Telepresence – The Glossary Project

Telepresence is the use of a technology to allow a person to be present at a location virtually as opposed to physically. The technology can be anything from a cell phone to a deep sea (unmanned) robotic submersible, as long as information is transmitted in a form that can be interpreted by at least one or more of the human senses (sight, hearing, etc.). The benefit of telepresence is that people no longer need to travel long distances or wait long periods of time for that travel to receive and share information. A person could call Tokyo from Vancouver and participate in a conference, or a person could attach a video camera to a deep sea submersible and gather images rather than attempting the dangerous journey themselves.