Such latencies will have to come down considerably if the next generation of internet applications, such as telepresence, high-definition video streaming and remote surgery, are to fulfil their promise.The future is beckoning.
The monthly average is now between 600 and 900 hours of telepresence meetings, with 100 hours between London and Chicago alone.According to Modruson [the CIO], telepresence is saving Accenture $1m per month in travel, which is four to five times the operational cost of the sites.
Air is also zapped with germ-killing ultraviolet light.The video doctorThe doors in the unit can open automatically, allowing a "telepresence" robot to patrol.
Later this year a Pennsylvania start-up called Bossa Nova Robotics will start selling a 1.37-metre-tall telepresence "ballbot" called mObi that rolls around on a football-sized sphere, a design which enables it to weave through cluttered offices and turn on a dime.Telepresence robots are not just for office workers, however.
RP-VITA was co-developed with iRobot, a robot-maker based in Bedford, Massachusetts, and was cleared for use in American hospitals in January.Brazil's Olympic Organising Committee will put telepresence robots in operating rooms for the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.
(While moving, the QB balances by continuously rolling under its centre of gravity like balancing a broom in the palm of your hand).Aside from cost, the main barrier to wider adoption, you might think, is that telepresence robots are begging to be kicked over from behind by disgruntled employees.
Another application is to move terminals for videoconferencing equipment to where they are needed, allowing conversations to take place on the factory floor or walking down a corridor.Suitable Technologies, another Willow Garage spin-off, is now also selling a telepresence system, Beam, based on a sort of trundlebot.
Cisco reckons to have saved $70m in travel expenses in 2007 alone from the 200 telepresence systems it's installed in its remote offices over the past few years.And now a small start-up called LifeSize Communications in Austin, Texas, has introduced a personal teleconferencing system for $6,000.
By telecommuting, he reckons he's saved the planet some 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide for each of the past 25 years.Related items Labour movementApr 10th 2008 Behold, telepresence: Far away yet strangely personalAug 23rd 2007 Banks and avian flu: The drawbacks of homeworkNov 30th 2006He's not alone.
Most important, senior executives have warmed to the high-end telepresence systems sold by Cisco and others, boosting the use of the technology further down the corporate hierarchy.Cisco and Logitech want to build on this momentum, particularly in the home.
The consumer-goods giant now has over 70 TelePresence studios around the world, and says they are in almost constant use.
