Issue 262 Other Telepresence applications January 31, 2014

Aside from hospitals, businesses and court rooms, the telepresence technology can be applied to a multitude of other places in society. Here are just a few.

Marriage: Say you want to be married by a priest or a particular type of minister, the telepresence robot or device can allow for just that anywhere in the world. You can have a priest marry you on the top of Mt. Everest without having the priest clime to the top with you. In addition, say your mother in law is bed ridden and cannot attend the wedding in person, the robot can move around and interact at the wedding for her while she lies comfortably at home. Sure it removes some of the intimacy from a wedding but for those that are not picky it can be very useful.

Hospitalized/bedridden: This technology lets the individual get out without ever leaving their bed. They can use the robot version of this technology to meet and interact with family anywhere. If applied, the robot could even be able to go to the super market for you with you monitoring its progress at home. It allows interaction with the cashier and objects (if equipped with a mechanical arm). Additionally, the robot can be used to allow the bedridden to do house chores if suitably equipped. This grants a certain level of independence to the sick and elderly.

Search and rescue: Search and rescue teams are using more and more robots and they can be equipped with telepresence devices to allow interaction between the victim of a disaster and themselves. Basic human interaction can be key to calming the victim and even helping to diagnose the physical condition of the victim before help even arrives. This allows for rescuers to prep much faster to the needs of the victim to treat there injuries and understand the victims overall condition as the rescue continues.

Prison visitation: For many prisoners, the human interaction of knowing people still care for them on the outside is essential to keeping them from returning to crime. However, it can be hard for many families of these prisoners to make the trip to visit there loved ones and a simple phone call may still be lacking. As such, telepresence could help with that. For one, making face to face contact with your loved ones (even via computer) can enhance that the overall experience to allow for that much needed human interaction. Additionally, certain prisoners could be allowed to have a telepresence robot attend say their sons or daughter basketball game or wedding even if they cannot be there themselves due to there incarceration. This too will help prisoners not miss out on what is going on in the outside world and keep that human connection to there loved ones. Obviously the use of the telepresence device is a privilege to be reserved to only the most well behaved prisoners.

Conclusion: As you can see, the applications that this technology can be applied to are only going to grow. Of course there will be social issues to deal with as we use the telepresence machines as surrogates to our real selves. This can be worked out however as we proceed further with this technology and its increasing potential.