Going to meetings, to class, or engaging customers in person has gotten much more expensive—to the tune of $4.00 per gallon gasoline and rising airfare due to dramatically higher jet fuel costs.
While many universities offer “on line classes,” the lack of person-to-person contact and the inadequacies of group discussions are obvious. Likewise, the restrictions of “regular” video-conferencing opportunities limit its broad-based utilization in the business world. Face-to-face and group interaction is still in demand and preferred by professionals and students.
So, how do we maintain these high-value gatherings in the midst of a growing number of challenges? While increasing access to energy will help, the real solution lies in the minds and creativity of scientists and engineers.
“Telepresence”—which connects people through digital holography, three-dimensional imaging, biomedical optics and laser application to chemical, security and environmental analysis—is the future, though at this point it may seem more like science fiction than reality.
The good news is that while there is still a need for investment in research and development in these new telepresence technologies, some models are beginning to emerge.
Vanderbilt University’s Biomedical Optics Laboratory is currently exploring three main areas of research: optical diagnostics, optical therapeutics and non-invasive imaging. These hi-tech, life-saving techniques may revolutionize medicine and carry with them remarkable opportunities for “telemedicine”—where doctors treat and diagnose patients half way around the world.
Likewise Cisco Systems’ telepresence “on-stage” holographic video conferencing was created by integrating Musion Systems Limited’s 3D Holographic Projection technology—a high-definition holographic video projection screen allowing 3-dimensional moving images to appear within a live stage setting—with Cisco’s TelePresence application, and all over an AT&T VPN broadband network.
Some are already experimenting with telepresence fashion shows that allow holographic images of models to “stroll” across a video screen giving the sense of actual presence at the site. And the list goes on.
None of these options—or terms—even existed just a few years ago. They emerged because of creative minds, incentives to invest, broadband availability, intellectual property rights—in other words, the whole functioning free-market system, where people can actually accomplish what they envision when capital is available and when property rights are assured of protection.
No, telepresence isn’t really a policy issue. It’s simply an example of the good things that happen when human imagination is empowered through functioning markets, and when politicians don’t get in the way.