Since the invention of the telegraph, humans have been able to communicate across great distances in real-time. Today, we can choose among myriad technologies — radio, telephone, video conference platforms — to connect with colleagues and loved ones in different time zones, countries, and continents. These technologies create a telepresence — a sense of nearness between living beings separated only by space. “The purpose of telepresence is to connect people who are alive,” says Hiroshi Ishii, the Jerome B. Wiesner Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media…
