Telepresence has reached a position of relative stability. Setting aside classic teleconferencing and smartphone use, alternative devices now follow a generic design, mostly semi-autonomous robots with a screen or tablet on top. But Japanese researcher Jun Rekimoto believes we can go one step further with ChameleonMask, a platform that replaces the robot with a flesh-and-blood person carrying a tablet on their face. In other words, a “Human Uber”.
From Comics to Comedy
If memory serves, the comic is The Surrogates, written by Robert Venditti. In that futuristic world, people gave up any form of direct interaction, and for their daily activities they use a series of robotic substitutes, working as an almost perfect telepresence system. A similar example (albeit in a completely different context) unfolds in the comedy Arrested Development. There, an assistant wears a cap embroidered with the expression “Surrogate,” a camera, and a hands-free system, serving as a remote representative for the character George Bluth Sr., who is in prison. The whole situation is absurd, but at the same time, we shouldn't be surprised to learn that someone out there takes this “Human Uber” idea very seriously…
Meet ChameleonMask
That someone is Jun Rekimoto, a researcher at the University of Tokyo and director of the Interaction Laboratory at Sony Computer Science Laboratories. The official name of his development is ChameleonMask, but the whole web has latched onto the phrase “Human Uber” because of its impact. Basically, ChameleonMask eliminates the robot from classic telepresence systems and replaces it with a real person. That person carries a “digital mask,” that is, a kind of frame on their head (which can be a simple motorcycle helmet) with a tablet showing the real-time feed of the “user.” The most important point in ChameleonMask's favor is that it eliminates all the limitations associated with traditional telepresence robots (say, using public transport, climbing stairs, or opening a door).
Natural Experience and Future Prospects
Tests by Rekimoto and his colleague Kana Misawa suggest the experience is much more natural than they expected, especially when the substitute has a physical build similar to that of the original user. On the other hand, we cannot ignore ChameleonMask's potential as a new source of work. Now… something tells me the Human Uber will probably be exclusive to Japanese territory, unless a more aesthetically pleasing variant appears, one that doesn't involve a helmet with an iPad as its face.
