| Humans live and interact within the real world but our current online world neglects this. This dissertation explores research into Personal Roving Presence (PRoP) systems that provide a physical, independently mobile proxy, controllable over the internet that enables a new form of telepresence: tele-embodiment. Leveraging off of its physical presence in the remote space, PRoPs provide important human verbal and non-verbal communication cues. The ultimate goal is a computer mediated communication (CMC) tool for rich, natural human interaction beyond currently available systems. This dissertation examines the history of several such devices and their development, design, interface, and system architecture. We also investigate relevant social issues, evaluations of several user studies, and the role PRoPs will play in our future. |
