¶ Definition
The term telepresence is formed from the prefix “tele,” from the Greek word tễle meaning “far” or “at a distance,” and the word “presence.” Telepresence therefore boils down to a sensation of presence experienced by a sentient body with another location or body, despite physical distance.
Telepresence refers to a set of techniques that allow a person to have the impression of being present, to give the impression of being present, or to have an effect in a place other than their actual location. It requires that the user’s (or users’) senses are exposed to stimuli that create the impression of being at a distant site. Additionally, the user may have the ability to act on that distant site. In this case, the user’s position as well as their movements, actions, or speech can be perceived, transmitted, and duplicated to the chosen destination to enact this effect. As a result, information can travel bidirectionally between the user and the distant location.
WIKIPEDIA
To apply this principle, telepresence generally relies on a technical system that provides:
- the capture of perceptible phenomena (sound, image, gesture, etc.);
- a means of transmission allowing captured phenomena to travel instantly from their origin to a destination;
- the perceptible reproduction of the captured phenomena (sound, image, gesture, etc.).
From then on, telepresence occurs through the creation of a mediated space for virtual meeting and exchange, made possible by a technical system capable of capturing, transmitting, and diffusing stimuli—especially audiovisual—between multiple physically distant spaces or individuals in real time and at real scale.
¶ Theory and philosophy
¶ Immersion and presence
The sensation of presence is often made possible by the immersive qualities of a technical system capable of reproducing certain sensory stimuli. It is important, however, to distinguish presence from sensory immersion, as these phenomena, while beneficial, are nevertheless contingent.
¶ Immersion
We say that something is immersed in a fluid as opposed to a situation tacitly considered more common in which the thing would not be immersed. Immersion is therefore relative to a habitual configuration, like representation is relative to presentation.
Bruno TRENTINI (2014)
Originally, the term immersion describes the passage of a body from a gaseous medium (air) to a liquid medium (water). Its derived meaning is generally applied subjectively, where a sensitive individual already present in an environment or configuration they perceive as usual transitions to an environment or configuration they deem unfamiliar.
A person present in a context perceived as unfamiliar is consequently forced to adapt by reconfiguring how they perceive and interact with that environment.
From a subjective perspective, such reconfiguration occurs through sensory contact that allows the individual to recognize and become aware of the familiarity of a situation or the environment in which they find themselves. Through habituation and repetition, a new convention or code forms, whereby the perception of stimuli or sensations is substituted with labels. At that point, the same stimulus can be perceived differently depending on its context and identified accordingly based on the established code.
Thus, an experience of immersion is an aesthetic experience in the sense that the meeting of two different worlds—different in terms of the means of perception involved—induces a reflective judgment that enables the subject to become aware of the flexibility of their perception.
Bruno TRENTINI (2014)
Two essential factors contribute to creating an immersive experience:
- a conscious and perceptible configuration change from the usual to the unusual, to which…
- the experiencing subject responds based on their willingness to adapt. Immersion then manifests as an adherence to this configuration change.
Immersion is therefore the ability to access a proposed universe and to make that universe accessible to oneself.
¶ Presence
The term “presence,” on the other hand, is frequently used to denote a cognitive effect produced by a particular technology (Auvray et al., 2005 and Lombard and Ditton, 1997) that envelops one or more senses in an individual.
Through a technological system, a subject can experience a feeling of presence in a proposed environment, provided they perceive it as different from the environment where they are physically present.
However, note that physical immersion—through varying degrees of sensory enclosure—does not necessarily result in a feeling of presence as an “illusion of non-mediation” (Lombard and Ditton, 1997). The effect of presence is rather a psychological consequence that can be induced by sensory stimulation through particular sensory conditions, i.e., immersion.
Immersion is thus primarily an actual phenomenon—linked to the sensory conditions of an immediate environment and how those conditions are perceived—where “the activation of the subject’s attention is produced directly by their environment” (Guelton, 2014), and where perception and action are closely correlated.
This phenomenon must be distinguished from presence, a psychological effect tied to the awareness of feeling present in a virtual environment—also perceived as real—as an illusion of non-mediation made possible by a technical system (Slater and Wilbur, 1997).
These two phenomena can reinforce each other, but they are not required for one another: one can feel present in a virtual environment or with distant people without the sensory conditions being perfectly transparent (realistic); conversely, just because a technical system can simulate certain stimuli transparently and realistically does not mean the subject will necessarily feel present in a virtual “elsewhere.”
In the context of virtual exchanges or meetings enabled by technical means, the experience of presence implies that there is first a detachment, a gap, a distance, a mediation, a simulation, a substitution of the individuals’ bodies between their immediate physical space and the non-immediate (mediated) space where other individuals would be located.
Otherwise, presence would no longer be merely a sensation, but a fact:
- Actual presence as a fact: person X is currently in the presence of person Y within the same physical space Z;
- Virtual presence as a sensation: person X—physically present in a place A—feels virtually present with person Y—physically present in place B—through a mediated space Z.
¶ Technical system
Telepresence occurs through the creation of a mediated space for virtual meeting and exchange, made possible by a technical system capable of capturing, transmitting, and diffusing in real time and at real scale stimuli—especially audiovisual—between multiple physically distant spaces or individuals.
Today, telepresence systems connect distant locations via the Internet and enable real-time meetings and interactions between them. Through an immersive installation, one can give the impression that one place extends into another. Distant groups can see, speak, interact, and collaborate remotely as if they were in the same space. Thus, telepresence essentially relies on the bidirectional and simultaneous transmission of audiovisual streams, in real time and at real scale.
¶ Stage telepresence
Applied to the performing arts, a stage telepresence system offers the possibility of creating a distributed work across different performance venues where remote artists and audiences can meet.
Stage telepresence differs from video conferencing telepresence—an everyday application—by the immersiveness of the technical system and by the fact that it no longer merely shares sound and image in a close-up shot (chest) of a single individual per location, but rather that of one or more individuals in a medium shot, or even part of a scenographic space, and displays it at real size (1:1), i.e., at human scale.
For this purpose, such a system should allow:
- Connecting multiple professional-quality multimedia capture and broadcast devices and equipment;
- Sharing multiple streams instantly, simultaneously, and individually with one or more other similar systems;
- Receiving, retransmitting and broadcasting, instantly, simultaneously, and individually, multiple streams from one or more other similar systems;
- Reproducing audiovisual stimuli in a realistic or immersive way so as to promote the sensation of presence, notably through:
- One or more sufficiently large video displays to maintain a 1:1 proportion of the space or subjects represented;
- Calibration of capture and projection angles in order to reproduce eye contact communication between individuals;
- Spatialization of audio sources according to the visual location of the emitting subject or object;
- Prevention or reduction of any technical issues that could break the immersion of spectators or hinder the interaction of participating subjects.
¶ Telepresence at the Society for Arts and Technology
Founded in 1996, the Society for Arts and Technology [SAT] is an internationally recognized non-profit organization known for its pioneering role in developing immersive technologies, virtual reality, and the creative use of high-speed networks.
¶ Meeting… on public benches (1999)
Telepresence stations connected the area in front of the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MAC) with Place d’Youville in Québec City. This concept by Luc Courschesne and Monique Savoie allowed passersby in two cities to exchange messages.
¶ Métalab
Métalab is SAT’s research and development laboratory. Established in 2002, its mission is to stimulate the emergence of innovative immersive experiences and to make their design accessible to artists and creators through an ecosystem of free software.
¶ Breaking the Ice (2010)
As part of CODE, the digital edition of the 2010 Vancouver Cultural Olympiad, the Society for Arts and Technology [SAT] presented Breaking the Ice, an audio-tactile-visual telepresence installation inviting passersby near the Grande Bibliothèque (Montréal) to interact with people present at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
The setup of these unique interactive communication pedestals was the result of a collaboration between SAT (Métalab) researchers and designers and artist Paul Warne. Warne was tasked with designing an original interface that allowed users to deconstruct a human face using a virtual puzzle.
The principle was to stand in front of a virtual “mirror” and “break the ice” to reconstruct and discover the face of the person located at the other end of the country (Vancouver) and to be able to interact with them.
This cutting-edge technology is an integration of the Scenic (prototype) and SPIN software, two programs developed by the Métalab research project, and uses very high-speed connections available via efficient fiber optic networks.
¶ Research valorization
Founded in 2018, the Research Valorization department mobilizes free technologies developed by Métalab, the research and development laboratory of the Society for Arts and Technology [SAT], to develop socially and artistically oriented projects with diverse partners. Located at the intersection of applied research and commercial preproduction, the department emphasizes the use and development of free software and a living lab methodology that gives significant space to end users and experimentation.
¶ Bibliolab
Bibliolab is in some ways a simplified, precursory version of the Scenic telepresence system in its current form:
- Designed for educational use at the school level (primary and secondary);
- Networking school libraries with Scènes Ouvertes venues;
- Promoting meetings and exchanges between users of different locations.
The Bibliolab system is symmetrical and supports two activity formats:
- “Formal” activities that highlight facilitators and their content and are particularly suited to presentations and training;
- “Participatory” activities that place participants face to face to facilitate interactions and support discussion and game activities.
¶ Scenic
¶ The Scenic station (Pro)
The Scenic station connects professional multimedia equipment such as projectors and video screens, microphones, a sound console and amplified speakers, and MIDI or OSC controllers to capture, reproduce, and broadcast audiovisual streams according to an adapted scenography.
¶ The Scenic application
- In 2009, SAT launched its Scenic transmission software with a show between Gaspé and Montréal bringing together members of the group National Parks;
The Scenic application enables the transmission and reception in real time and in high definition of audio and video streams, as well as MIDI and OSC data. With a reliable high-bandwidth internet connection, geographically distant spaces can connect and produce scenic events in telepresence.
¶ Scenic 3 (2019–2020)
Preview of the Scenic 3 interface
¶ Scenic 4 (since 2021)
Preview of the Scenic 4 interface
¶ Scènes Ouvertes
Launched in September 2017, the Scènes Ouvertes network now includes 23 performance venues and cultural mediation spaces across Québec. Initiated by the Society for Arts and Technology [SAT], the network is part of Québec’s Digital Cultural Plan by the Ministry of Culture and Communications (MCC).
Each member space in the Scènes Ouvertes network has a Scenic station. These mobile systems are equipped with a computer system running the Scenic application developed by SAT’s Research Valorization department.
Unlike web streaming, Scenic technology allows spaces equipped with this station to design, create, collaborate, and broadcast activities or events in telepresence shared with other member spaces in the network.
In addition to the Scenic station, members of the Scènes Ouvertes network benefit from advisory services to support stage telepresence projects, technical support, and training for independently operating Scenic stations.
¶ Current member spaces
| City | Organization |
|---|---|
| Canada | — |
| — | — |
| Manitoba | — |
| Winnipeg | Centre culturel franco-manitobien (CCFM) |
| — | — |
| New-Brunswick | — |
| Moncton | Université de Moncton |
| — | — |
| Quebec | — |
| Alma | Ville d’Alma Spectacles |
| Gaspé | C.D. Spectacles inc. |
| Joliette | Centre culturel de Joliette |
| L’Assomption | Diffusion Hector-Charland |
| Laval | Laval Co-Motion - Corp. Salle André Mathieu |
| Matane | Kaméléart Matane inc. |
| Montmagny | Les Arts de la scène de Montmagny |
| Montréal | Place Des Arts |
| Montréal | Monument National |
| Montréal | Société des Arts Technologiques (SAT) |
| Montréal | Corporation du Théâtre Outremont |
| Montréal | ToHu, Cité des arts et du Cirque |
| Québec | Musée de la Civilisation du Québec (MCQ) |
| Rimouski | Coopérative de solidarité Paradis |
| Rivière-du-Loup | Rivière-du-Loup en spectacles |
| Rouyn-Noranda | Petit Théâtre du Vieux Noranda |
| Saint-Camille | Le p’tit bonheur de Saint-Camille |
| Sainte-Thérèse | Odyscène inc. |
| Sept-Îles | Sept-iles Salle Jean-Marc-Dion |
| Sherbrooke | Centre culturel de l’Université de Sherbrooke |
| St-Jean-sur-Richelieu | Société pour la promotion d’événements culturels du Haut-Richelieu |
| Trois-Rivières | Espace Pauline-Julien (Culture Trois-Rivières) |
| Victoriaville | Diffusion Momentum / Le Carré 150, espace culturel de Victoriaville |
| — | — |
| France | — |
| Avignon | Université d’Avignon |
| — | — |
¶ Test beds
Starting in January 2019, with support from the Ministry of Culture and Communications, SAT launched a Test Bed program to develop the stage telepresence expertise of members of the Scènes Ouvertes network. They received financial support and guidance from SAT to develop custom telepresence content. Cross-residencies between venues in the network were put in place to create works, performances, and cultural mediation activities presented to different audiences.