Sensics Supplies NASA with HMD-Based Panoramic, High Resolution Telepresence System

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Telepresence and Holography / Holograms - November 2008

Editor’s viewpoint on their differences, likenesses and future...

We all just recently viewed an historic CNN holographic interview on an historic Election Night. CNN stated this type of imaging has never been done before on National TV and I believe that. I haven’t seen anything like it. The live interview caught me by surprise and sure had the “wow” factor attached to it didn’t it? Here’s a link to the actual interview.

CNN Hologram Video

The question now has to be asked. Is it Telepresence?

I’m no expert on the subject but I’m going to throw my hat into the ring, go out on a limb and say yes, I believe it is. Although I know many video conferencing purists are rolling their eyes and grabbing their guns right about now with my statement.

While I do know that Telepresence still hasn’t been universally defined (Houston, we have a problem), here’s how I see it…. Broken down to its simplest form - “tele” (through electronic means) and “presence” (present). This is how I’m justifying my opinion by lumping holography and Telepresence together. Just as Telepresence is surely an offshoot of video conferencing, holographic imaging (like we viewed on CNN) surely has to be considered an offshoot of Telepresence. The interviewer was “telepresent” from Chicago and beamed into the CNN Election Headquarters. She was most assuredly - “telepresent”. There was negligible latency, the imaging was fantastic and both interviewers were rehearsed on what they would say. I’ve just recently read that CNN actually “downgraded” the experience to make it “movie” quality and not as good as it could have been. Maybe they thought us mere mortals would be shocked if they showed their complete hand. I have a feeling it was so big to them, they didn’t want it to get upstaged by the historic election. I’m willing to bet we’ll see the “true” power of this technology in the upcoming weeks and months when they can put the pedal to the medal and show it off without having it sidetracked.

What an amazing time for this technology (all differences and opinions aside). Telepresence Doctors, nurses, teachers, schools and healthcare (healthpresence) will benefit from the recent gains in this state-of-the-art industry whether holograms, Telepresence or holography. Airlines also have to see the threat to a portion of their business travel. Hell, who wants go through security and fly to Miami for a two-hour conference when you can look them in the eye via Telepresence?

Beam me up Scotty! Simply amazing…!

Visit the free Telepresence Forum for more information and discussion

Your Editor and Administrator - L II
"Ride on the Next Plane of Existence" TM

Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) February 26, 2008 ?- Sensics, the panoramic head-mounted display company, reported today that it successfully completed the delivery of a Phase II SBIR project for NASA, which included a unique panoramic, high-resolution telepresence system based on the piSight HMD line.

Deployed last year at the Lyndon B Johnson Space Center for the Robonaut, a humanoid robot developed by NASA and DARPA, the Sensics system includes a panoramic, high-resolution camera array and the piSight? panoramic, high-resolution head-mounted display.

The combined camera plus piSight system will serve as the "eyes" of the Robonaut. NASA's Robonaut system can work side by side with humans, or alone in high-risk situations. Telepresence uses virtual reality display technology to visually immerse the operator into the robot?s workspace, facilitating operation and interaction with the Robonaut.

From of the broad piSight product line, NASA selected the 150-43b model which is 150 degrees wide, 60 degrees tall, has strong stereoscopic overlap and displays 6 million full-color pixels per eye. The system is integrated with a precision six degree-of-freedom motion tracker. Video acquired through the camera array is compressed, sent over a low-bandwidth communications network and then displayed in full stereo inside the HMD.

"Since its commercial launch last year, the piSight line of panoramic HMDs has been selected by many demanding customers for a variety of simulation, training, design and research applications," said Dr. Larry Brown, president and founder of Sensics. ?We are very pleased to add NASA to our growing list of satisfied customers.?

About Sensics

Sensics, Inc., the panoramic head-mounted display company, offers a comprehensive line of panoramic, upgradeable, high-definition head-mounted displays. Unlike competing HMDs that feature narrow field of view, limited resolution or both, Sensics offers fully-immersive displays and up to 10 million pixels per eye. Over 35 different upgradeable models are offered, designed to meet a wide range of performance and budget specifications. Sensics products are used worldwide to enable new and improved virtual reality applications for training, virtual prototyping, visualization and remote presence. For additional information, visit www.sensics.com

About the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Established in September 1961, first as the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), Johnson Space Center is NASA's primary center for design, development and testing of spacecraft and associated systems for human space flight. This center selects and trains a cadre of astronauts for space missions, and is extensively involved in medical, engineering and scientific experiments carried aboard space flights. For additional information, visit www.jsc.nasa.gov

Media contact:

Larry Brown, President

Tel: +1 443 927 9200

www.sensics.com

Sensics, the Sensics logo and the piSight are trademarks of Sensics, Inc

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To learn more about Telepresence, the revolutionary new style of immersive video conferencing; visit these websites:

Telepresence - "Ride on the Next Plane of Existence" - Telepresence
Telepresence Web Portal - Telepresence Internet web portal
Telepresence Report - 24/7 breaking Telepresence related news and information
Via Telepresence - Video conferencing via Telepresence
Telepresence Forum - Free user discussion forum for everything Telepresence related
Telepresence Today - Telepresence information and editor qualified headline news
Telepresence Resource Directory - Telepresence web resource directory
Telepresence Tube - Telepresence videos, pictures and more