Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance that they were present, or to have an effect, at a location other than their true location. Telepresence requires that the senses of the user, or users, are provided with such stimuli as to give the feeling of being in that other location. Additionally, the user(s) may be given the ability to affect the remote location. In this case, the user's position, movements, actions, voice, etc. may be sensed, transmitted and duplicated in the remote location bring about this effect. Therefore information may be travelling in both directions between the user and the remote location. TelePresence is a new technology that creates unique, "in-person" experiences between people, places, and events in their work and personal lives.It combines innovative video, audio, and interactive elements (both hardware and software) to create this experience over the network. Telepresence means "feeling like you are somewhere else". Some people have a very technical interpretation of this, where they insist that you must have head- mounted displays in order to have telepresence. Other people have a task-specific meaning, where "presence" requires feeling that you are emotionally and socially connected with the remote world. It's all a little vague at this time.
Telepresence is a matter of degree. Rarely will a telepresence system provide such comprehensive and convincing stimuli that the user perceives no differences from actual presence. But the user may set aside such differences, depending on the application. Watching television, for example, although it stimulates our primary senses of vision and hearing, rarely gives the impression that the watcher is no longer at home. However, television sometimes engages the senses sufficiently to trigger emotional responses from viewers somewhat like those experienced by people who directly witness or experience events. Televised depictions of sports events or disasters such as the infamous September 11 terrorist attacks can elicit strong emotions from viewers.
IMPLEMENTATION
For a user to be given a convincing telepresence experience, sophisticated technologies are required. The Cisco TelePresence Meeting solution consists of the Cisco TelePresence technology, codecs, cameras, lighting arrays, microphones, speakers, and endpoints that consist of one or more 65-inch plasma screens, and in some models, one-half of a "virtual" conference table. Also included is the Cisco TelePresence Manager, which provides event management, help desk and consolidated device status reporting. It enables integration to enterprise groupware for easy scheduling and launching of Cisco TelePresence calls. Integration with Cisco Unified Communications Manager 5.1 and enterprise groupware provides Cisco TelePresence with just one button to push to launch calls directly from the phone.
Cisco TelePresence endpoints consist of two models, designed for different numbers of users and different size environments:
• Cisco TelePresence 3000-A virtual table with seats for 6 on each side, including three 65-inch plasma screens, speakers, microphones, and lighting
• Cisco TelePresence 1000-Designed to be flush-mounted along a wall space for easy use in smaller footprint areas (for example, individual offices, bank branches, lobbies, doctor's offices) includes one 65-inch plasma screen, speakers, a microphone, and lighting.
BENEFITS OF TELEPRESENCE
With the TelePresence Meeting solution, users will be able to:
1. Reduce distance as a constraint to deploying expertise
2. Build trust, understanding, and relationships across distances
3. Develop new business models for sales, support and supply chain
4. Speed time to market and enable faster decision making
5. Ensure business continuity options
6. Help their organizations to become "green"
7. Remote interviewing and HR benefits support
8. Face to face customer service and support
CONCLUSION
The Telepresence Technology overcomes almost all the disadvantages or drawbacks that the videoconferencing systems have. The broad vision for TelePresence is to provide "virtual experiences" in many environments, from business into the home, with applications that would not have otherwise been possible with traditional video technologies. Imagine a face-to-face doctor's appointment, a shopping trip, or a visit between the kids and grandparents without leaving the office or even your home. telepresence brings such an amazing technology ,that would be a revolution in “face-to-face” conferencing.
