Tele immersion

							                   TELE-IMMERSION

Immersion is a new medium that enables a user to share a virtual space with
remote                                                          participants.

The user is immersed in a 3D world that is transmitted from a remote site.

This medium for human interaction, enabled by digital technology, approximates
the illusion that a person is in the same physical space as others, even though they
may be thousands of miles distant

In a tele-immersive environment computers recognize the presence and movements
of individuals and objects, track those individuals and images, and then permit
them to be projected in realistic, multiple, geographically distributed immersive
environments on stereo-immersive surfaces.

Abstract: Tele-immersion is an advanced form of virtual reality that will allow
users in different places to interact in real time in a shared simulated environment.
               This technology causes users to feel as if they were in the same
room. The tele-immersion technology uses a "tele-cubicle" which is equipped with
large screens, scanners, sensors, and cameras

The Tele-cubicles are linked together in real-time so that they form one larger
cubicle.

Through the virtual environment, participants are able to interact with other group
members. Also, virtual objects and data can be passed through the walls between
participants, and placed on the shared table in the middle for viewing.

The idea of Tele-immersion was proposed by Jaron Lanier, the head of Advanced
Networks and Services in 1997. National Tele-Immersion Initiative(NTII) was
formed to implement this In May 2000, researchers at University of North Carolina
(UNC), the University of Pennsylvania and Advanced Networks and Services
developed this technology.

A user sitting in office at UNC was able to see life like 3D Tele-immersion differs
significantly from conventional video Tele-conferencing in that the user’s view of
the remote environment changes dynamically as he moves his head.