1. Children, Perceptions of Reality, and Telepresence
Matthew Lombard

2. Real vs. Unreal – Not So Simple
Types of reality distinctions:
Mediated vs. nonmediated (by technology)
Actual vs. not actual (nonfiction [news] vs. fiction [entertainment])
Live vs. recorded
Plausible vs. implausible (if not actual, could it be?)
Ex: Are ‘reality TV’ or WWE Wrestling ‘real’?

3. Understanding TV and Reality
Step 1. (0-~3 years) “There are people in the box” (Ronald McDonald, popcorn examples of Flavell & Flavell)

4. Understanding TV and Reality
Step 2. (by ~3 years) TV people/objects are different, but their nature is unknown
“Please turn on TV so I can see my Big Bird!” 4

5. Understanding TV and Reality
Step 3. TV is representation of objects and people but 100% accurate; everything is ‘real.’
“What’s an actor?” 5

6. Understanding TV and Reality
Step 4. Not everything on TV is accurate reflection of (social) reality; assessment based on experience in addition to cognitive development.
“That’s not the way people really behave!” 6

7. Understanding TV and Reality
Children have to learn to use form cues and content cues to determine ‘realism’:
Actual – live news Actual - recorded news
bad sound anchors at desk
sloppy speaking narrator/voice-over
no background music special graphics
no special effects b&w (documentaries)

8. Understanding TV and Reality
Children have to learn to use form cues and content cues to determine ‘realism’:
NOT actual – drama NOT actual - sitcom
close-ups of faces laugh track
mood-setting music
good sound NOT actual - cartoon
adult voices animation fast pace
sound effects

9. Understanding TV and Reality
Children have to learn to use form cues and content cues to determine ‘realism’:
Actual – live news Actual - recorded news
crime, weather crime, politics, history,
‘breaking news’ health, science
NOT actual – drama NOT actual – sitcom
?? ??

10. Understanding TV and Reality
Seems likely that as media technologies evolve, children will find it harder and/or take longer to make reality distinctions:
Screen size, picture quality, graphics realism, sound quality, surround sound, interactivity, augmented and virtual reality, robots…!
Not limited to children – even when we know the truth, we want the misperception: telepresence

11. Telepresence
Topic of scholarly interest and research – causes, effects, implications

12. Telepresence Who cares?
It’s an illusion that occurs in many contexts that have commercial potential
It has many likely effects on people, organizations, and societies
It’s just really interesting…!

13. Defining Presence
ISPR (2000): Presence (a shortened version of the term "telepresence") is a psychological state or subjective perception in which even though part or all of an individual's current experience is generated by and/or filtered through human-made technology, part or all of the individual's perception fails to accurately acknowledge the role of the technology in the experience.

14. Defining Presence
Lombard, M. & Ditton, T. B. (1997). At the Heart of It All: The Concept of Presence. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 3(2) : a perceptual illusion of nonmediation

15. Applications
Executive meetings
Cisco
Sun Starfire

16. Applications
Distance education (higher ed)

17. Applications
Medical training
Barrow Medical Institute

18. Applications
Telemedicine including telepsychiatry

19. Applications
Politics and government
Teleportec

20. Applications
Military
Freedom Calls

21. Applications Emergency command and coordination InterSTAR
Infra-Structures

22. Applications
Legal

23. Applications
Human Resources
HireVue

24. Applications
Telework / telecommuting
HeadThere

25. Applications
Customer service
DVE

26. Applications
Arts
Dreamworks

27. Applications
Telepresence Art
Telematic Dreaming

28. Applications
Adult

29. Applications
Virtual bus tour

30. Enhancements
‘3D’
Teleport
TelepresenceTech

31. Enhancements
Physical interaction / haptics

32. Enhancements
Physical interaction / haptics

33. Expanded Telepresence
Examples so far have been social, interactive, with real people, but it can be
Social vs. spatial
Interactive vs. noninteractive
Real vs. simulated people/places

34. Spatial Telepresence
Teleoperation

35. Spatial Telepresence
Training simulators

36. Spatial Telepresence
Virtual therapy
Virtual Iraq
Spider anxiety

37. Noninteractive Telepresence
IMAX 3D

38. Noninterative TelepresenceTV

39. Noninteractive Telepresence
Virtual nature

40. Simulated People/Places
Second Life
Cisco

41. Simulated People/Places
Military training

42. Simulated People/Places
Virtual receptionist
Carnegie Mellon U

43. Simulated People/Places
Robots
Riken
Honda

44. Simulated People/Places
Androids
Hanson Robotics
Osaka University
Data (Star Trek)

45. Future of Telepresence
Home
Accenture

46. Future of Telepresence
Holodeck

47. Applications - Children
Distance education (K-12)
PEBBLES
ThereNow / DVE

48. Applications - Children
Science and exploration

49. Applications - Children
Interactive virtual/physical games
Fisher-Price Smart Fit 51

50. Applications - Children
Virtual sports and games

51. Applications - Children
Pseudo-interactive TV shows
Blue’s Clues
Dora the Explorer 53

52. Applications - Children
Interactive toys: Actimates
“Lets ActiMates Talk and Play with your PC!” 54

53. Applications - Children
Virtual worlds for kids (see J. Owyang blog)
Barbie Girls (6-16)
Club Penguin, Disney (8-12)
Cyworld (South Korean youth, now global))
Dizzywood (youth; games)
Gaia (teens)
Habbo Hotel (European youth)
Neopets (youth; virtual pets)
Piczo (teens)
Pixie Hollow, Disney (young girls; virtual pets)
Puzzle Pirates (youth; gaming)
Shining Stars, by Russ (youth; ‘name a star’
Stardolls (girls 10-17; virtual dolls)
Teen Second Life (teens)
WeeWorld (youth; avatar based social network)
Zookazoo (6-10) 55

54. Applications - Children
Virtual worlds for kids (see J. Owyang blog)
Webkinz (youth; virtual and physical pets) 56

55. Applications - Children
Robot toys: Aibo
“From the first day you play with Aibo, it will become your new companion for the Millennium.” 57

56. Applications - Children
Robot toys: Pleo [video] 58

57. Applications - Children
Robot toys: Wowee [video] 59

58. Presence Research Community
Interdisciplinary (computer science to philosophy)
International
Growing (EU FETs 50+ mil euros)
International Society for Presence Research
Presence journal, presence-l listserv
12th PRESENCE conference November in Los Angeles

59. Presence Research Community
Research goals
Identify and manipulate causes (media form/content, user characteristics)
Identify and understand consequences (learning and task performance, productivity, enjoyment, involvement, persuasion, desensitization, arousal/relaxation, emotion, effectiveness of communication, “Work Live Learn Play”)
Develop cohesive theory of cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes of telepresence

60. Presence Research Community
Research goals

61. Big Picture Questions How to maximize usefulness of telepresence?
What forms do people want and fear?
Where will technology evolution take us? (utopia vs. dystopia)
How to deal with ethical challenges?

62. Big Picture Questions