Telepresence: Actual and Virtual explores the history of telepresence from the 1948 developments of master–slave manipulation, through to current telepresence technology used in space, undersea, surgery and telemedicine, operations in nuclear and other hazardous environments, policing and surveillance, agriculture, construction, mining, warehousing, education, amusement, social media, and other contexts. It also describes the various operator hand and body controls and the corresponding telerobotic actuation of robotic hands, arms, and locomotion. This book reviews the sensing and control technology, its history and likely future, and discusses the many research and policy issues that are raised. The book also takes up key questions relating to social and ethical issues, given that a person’s mechanical reach is becoming unlimited, enabling one to perform mischievous or harmful acts without identification, and what that portends for future developments in telepresence, including regulation and recommended directions of development.

The primary audience for this book is professionals interested in human–robot interaction, human factors engineering, virtual reality, applications to space and undersea exploration, telemedicine and telesurgery, firefighting, mechanized agriculture, policing, drone surveillance, warehouse parts' fetching, mining, and military operations.