Advanced Visual Learning Systems

“Telepresence Technologies for Teaching and Learning”

The primary focus of this research project is to develop new advanced learning technology for distance education. Specifically we propose to develop, use, and evaluate an advanced distance learning environment that incorporates new view synthesis techniques to provide a better sense of presence for all participants. Our primary goal is to develop new technologies that preserve, as much as possible, the personal presence, intimacy, and interactivity that occur in a typical face-to-face classroom setting. Our prototype and preliminary empirical findings indicate that indeed these technologies improve the perceptual presence and students feel that they are in a more interactive learning environment as compared to current distance learning infrastructures.

Santhanam, R., Carswell, M. and Yang, R.