Remotely projecting your presence has never looked so weird…

Many of the ideas surrounding the function and value of robots have to do with telepresence–the ability to project a personal likeness to a faraway location. Telenoid is designed specifically around that premise. Developed by Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATR), the same people who brought us Geminoid, Telenoid is essentially a complex version of the iPhone’s FaceTime. On top of voice broadcast, the Telenoid mimics the facial and upper-body movement of its user (It is capable of eye movement; head tilting; opening its mouth; and limb movement) through a software system called FaceAPI.

Below is a video of the Telenoid in action. You can see it going through all the motions.

Even though it is vaguely disconcerting to see a disembodied, Casper-like android flailing around on a stand, the seed of the idea is an interesting one. Rather than imprinting distinct facial features on the Telenoid, like ATR did with their super realistic Geminoid, they’ve opted to keep it more generic. This allows for a more transcendent presence; it forces a new dynamic between ‘droid and conversation partner. It also means that the same Telenoid can effectively be used by both men and women.

Sexually, what does this promise? Safe anonymity? Safe promiscuity? Questions of identity and consent–how do you know who’s behind the Telenoid? The other thing to consider, before answering the above: Why do people respond so warmly to an almost feature-less robot? Why do they instinctively go to hug it, as in the video below?

ars electronica: telenoid from Fabian Mohr on Vimeo.