Based on early attendee, sponsor, and exhibitor feedback, Telepresence World 2007 was a tremendous success.The University of San Diego (host) and Hemisphere Expo Services (organizers) deserve high praise for their expert planning and coordination of the event.  Over 330 people attended Telepresence World 2007 and were privileged to hear from a variety of speakers, including industry leaders, developers, researchers, and academicians about the current uses and future goals for the technology.

We have seen reviews of the conference that questioned whether the event was able to define the concept of telepresence.  The answer is yes.  The conference was purposefully designed to be all-inclusive and it did an excellent job of highlighting the multitude of ways that telepresence—the feeling of being present at a location other than your true location--can be achieved.  To narrow that definition at this stage would be premature.To those who are waiting for an industry definition--such a description will molded in the marketplace as the technology becomes more mainstream.

According to Mark Barounos, President of Hemisphere Expo Services and conference organizer, the goals for Telepresence World 2007 were "really very simple:

• to establish a centralized and specialized forum for collaborative technologies so vendors, professional organizations, and end-users can meet and communicate with each other about the tremendous potential of these amazing tools;  

• Secondly, to encourage people who have common interests to find each other and begin to solve problems and address issues together. 

• And thirdly, with this inaugural conference, to create momentum that will carry the industry forward to the next Telepresence World Conference scheduled for London in February of 2008."

Without a doubt, the conference achieved its goals at all levels.

In addition to a comprehensive program, which incorporated demonstrations and a partner pavilion into a full line-up of speakers, Telepresence World 2007 acted as the stage for a couple of major industry announcements:

• Teliris revealed plans to launch the first interoperable platform (or "gateway") in Mid-August of 2007 to connect telepresence systems from other vendors to their VirtuaLive^TM products.  The will mark the first time a telepresence conference will be able to link to multiple vendor systems and is represents a significant step forward.  In addition, Teliris announced its new WebConnect utility, which allows remote participants to connect to a telepresence meeting through any broadband web-based device from anywhere in the world.By extending the reach of their room-based products, Teliris has added tremendous utility their systems.
  
  
• DVE (Digital Video Enterprises) debuted their new Tele-Immersion Room^TM. Created as a result of a strategic alliance with Christie Digital Systems, the tele-immersion room will enhance telepresence visualization, as well as volumetric and stereoscopic 3-D viewing.Instead of displaying images on flat panels hanging on the wall, DVE's patented technology projects objects and participants into conferencing space using Christie's Mirage HD 3D projectors. Many who attended Telepresence World said that their technology was simple amazing.

If you didn't get a chance to attend Telepresence World 2007 or would like to replay the plenary talks on all three days of the conference, you can visit the following website to see these sessions in full-screen, high-definition video:

http://www.telepresenceworld.com/tv/tpw07.php

Day 1

The theme of the first day of the conference was "Global Business at the Speed of Light—Off to the Races."Speakers included top industry leaders and researchers, who shared with attendees their views on the history, current status, and future of telepresence.Demonstration and exhibit areas were very well-attended.

Bob Hagerty, CEO of Polycom, discussing the challenges of staying connected in today's business world.

Marc Trachtenberg, CEO of Teliris, spoke on the adoption process experienced by a new technology such as telepresence.

Aaron McCormick, CEO of BT Conferencing, talked about how collaborative technology can enhance business productivity

Chuck Stucki, VP/GM, Cisco Telepresence Systems Business Unit, updated the audience on Cisco's plans for telepresence technology.

Larry Smarr, Director of CALIT2, recapped the history of telepresence and its associated technologies.

Above left: Attendees lunched outdoors on the Garden of the Sky Plaza in front of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice on the beautiful University of San Diego Campus. Above right:  The adjacent Partner Pavilion proved to be very popular.

Above left: Telanetix Demonstration Room; Above right: Polycom Demonstration Room

Above left: Teliris Demonstration Room; Above right: Cisco Demonstration Room

Day 1 also included a very popular afternoon breakout session demonstrating how telepresence technology is being used by Nix, Patterson, and Roach, LLC, a law firm in Dallas, TX, to facilitate legal proceedings.Their customized system makes use of instant-messaging, video, and audio streaming to maximize efficiency during court depositions.  A session presented by Luc Debaker of Teleportel Europe about "Profitable Business Applications in Europe, generated a lot of interest among attendees.  Many other notable speakers were onsite, including: Bob McCandless of the McCandless Group; Dr. S. Ann Earon, of TRI; Tom West of National Lambda Rail; Michael Brandofino of Glowpoint; David Coleman of Collaborative Strategies; and Carol Zelkin of the IMCCA.

For the final program containing speaker information for all three days, please see: http://www.telepresenceworld.net/News/TPW2007.pdf

Speaker biographies as well as sponsor and exhibitor information can be found in the official Telepresence World 2007 Conference Program at:

http://telepresenceworld.com/brochure.pdf

Day 1 concluded with an evening reception at the University's Garden of the Sea Plaza overlooking Mission Bay.

Day 2

The theme of Day 2 was "The Virtual Future of the Virtual Society in our Not-too-distant Future.  "Speakers addressed the potential benefits of telepresence and how society might integrate telepresence technology into their everyday lives.

Martyn Lewis, European Chairman of Teliris and former news anchor for BBC Television News, conducted a session entitled "A View from the Anchor's Chair," via telepresence from London, showing the audience the amazing potential of the technology.  Mr. Lewis later answered questions directly from the audience.

Steve McNelley, DVE's co-founder and CEO, discussed the dynamics of telepresence, calling attention to the technology behind providing true eye contact, which he considers an integral part of the experience.  Duffie White, founder of Telepresence Tech, and Barry Nalls, CEO of Masergy Communications, also delivered keynote speeches.Of particular interest was a dual presentation by Bob McCandless of the McCandless Group, and Cameron Durckel, Director of the San Diego Office of California Governor Schwarzenegger on global warming and the role business might play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by reducing travel through the use of telepresence.Closing the morning session was Tom Szabo, CEO of Telanetix, who reviewed the driving forces behind telepresence.

Exceptional breakout sessions in the afternoon included Alan Holdship of White Rock Consulting, speaking on behalf of The Carbon Neutral Company, who discussed "The Business of Being Green: In Crisis there is Opportunity," and Dr. Rick Satava from the University of Washington, who talked on "Telepresence Surgery in the Military."In addition, Kent Lowell, VP and General Manager of Global Conferencing Solution at BT Conferencing spoke about how to deploy telepresence solutions.

Day 3

Day 3 was dedicated to distance learning and telemedicine.Many attendees commented that this was one of the most interesting days of the conference.Researchers and academicians talked about their studies, explorations, and experiences with telepresence.  The day started with Jonathan Tyman, Manager of Digital Video Initiatives for Internet 2, describing how Internet 2 had been used for telepresence initiatives involving music, education, and the arts.

Dr. Yulan Wang, CEO of InTouch Health, spoke on remote presence solutions for healthcare, even bringing out a remote robotic physician capable of interacting with patients and performing diagnostic tests (below).

Dr. Yulan Wang chats with the RP-7 Robot

Dr. R. Shawn Edmondson gave an informative talk, complete with outcomes, about the use of telepresence technology to facilitate teacher mentoring programs; Dr. Stephen Papadopoulos of the Barrow Neurological Institute discussed "The Future of Medical and Surgical Education;" Dr. Parvati Dev, Director of the Summit Lab at Stanford University spoke on "Fostering Academic Collaboration through Internet2 and Telepresence Technology;" and Marshall Eubanks dove into "Networking Requirements for Telepresence."Matthew Lombard, President of the International Society for Presence Research (ISPR) gave an excellent overview of telepresence research, looking at the variety of ongoing projects (some of them very amusing) that feature telepresence as their core technology.

Concluding the conference were sessions on Telepsychiatry and user acceptance by Jess Jamieson, CEO of Compass Health, and immersive 3D Virtual Surgery by Nigel Parsad, which even featured 3D glasses for the audience.

It is impossible to adequately discuss each and every presentation in this overview of the conference; however all of the sessions were interesting, vibrant, and a tribute to those who are involved in this emerging technology.  All speakers are to be thanked and commended for their generous and outstanding efforts.

The next Telepresence World conference will be held in London in February 2008. The program promises to be of the same high caliber as Telepresence World 2007 and will allow participants to assess industry progress since the San Diego event.  For updates on Telepresence World Events, visit http://www.telepresenceworld.com regularly.