Telepresence

This paper discusses and evaluates the role of shared control approach in a BCI-based telepresence framework. Driving a mobile device by using human brain signals might improve the quality of life of people suffering from severely physical disabilities. By means of a bidirectional audio/video connection to a robot, the BCI user is able to interact actively with relatives and friends located in different rooms. However, the control of robots through an uncertain channel as a BCI may be complicated and exhaustive. Shared control can facilitate the operation of brain-controlled telepresence robots, as demonstrated by the experimental results reported here. In fact, it allows all subjects to complete a rather complex task, driving the robot in a natural environment along a path with several targets and obstacles, in shorter times and with less number of mental commands.

Mollon, M., & Gentes, A. (2014). The Rhetoric of Design for Debate: triggering conversation with an “uncanny enough” artefact (pp. 1–13). In the proceedings of the Design Research Society International Consortium (DRS), Umeå, Sweden. (June 18th).
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http://bit.ly/talkDRS14 – PDF presentation
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Abstract: Design exploration research refers to various interaction design research practices that explore tensions issued from the interplay of science, technology, culture and society. Most of them explicitly trigger discussions and debates in the audience, for instance “critical design”, which raised the interest of members of design research communities. However its generalization suffers from a lack of shareable methodology. This paper aims at clarifying it practically and theoretically.
We claim that these practices trigger people’s reactions using a specific narrative strategy which provoke an “uncanny feeling”. By producing “uncanny enough” artefacts that embed a subtle entanglement of familiarity and unfamiliarity, designers can elicit responses from viewers. First, a review of literature on critical design texts presents the “uncanny balance” as being a recurrent design principle for the creation of these artefacts. We then present an exemplary case study produced by one of the authors, exploring communication technology—called Dog&Bone. Using classical rhetoric, we present a theoretical overview of the project. The outcome consists of a conceptual framework based on the narrative dimension of the uncanny plus the rhetorical dimension (composed of three elements: legitimacy, emotions, argumentation). We conclude that Design is a form of communication between designers and their audience.

Written whilst a Research Fellow at ResCen, Centre for Creation Processes in the Performing Arts, Middlesex University, London, Autumn 2000

This paper was written 10 years into my work on virtual presence, just after directing 2 workshops focusing on the performative use of telematics (CellBytes00 at Arizona State University and Corpos Online at Lugar Commun in Portugal). The following paragraph sets the context of the debate. Ghislaine Boddington April 2020

What is live? What is natural? What does it mean to be embodied? How many identities can one have? What is the essence of presence? This was a period of investigation for the performing arts, which have traditions deeply integrated with live presence through their special performer-to-spectator connection. My work as a director of performing arts has immersed me to work in to the dramaturgies and process design of virtual physical events.

Across the last thity years I have engaged with telepresence - led live event processes and have worked with many combinations of body technologies. I have been experimenting in the interface demands of the digitalised body alongside the live physical body.

This has for me brought up many questions which are highly topical in sectors well beyond the arts, as is in proof today with the COVID-19 extraordinary situation of lockdown, meaning advanced use of telepresence through video conferencing in all sectors globally. I detail some of this early work in the following text (written in 2000) and contextualise these explorations within the wider socio-cultural engagement with telephonics. This text explores some of the reasons why there is a need for far more in depth research and development of the  concepts of presence (and therefore identity) that will exist in the future.

Please do look at further writings on ongoing work post 2000 by Ghislaine Boddington

This book chapter historicizes the notion of telepresence, a term coined in 1986. After defining the different forms of telepresence, it shows that, much before computers and virtual reality, old technologies such as correspondence and painting have been used to provide a sense of social telepresence (being with) or spatial telepresence (being there, far away). It suggests a research program for this specific narrative of media history

Valve Software's first Portal game (2007) provides a locus for a variety of concerns about the potential implications of AI and games as they impact on notions of embodiment and artificiality. Portal disrupts and intermingles the three distinct categories of player, player character (avatar), and artificial intelligence by deploying subtle self-referential cues and parody which call attention to the game’s artificiality. At the same time, this technique draws the player into an affective relationship with GLaDOS, the scripted AI construct who acts as the game’s villain. Moreover, the game repeatedly points to the fact that interacting with the game constitutes a cyborgic relationship. As the game proceeds, the player’s perspective is repeatedly shifted and reconstructed by these lines of rhetoric, and by the eponymous portals which form the game’s core mechanic. The cumulative effect is to cause the player to question what it means to be an embodied subject interacting with the game, to wonder what qualifies as “intelligence” (whether “artificial” or not), and to interrogate the extent to which our relationship with the game world makes us something more (or less) than human.

In the following article, I examine Martin Heidegger’s philosophy of dwelling with a view to its importance for the concept of ‘place’. It is my interest to show how a phenomenological concept of place can elucidate the phenomenology of virtual reality. I begin by contextualising the investigation through a presentation of Jeff Malpas’ concept of the non-autonomy of the virtual, and argue for a clearer understanding of the notion of causal non-autonomy. Furthermore, I argue that the autonomy or lack thereof of virtual reality should not lead to the conclusion that virtual reality cannot be experienced and examined as a self-standing entity; that in order to properly understand virtual reality, we cannot limit ourselves to the reductionistic view presented by Malpas, but must account also for the phenomenology of experiencing virtuality – and under such a phenomenological consideration, the distinctions made between non-virtual and virtual reality are made more diffuse. I then argue that we can plausibly accept that places may exist in virtual reality, despite current technological and practical limitations. In addition, I go on to consider some possible metaphysical differences between virtual and non-virtual places.

This paper discusses an artwork that uses new media as a means of creative production and presentation in cyberspace, exploring telepresence in virtual environments where body movement is a primary agent that enables self-awareness and communication with others. Me and My Shadow (Hyde, 2012) is an installation, where visitors participate in an international encounter that occurs on a shared online environment, connected through portals from different countries. Recurring to theoretical writings about dance, performance, cyberculture and new media, I shall be looking at how this artwork creates a 'place' inside cyberspace, employs the notions of performer and performance and what experience can be recorded with a phenomenological account.

This project aims to simulate the effect of Fishtank virtual reality in a telepresence system by using head-tracking and real-time control of a robotic camera. Despite the use of the term telepresence, the focus is here not on two-way communication between persons in separate spaces, but in creating a strong sense of physical presence by making the observed scene seem to be an extension of the room. The observer can thus interact with a 3D stage as though the screen were a window into the remote space. The research carried out here is unprecedented in that, to the authors' knowledge, nobody has employed one of the fundamental aspects of the Fishtank concept, namely the alignment of viewer-screen distance to camera-stage distance, in conjunction with a head-coupled camera system. The implementation is described followed by a brief discussion of its limitations and suggestions for future developments.

Die prozessuale Wirkungsweise der Immersion beschränkt sich nicht nur auf technisch-apparative Medien oder computergestützte Mediensysteme, sondern zeigt sich innerhalb zahlreicher Forschungsdiskurse ebenfalls bei analogen oder monomodalen Medien. Die Gradstufen und Ausprägungen von immersiven Prozessen ereignen sich dabei stets über ein bivektorielles Induktionsschema: Entweder wird Immersion maßgeblich über ein mediales Reiz- beziehungsweise Strukturangebot über sensomotorisch fundierte Wahrnehmungsprozesse eingeleitet oder über weitestgehend subjektive, phantasmatisch-imaginäre Annäherungen an ein Medium. Der Immersionsprozess besitzt allerdings nicht nur das Potenzial zur Analyse und Beschreibung spezifischer Rezeptionsprozesse im Verhältnis von Medium, Interface und Rezipient, sondern er lässt sich als eine komplexe Modellannahme zur Beschreibung einer Kulturtheorie medialer Hybride verstehen, die der Medienevolution der letzten Jahrzehnte adäquat Rechnung tragen kann. In Anknüpfung an Ernst Cassirers animal symbolicum und Hans Jonas’ homo pictor formuliert dieser Artikel die These des homo immergens.

Ghislaine Boddington - This paper is going to discuss, what will be called, 'The Internet of Bodies'. Our physical and virtual worlds are blending and shifting our understanding of three key areas: (1) our identities are diversifying, as they become hyper-enhanced and multi-sensory; (2) our collaborations are co-created, immersive and connected; (3) our innovations are diverse and inclusive. It is proposed that our bodies have finally become the interface.

Considerable scholarly discussion has been given to the idea that we are moving toward a state of “posthumanism.” This essay examines some possible implications of a posthuman existence, specifically as it relates to that most basic of human needs—sexuality. I explore the spiritual aspects of sexuality to see what is lost and what is gained in technologically mediated forms of sexuality. To that end, I consider the interplay between sexual behavior and our conceptions of the sacred, how technologies are changing our views of—and realities concerning—our bodies, and the potential for a sacred posthuman sexuality.

Objective: This paper explores the therapeutic relationship, engagement and communication for participants using telepsychiatry (i.e., video; TP), telebehavioral health (TBH) and other technologies.
Methods: The goal of this concept paper is to help clinicians, teachers and researchers consider the intersection of the following three topics: 1) the therapeutic relationship in psychiatric and behavioral health care; 2) how TBH affects the therapeutic relationship, engagement, communication, and boundaries; and 3) research findings on telepresence (TPr), virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applied to clinical care. A keyword search focused on concept areas: 1) therapeutic relationship, engagement, communication, boundaries, clinical; 2) telepsychiatry, telemental or telebehavioral health, telepsychology); 3) psychotherapy via technology; 4) computer/technology-mediated communication; and 5) telepresence related to technologies (virtual, augmented, reality, environment).
Results: From a total of 4,712 potential references, 453 were eligible for full text review and 77 papers directly related to the concepts. From papers’ references and a review of books and popular literature, 12 other sources of information (i.e., papers, books, other) about TPr and VR were found. Though few studies literally discuss the therapeutic relationship, the impact of technology on clinical engagement and communication is growing, from clinical (e.g., psychotherapy) and non-clinical (e.g., communication, TPr) literature. The historical evolution of TPr and VR shows that definitions, foci of studies (e.g., social neuroscience to business) and assessments vary widely. TP and TBH care can be improved by concepts of TPr, avoiding distractions, understanding the technology-human interface, measures of TPR for clinical use and the use of simulation for training.
Conclusions: Additional evaluation/research is needed to ensure quality care, training, and evaluation of the therapeutic relationship while preventing potential pitfalls.

Although the concept of virtual reality (VR) has been studied and used for many years, recent technological development has led to the commercial availability of immersive VR, specifically head-mounted displays. Little research has been conducted on the potential for immersive VR to influence consumer behavior. The aim of this thesis is to give insight into how immersive VR can be utilized in destination marketing, through investigating its effect on consumer outcomes directly, as well as the underlying processing mechanisms. Through two studies, one lab experi- ment and one field experiment, we find that immersive VR technology (vs. 2D pictures) does not have a significant total effect on the consumer outcome variables (destination attitude, behavioral intentions and purchasing decision). However, mediation analyses show that there are indirect effects through telepresence, enjoyment, mental imagery, predicted emotions, and predicted expe- riences, and that perceived picture quality acts as a moderator of some of the relationships. This suggests that immersive VR content, when developed specifically to stimulate the factors we find to be important, and used with high-quality equipment, can have a strong impact on destination attitude, behavioral intentions, and ultimately actual purchase.

Key words: Immersive VR, Virtual Reality, Telepresence, Enjoyment, Mental Imagery, Predicted Emotions, Predicted Experiences, Consumer Outcomes, Destination Marketing, Tourism.

The article promotes reflection about the prospect of telepresence, the impact on society and
new paradoxes generated in the various fields of human endeavor and finally proposes some
questions to be answered by members of educational institutions to identify how prepared are we to
cope with the impact of telepresence in education

Human-computer confluence refers to an invisible, implicit, embodied or even implanted interaction between humans and system components. New classes of user interfaces are emerging that make use of several sensors and are able to adapt their physical properties to the current situational context of users.
A key aspect of human-computer confluence is its potential for transforming human experience in the sense of bending, breaking and blending the barriers between the real, the virtual and the augmented, to allow users to experience their body and their world in new ways. Research on Presence, Embodiment and Brain-Computer Interface is already exploring these boundaries and asking questions such as: Can we seamlessly move between the virtual and the real? Can we assimilate fundamentally new senses through confluence? The aim of this book is to explore the boundaries and intersections of the multidisciplinary field of HCC and discuss its potential applications in different domains, including healthcare, education, training and even arts.

This thesis explores the notion of ‘voice’ in relation to contemporary poetics and the digital arts. It is a practice-based project that produces a theoretical and creative space in which a theory of the ‘voice of the machine’ is discovered and tested. Through a series of research chapters and critical reflections this thesis tests ideas of dictation, translation, inscription and embodiment using the poetic device of the disembodied — or acousmatic — voice as a fundamental theoretical framework, which in turn informs my practice. I begin with a study of Jack Spicer’s book After Lorca, a collection of translated poems that are dictated to Spicer by the ghost of Federico García Lorca. Using the work of Mladen Dolar, I explore the idea of the acousmatic voice and the processes of translation that emerge from this when one is in communion with the dead. From this I identify a ‘network of tradition’: Spicer’s matrix of historical, poetic associations to which belongs W.B. Yeats, another poet who used spirit dictation in composition. I focus on the practice of Yeats’s wife, George, who, acting as a medium, produced hundreds of manuscripts of automatic writing and drawing. Through a study of Johanna Drucker’s notion of graphesis, via discussions on choreography, I establish George Yeats as a spiritual writing machine whose practice works as an acoustic register of ghostly dictation and audition. I consider the idea of katabasis — an Orphic descent to retrieve a voice — that underpins Spicer’s poetics in After Lorca and I use this as a catalyst to enact gestures of archival katabasis — in pursuit of George Yeats — and what I term as the kata_BASIC, which is a descent into the machine to retrieve its voice. Using the random-chance poetics of Jackson Mac Low as a practice methodology I understand the voice of the machine to be an expression of its agency and computational processes, which are materialised in machine-mediated interventions such as the glitch. The practice I produce in this project — poetry, objects, video and sound — tests ideas of translation, acoustic imagery, hybridity and transcreation in light of the idea of a shared voice of collaboration that exists between the machine and the archived or disembodied voices that it (re)mediates.

Between 1909 and 1914, Europe saw a wave of multi-media performances that featured three-dimensional cinematic images in color with synchronized sound on a physical stage. These shows, with fantastical names like Alabastra and Kinoplastikon, were essentially cinematic adaptations of the Pepper’s Ghost illusion, the very same technique that facilitated Tupac Shakur’s spectacular resurrection at the Coachella Music Festival in 2012. Set on a seemingly regular stage, Alabastra, Kinoplastikon et al. evoked the presence of live performers in the “here and now.” Far more radically than other types of 3-D cinema, these shows sought to obliterate the inherent separation between moving image and spectator, simultaneously negating the apparatus and calling attention to its technological marvels.

The psychoanalytic setting according to José Bleger is a non-process within which the analytic process takes place, the background of a figure as in Gestalt psychology. The Spanish term is ‘encuadre’, giving rise to problems of translation which are partly conceptual. The 'ideally normal' setting, which is completely constant, can exist only as a thought experiment. Disruptions to the setting reveal that something has been silently deposited in it, which Bleger terms the 'agglutinated nucleus', equated with Bion's 'psychotic part of the personality'. In his view, the setting is a social institution, it forms part of the individual personality, and it is the undifferentiated part of the body-schema. His hypothesis of primary undifferentiation and syncretism implies a particular view of the development of the body-schema. Although he makes no distinction between 'setting and 'frame', his distinction between two settings, the patient's and the analyst's, points to the need for a concept of 'internal setting'. The implications of Bleger’s view for modified settings using telecommunications (e.g. Skype) are explored in a further thought experiment involving the use of avatars capable of generating a strong sense of presence. It is inferred that the body itself must be regarded as part of the setting, and that this includes the communication technology which is internalised as a prosthesis. Since we establish symbiotic relations with any invariant that we encounter, the psychotic part of the personality must be deposited in the bodies of both patient and analyst, and in the telecommunication system itself.

Abstract In the current paper we review the concept of (tele) presence as it relates to the active exploration of the virtual, remote, or real environments. The same sensory and brain systems responsible for a flexible mapping of our position within a spatial layout are also remarkably adaptable to include non-biological elements in the perceptual-motor loop, provided reliable, real-time sensorimotor correlations can be established.

Walter Benjamin’in birçok kuramsal çalışmaya esin kaynağı olan “Tekniğin Olanaklarıyla Yeniden Üretilebildiği Çağda Sanat Eseri” (1936) isimli makalesinden günümüze, sanat eserinin “aura”sı ya da  “hale”si tartışma konusu olmayı sürdürmektedir. Benjamin, sanat eserinin sahip olduğu “hale’yi” o sanat eserinin zaman ve uzam içindeki buradalığı, eserin meydana getirilmiş bulunduğu yerdeki biricik varlığı olarak tanımlar ve sanat eserinin halesinin biriciklik, gelenek, tarihe tanıklık, yaklaşılmazlık gibi etmenlerin birleşiminden doğduğunu iddia eder. Benjamin, teknik yeniden üretim çağında sanat eserinin sınırsız sayıda yeniden üretilmesi sonucu halesinin yitip gittiğini belirtir.
Dijital sanat çeşitleri Walter Benjamin’in “hale” tanımı açısından ele alındığında birçoğunun Benjamin’in kıstaslarına uymadığını, ancak halenin tümüyle yitirilmediğini, aksine farklı medya biçemlerinde yeniden biçimlendirildiğini gözlemleriz.
Bu çalışmanın amacı, Benjamin’in “hale” kavramının dijital sanata nasıl yansıdığını tartışmaktır. Çalışmada özellikle sanal gerçeklik, artırılmış gerçeklik, tele-mevcudiyet gibi dijital sanat çeşitlerinden örnekler verilerek dijital yeniden üretimin, Benjamin’in iddia ettiği gibi “hale”yi tümüyle yok etmediği ancak yeniden biçimlendirerek “sanal hale’ye dönüştürdüğü savı tartışılacaktır.

Digitalisierung ist ein ebenso prominentes wie vielfältiges Phänomen – man könnte nachgerade von einem empty signifier sprechen. Veränderungen von Kommunikationswegen über das Internet, Algorithmisierung der Arbeitswelt, digitale Überwachung, virtual reality, Selbstvermessung, Pflegeroboter, diet tracking, artificial intelligence – die Liste der mit Digitalisierung verbundenen Phänomene ist ebenso heterogen wie unabschließbar. Viel ist angesichts dieser unübersehbaren Veränderungen über Digitalisierung bereits geforscht worden – und wiederum entsteht eine heterogene Vielfalt unterschiedlicher Phänomenzugriffe. Der Sammelband schlägt einen spezifischen Schnitt durch diese Vielfalt vor. Weder soll dabei die angedeutete Vielfalt empirisch (etwa durch Fokussierung auf eine Digitalisierung der Ernährung), noch durch eine Vorab-Definition des Digitalen eingeengt werden (etwa durch Fokussierung auf Algorithmen). Vielmehr gilt es, Digitalisierung aus einer spezifischen Theorieperspektive zu betrachten: der Perspektive der Philosophischen Anthropologie Helmuth Plessners. Es geht mithin um die Frage, inwieweit sich das Verhältnis von Mensch und Welt im Zeichen von Digitalisierung verändert.

(FREE ACCESS THROUGH THE LINK BELOW) Plan Ceibal is an interinstitutional undertaking which has distributed XO laptops and Internet connectivity among primary school learners and teachers across Uruguay and developed a wide range of educational programmes. Ceibal administration believes that it is imperative to introduce English as a Foreign Language in primary education through the use of new modes of teaching which incorporate the OLPC XO laptop as a tool for learning engagement and democratisation. Uruguay has secured funds for a project based on blended learning which integrates remote teaching through videoconferencing, the use of a learning management system, and professional development. Plan Ceibal seeks to demonstrate that lessons delivered by remote teachers via videoconferencing with support from classroom teachers (CTs) with very limited or no command of English can facilitate successful learning outcomes in learners and CTs.

Resumen
Se expone el plan de la trilogía Esferas como la constitución de una antropológica de las comunicaciones. Toda historia de los medios es una historia de las transferencias de pensamientos. Los seres humanos agitados componen un concierto de vinculaciones  convirtiéndose ellos mismos en operadores de múltiples influjos creadores. Lo que el siglo XVI  los europeos llaman magología es a la acción del hombre mental y espiritualmente abierto al mundo, que se ejercita para cooperar con las acciones y efectos recíprocos discretos entre las cosas en un universo altamente comunicativo. Para entender este proceso en relación con los nuevos fenómenos mediales, se analiza el pensamiento arcaico y la metafísica clásica, a partir de la idea de que el medio primordial es el cerebro humano. Se analizan los fenómenos actuales de la profusión de la información, la telecomunicación global y las comunicaciones entre medios aparáticos.

Abstract

This article refers the plan of the trilogy Spheres of Sloterdijk, that is to say, the constitution of an anthropological one of the communications. For it the thesis is investigated according to which, all history of means is a history of the transferences of thoughts. The shaken human beings compose everything a concert of entailments, becoming they themselves operators of multiply creative influences. What century XVI, the great time of consolidation and growth of the European, calls magologic is to the action of the mind man and spiritually abierto to the world, that is exercised to cooperate with the actions and discreet reciprocal effects between the things in a highly communicative universe. In order to understand the specificity of this process in relation to the new medial phenomena, a roundup by the archaic thought and classic metaphysics is realised, from the idea that the fundamentally means are the human brain. Thence, the present phenomena of the profusion of the information, the global telecommunication and the communications between average accessority are analyzed.


Palabras clave:

Esferas, medios, transferencia, mente, globalización, pensamiento, metafísica, telecomunicaciones, neurolingüística.

Keywords:
Spheres, means, transference, mind, globalisation, thought, metaphysics, telecommunications, neurolinguistics.

The mediatization thesis maintains that media technologies, beginning with print, have profoundly changed human experience. One of its major claims is that media have allowed a new “disembedding,” or “distanciation,” from the here and now, in a process which now culminates as a so-called deep mediatization. Relying on cultural history and anthropology, this article questions this claim. It contends that mediatization theory is premised on a modern/naturalist, human-centered view of the world as a homogeneous physical nature, dominated by human beings who must resort to technologies to communicate at a distance. This outlook disregards ancient and/or peripheral nonWestern ontologies, and cultural practices such as correspondence, theater, religion, and human language itself, which have long enabled rich forms of distanciation. Such neglected ontologies and practices now combine with modern technology, and could be fruitfully incorporated into mediatization research, both historical a...

The usage of telepresence robots can have a huge positive impact on education. They can provide remote access to the classrooms. This would be really helpful for students who are absent from school. It was especially noticeable during this period of the Covid-19 pandemic. This technology can complement the online teaching with displaying classroom boards, performing laboratory exercises that require better view and movement, and so on. Here, we show the usage of telepresence robots in education and cases when robots can be used for remote learning. The main goal of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of studies related to the application of telepresence robots in education in the last 4 years.

This article proposes a theory of mediated presence, defined as the sense of presence-despite physical absence-made possible by technology. Pushing the boundaries of media, the theory integrates various notions of presence at a distance: telepresence in telecommunications and computer-mediated communication, liveness in broadcasting and on the Internet, and the epistolary presence of antiquity. Theoretically, it adopts a social construc-tivist approach to long-term communication history, with an emphasis on technological breakdowns. The core discussion addresses three criteria for a historical, comparative analysis of mediated presence: dissemination versus dialogue, transmission-reception time lags, and levels of disembodiment. Refuting axiological and technology-centered views of history, the article concludes that increased technological options for presence at a distance have remained essentially ambivalent for users who vacillate between the need for distance and the search for connection. This article proposes a theory of mediated presence, defined as a sense of the presence of one or more persons, despite their physical absence, through technological mediation. Covering human history since the advent of correspondence, the theory subsumes different notions of presence at a distance, originating in several research traditions: computer-mediated communications, telecommunications, and liveness in broadcasting and on the Internet, as well as the epistolary. Suggesting new dialogues between compartmented fields, it broadens the definition of media in long-term history through systematic comparisons and qualifies our contemporary sense of a radical change, born of recent technology affordances. I begin with a multidisciplinary review of theories of presence at a distance, then explain the use of the expression-mediated presence, which both broadens and specifies the notion of presence at a distance across technologies and historical contexts.

In this paper I explore the scopic regime of drone warfare as the production of the image as a site of meaning. The first part of the paper I describe what a drone is, through its technical specifications and through detailed reports on actual drone attacks in the recent ‘War on Terror.’ I highlight some of the contemporary debates surrounding its use and how drone technology has transformed the mechanization of war. In the second part of the paper I relate drone technology to a historical framework, specifically referring to the work of Walter Benjamin and his seminal essay, ”The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” This moves through a discussion of the relationship between vision and war during the First World War and political implications of representations of mechanized warfare during the aesthetic movement of the Futurists. The final section of the paper approaches specific aspects of drone technology that depart from mechanized warfare into a digital realm.  These aspects connect to the development of artificial visual intelligence programs and the primacy of visual pattern recognition being increasingly utilized in drone surveillance. I highlight concepts in the work of Paul Virilio in his book, “The Vision Machine” such as telepresence and the industrialization of vision, in examining the contemporary implications of drone technology.

Exhibition brochure from FACT Liverpool. An exhibition of contemporary work at the intersection of art, science, philosophy and social culture.

Skin represents a place where art, science, biopolitics, philosophy and social culture inter-face. sk-interfaces presents the work of 17 international artists reflecting on the way current technologies are changing our lives, with an emphasis on the transformation process itself. The artworks in sk-interfaces deal with the concept of liminality - a period of transition between two states of being - and the fluctuating ‘in-betweeness’ of our current socio-cultural climate. Curator Jens Hauser has devised an exhibition in which skin becomes a symbol: skin is the largest organ in the human body making up 16% of our body weight; it is a semi-permeable membrane demarcating the outside world from the internal spaces of the body. As technology becomes more sophisticated, so our notion of what is organic or ‘natural’ and what is man-made becomes blurred. In this exhibition the idea of an interface - the point of connection, the place in between one thing and another - is challenged.

Surge popularity of Head-Mounted Display (HMD) in recent years has made it a reliable, yet easy to get wearable device. Its accurate head tracking feature and superb immersion experience has made HMD an excellent choice for telepresence application. This project attempts to implement a telepresence system using several HMD types, a KUKA Arm Robot, and a stereo wide-angle camera. Unity was used as the application platform and a communication interface was built to facilitate movement synchronization between the HMD and the robot.

As latency is always an important factor in any interactive computer systems, including telepresence, latency measurement and investigation was attempted. While the initial ambition of having an ultra-low latency system was considered not met, several factors affecting the latency was suggested. Time warping technique utilizing the wide-angle camera was implemented and successfully deemed to bring down the perceived latency of the system, improving the overall user experience.

This article considers the ethics of sexual telepresence by tracing the history of mechanical and digital sex and exploring the possibilities facilitated by current and emerging technology. My aim is to consider how people have used technology to engage in new forms of sexual expression in order to more clearly delineate exactly what constitutes cheating and the ethical lines surrounding such behaviours. As with non-digital forms of intimacy, it seems clear that there is a range of behaviours that invite different people to draw the lines in different places, ranging from flirtation to erotic talk, to physical contact. But the goal of this article is not merely to consider where the lines may lie, but rather to examine how the medium in which the interaction takes place invites individuals to make particular moral judgments concerning what lines should exist at all concerning both physical and emotional intimacy.