Real world Being there without going there
Telepresence means using technology to feel as if you are somewhere else. Video calls are a simple version. Engineers on Earth already operate rovers on Mars, planning each day's drive, and robots on the space station can be controlled from the ground.
On Earth, surgeons sometimes operate remotely with robotic tools, and in 2021 NASA used "holoportation" to send a live 3D image of a flight doctor to the space station.
Real world The problem of distance
Because messages to Mars take minutes to arrive, nobody on Earth can drive a Mars rover in real time like a video game. Operators send a plan, the rover carries it out, and it reports back. Close to Earth, such as on the Moon, the delay is only a few seconds, so live control is easier.
Possible future How a hologram hall would work
Life-size 3D images would let settlers attend meetings, classes and family gatherings with people on other bases, and on the Moon even with people on Earth. Operators could use it to control robots working outside, in mines and on construction sites.
Art In this artwork
This illustration shows a glowing blue figure on a high-tech base. Here we imagine it as a hologram for talking across space.
Look closer
- Look at the glowing figure. Is it a person or an image?
- Find the projector base.
Think about it
- How would you keep in touch with family if you lived on Mars?
- What jobs could be done from far away using robots?
- Is talking to a hologram the same as being together?
Key words
- Telepresence
- Technology that makes you feel present somewhere else.
- Hologram
- A 3D image made with light.
- Latency
- Delay in sending and receiving signals.
Sources
The real-world facts on this page are based on these sources:
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Perseverance rover and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (first powered flight on another planet, 2021)
- NASA, "Deep Space Network" and Mars relay orbiters
- NASA, first "holoportation" of a doctor to the International Space Station (2021)
