Prototyping Mixed Reality Large Screen Mobile Telepresence Robots

In this paper, we discuss the development of prototypes for remote communication and collaboration that apply large, mobile screens to immersive and embodied telepresence experiences. We discuss several prototypes being developed by our design research team. The first, the Large Screen Mobile Telepresence Robot gives users the ability to embody the robot at nearly full human scale, and to move about in a remote environment. The second, the Mixed Reality Window, uses both forward facing and rear facing cameras and screens, at human scale, to create a passthrough effect, which can be augmented and overlaid with additional visual content, while also offering both forward facing and rear facing perspectives to remote users in non-contiguous spaces. We also discuss prior work in the development of Situated Robots, which employ projection onto the build environment, as well as speculative designs for future work that integrate mobile large screens into the built environment.