telepresence solutions are going to revolutionise the videoconferencing industry and have a real impact on the way people communicate in the future.

Technology like this could change everything. People could meet with others around the world in virtual settings. World leaders could meet without risky travel. The article doesn't really give an estimate of when telepresence will be available to the masses but the rapid growth in computing power and the interest in videos and videoconferencing should help accelerate its arrival.