Avatars at a meeting

Abstract

The development of remote avatars has recently generated increased research and commercial interest. Current approaches utilize simple remote-user-guided screens to represent the remote participant. Though humanoid robotic systems are significantly more expensive this work investigates the added benefit from utilizing such a robot. Two recent projects examined the potential of humanoid robotic systems to operate as a remote avatar within a meeting context and their impact on meeting dynamics and interactions. These projects identified the utility of human-like gestures as a significant benefit of humanoid robots within such a setting as well as a range of disruptive impacts due to the operational mode of humanoid robots.