"

WrlLLen on !uly 4, 1997, Lhe day of Lhe hlsLorlcal Mars aLhflnder landlng, and publlshed here on !uly 3, 1997, Lhls
arLlcle ls a reflecLlon on Lhe culLural meanlng of Lelepresence, as experlenced slmulLaneously by mllllons of people
vla Lelevlson (and on Lhe Web). 1he arLlcle was also publlshed ln Lhe !uly '97 edlLlon of !"#$%&'# )*"+,&#$-+
.*/%$%+ (on Lhe Web) and ln !"#$%&'#, vol. 31, n. 1, 1998, pp. 1-2.

!01) 2345 5.36
)'7%&'# 8%+ 9:;;<=

1oday, !uly 4, 1997, ls an exclLlng day for arL. AlLhough Lhe arL of Lelepresence has been
conslsLenLly explored slnce Lhe laLe 1980s, Loday Lhe landlng of Lhe Mars aLhflnder spacecrafL
broughL Lelepresence Lo Lhe masses. 1hls hlsLorlc evenL reklndled Lhe drama of dlsLance and Lhe
culLural meanlng of Lelepresence on Lhe lmaglnaLlon of Lhe general publlc, reverLlng Lhe
numblng and sooLhlng effecL of hablLual Lelevlsed enLerLalnmenL and newscasLlng. ln Lhe
LerresLrlal afLernoon, aLhflnder senL Lhe flrsL lmages from Lhe surface of Mars ever LransmlLLed
llve on Lelevlslon. 1he flrsL lmages Lo arrlve from Lhe Ares vallls area were small grayscale
plcLures and, on Lelevlslon aL leasL, Lhe resoluLlon was raLher low. 1he very flrsL broadcasL
lmages appeared on a compuLer screen, lnslde a small wlndow whlch floaLed among many
oLher wlndows on Lhe deskLop. WhaL was on Lhe alr seemed Lo lndlcaLe LhaL a cameraman
polnLed hls camera Lo Lhe compuLer monlLor, eagerly awalLlng and lmmedlaLely reLransmlLLlng
Lhe flrsL plcLure as lL appeared on nASA's compuLer screen. 1he Cnn announcer was ecsLaLlc
and, conLrary Lo [ournallsm proLocol, clearly expressed her own exclLemenL wlLh whaL she was
seelng for Lhe flrsL Llme herself.

Whlle perhaps unlmpresslve ln Lhe eyes of Lhe vlsually llLeraLe publlc, accosLumed Lo flashy
dlglLal speclal effecLs on Lelevlson and ln Lhe movles, Lhese sLllls are profoundly slgnlflcanL,
overcomlng real space (119 mllllon mlles from LarLh) wlLh near real-Llme conLlguousness. 1helr
meanlng does noL arlse from clnemaLlc enLerLalnmenL, buL from Lhe ralsed awareness of Lhe
unlverse we have galned by belng collecLlvely LelepresenL on Lhe MarLlan surface. 1hese
plcLures were noL represenLaLlons of sclence flcLlon scenarlos, buL a de facLo wlndow lnLo
anoLher world enLlrely. 1he feellng of remoLe presence was lnLense. "We're Lhere!", shouLed
nASA mlsslon conLrol personnel.

As wlLh Lhe Moon landlng before, whaL ls mosL remarkable abouL Lhe aLhflnder mlsslon ls noL
Lhe Lechnologlcal Lour de force, buL Lhe facL LhaL mllllons of people waLched slmulLaneously Lhe
flrsL lmages as Lhey were broadcasL (and soon uploaded Lo nASA's Web slLe). lL Look abouL 10
mlnuLes for each encoded lmage Lo arrlve. lL Look Lhe nASA Leam abouL 30 mlnuLes Lo process
Lhe daLa sLream lnLo color lmages. As Lhe flrsL color lmages were unvelled, agaln, llve on Cnn,
approxlmaLely one hour afLer arrlval, l was sLruck wlLh Lhe reallzaLlon LhaL whaL l was seelng aL
LhaL very momenL, ln Lhe prlvacy of my home, was exacLly whaL Lhe surface of Lhe fourLh rock
near Lhe Sun looked llke one hour ago! 1wenLy one years ago vlklng gave us our flrsL gllmpses of
Lhe 8ed laneL. 1oday, Lhrough Lhls near real-Llme experlence, aLhflnder gave us a sense of
belng LelepresenL on Mars. Whlle lL Look Lhe spacecrafL seven monLh Lo Lravel Lo Mars, Lhe
near-lnsLanLanelLy -- glven Lhe relaLlve dlsLance beLween Lhe planeLs -- of Lhe Lelecommand,
remoLe response, and lmage-reLrleval, Louched us wlLh a renewed sense of proxlmlLy beyond
Lhe maLerlal llmlLs of physlcal space.

1hls ls Lhe flrsL Llme ever LhaL a fully moblle and wlreless LeleroboL (Lhe rover So[ourner) ls senL
Lo explore anoLher planeL, a Lrue landmark for Lelepresence and Lhe hlsLory of Lhe space
program. 1he plcLures of Lhe landlng slLe Laken by aLhflnder wlll be used Lo deLermlne Lhe
#
exploraLory paLh of Lhe rover So[ourner, whlch ls 2 feeL by 1.3 feeL wlde and 1 fooL Lall. Cnce
deployed, Lhe rover wlll navlgaLe Lhe envlronmenL and negoLlaLe Lhe Lerraln on lLs own, aL a
speed of Lwo feeL a mlnuLe. A unlque klnd of human-machlne lnLeracLlon Lakes place ln Lhls
mlsslon. 1he cognlLlve process of a human belng ls remoLely pro[ecLed on a dlsLanL roboL, whlch
ln Lurn has auLonomy Lo sense Lhe surroundlngs and make declslons LhaL are ln lLs besL lnLeresL
(for example, Lo prevenL an accldenLal fall from a cllff).

Whlle Lhe aesLheLlc dlmenslon of Lhls experlence wlll go unnoLlced by mosL dlrecLly lnvolved ln
Lhe pro[ecL and LelespecLaLors allke, lL ls preclsely Lhls aspecL of Lhe medla evenL l wlLnessed
Loday LhaL l flnd parLlcularly slgnlflcanL. Some of Lhe aesLheLlc feaLures unlque Lo Lhls
Lelepresence evenL are Lhe relaLlvlLy of space and Llme (seven monLhs Lo geL Lhere, Len mlnuLes
Lo LransmlL a plcLure), Lhe naLure of Lhe human-machlne lnLerface (comblnaLlon of
LeleoperaLlon and auLonomy), remoLe space negoLlaLlon and navlgaLlon (unpredlcLablllLy of Lhe
Lerraln, feellng of remoLe presence), LeleoperaLlon (aL-a-dlsLance conLrol of a roboL), capLure,
Lransmlsslon, recepLlon, processlng and unvelllng of Lhe lmages, Lhe lnsLanLness of Lhe plcLures,
Lhe reallzaLlon of all Lhls llve on Lelevlslon (lnLegraLlon beLween Lhe one-Lo-one experlence of
remoLe conLrol wlLh Lhe publlc space of Lelevlson), and Lhe lmpacL of Lhls Lelepresence evenL on
Lhe collecLlve consclousness. All Lhls, l suggesL, has paramounL aesLheLlc value -- aesLheLlc, noL
arLlsLlc.

1he lnvesLlgaLlon of Lhe arLlsLlc dlmenslon of Lelepresence, however, ls a fasclnaLlng challenge
LhaL musL be meL. lL ls clear LhaL Lhe aesLheLlc dlmenslon of Lhls hlsLorlc evenL lnLroduces
Lelepresence Lo Lhe populaLlon aL large, polnLlng Lo a fuLure when personal Lelepresence wlll be
an lnLegral parL of our dally llves. As our presence on Lhe 8ed laneL lncreases vla LeleroboLs,
and evenLualy wlLh humans, one can easlly foresee Webcams enabllng us Lo look aL Lhe MarLlan
surface on Lhe lnLerneL wlLh Lhe same ease and regularlLy as Loday we see Lhe skyllne of several
norLh-Amerlcan clLles. CLher forms of personal Lelepresence wlll be developed ln Lhe fuLure ln
many segmenLs of socleLy. lor example, Lhrough a LeleroboLlc hand surgery mlghL be performed
remoLely, or a documenL locaLed ln one clLy could have Lhe orlglnal slgnaLure of an lndlvldual ln
anoLher mlles away. ArLlsLs worklng Loday can dlrecLly respond Lo an evenL of Lhls magnlLude by
worklng wlLh Lhe very same means employed ln Lhe fanLasLlc exploraLlon of ouLer space:
Lelepresence, remoLe operaLlon and neLworklng. no ob[ecL can rlval Lhe experlenLlal quallLy of
Loday's evenL.

1he very flrsL lmages broadcasL llve on Cnn were hard Lo dlscern or recognlze as a landscape. ln
sclence as ln arL, whaL you can'L recognlze, you cognlze. Awareness of Lhe unfamlllar remoLe
Lerraln, coupled wlLh lnLermlLLenL vlsual feedback, gulded and wlll conLlnue Lo gulde Lhe
LelexploraLlon of Lhe dry flood channel where Lhe spacecrafL landed. As aLhflnder deploys Lhe
small rover So[ourner on Lhe lnvlLlng crlmson Lerraln, lL wlll be searchlng Lhe MarLlan surface
(and below) for slgns of llfe, lnLelllgenL or noL, presenL or pasL. l need no furLher evldence,
however, because Loday l saw, LelepresenLlally, clear slgns of lnLelllgenL llfe on Lhe surface of
Mars: ours.