Keynote speaker: Telepresence: Soon not just a dream and a promise

Dreams of telepresence are fed by special effects in movies, on stage, and in TV programs. These illusions regularly fool the audiences of these productions, but they do not achieve telepresence for the actual participants in two or more distant locations. Some of the illusions used in these productions have been known and exploited for centuries. Why, then, is telepresence so diffcult to achieve? This talk will explore some of the classic illusions, review recent technical advances in the component technologies of 3D acquisition and 3D display, and suggest directions for future development. We will also examine the impact of such recent developments as Microsoft Kinect and Google Glass, and how they may dramatically improve the chances that some forms of telepresence may become commercially viable in the near future.