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Communication Theory in Telepresence

Buxton defines telepresence as "use of technology to establish a sense of shared presence or shared space among separated members of a group." Communication researchers such as Lombard and Ditton define telepresence much wider, rather technology independent and without the explicit focus on groups. They define telepresence as "a mediated experience that creates for the user a strong sense of presence and entails an illusion of nonmediation." They use telepresence synonymous to the term 'presence' because both terms merge in the eyes of the affected under the assumption that they do not perceive the distance at all.

Unlike telepresence, telecooperation includes shared objects commonly used or manipulated during the process of communication. In contrast, telepresence denotes a direct relation "senderàmessageàrecipient" without necessarily including shared materials or object into the communication. Telepresence is the feeling of collocation, which occurs through communication mediated over distance.

Telepresence extends video conferencing enabling participants to use non-verbal aspects of communication such as eye contact, spatial perception, and gestures in the same way you would use them in face-to-face meetings. If the viewer can choose their viewpoint and observe what he chooses, it is a big step toward "3-D" telepresence. This is multiviewpoint and is a key feature of the future video communication systems. 3-D videoconferencing telepresence exists in the medical field that allows for multiviewpoint capabilities. PANORAMA is one, and the other type is a tricamera system.

Telepresence offers the opportunity to communicate in the out-of-body experience. Earlier communication technologies addressed the collapse of the importance of distance and time. The ability to communicate with anyone anywhere at anytime create problems in the discussion of presence and absence.

The Systems theory of communication theory views conversation as a non-isolated event. They see a human communication system as a set or group of interdependent people who work together to adapt to a changing environment. Systems theorists downplay the role of the individual and individuals and instead concentrate on the patterns of relationships that occur within the entire system. They view communication as an event that is larger than the sum of the parts.


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