Drucella Andersen
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                                           
February 4, 1992
(Phone:  202/453-8613)

Michael Mewhinney
Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif.
(Phone:  415/604-3937)


RELEASE: 92-20

NASA DEVELOPS "TELEPRESENCE" FOR EXPLORATION


   Astronauts may someday explore Mars without leaving their 
base camp using "telepresence," a unique mix of science and 
engineering that NASA is now developing.

   Many scientists think that telepresence will play a major 
role in future planetary missions, particularly the President's 
Space Exploration Initiative to return humans to the moon and 
then later, to Mars.

    "When we begin to explore Mars, it won't be easy for the 
astronauts to travel far from their base to gain access to the 
whole planet," said Dr. Geoffrey Briggs, Scientific Director of 
the new Center for Mars Exploration at NASA's Ames Research 
Center, Mountain View, Calif.  "Telepresence will allow humans 
to project themselves, by way of a suitably equipped robot, into 
a remote environment without endangering themselves.  It's a 
very powerful research technique."

   Telepresence lets a researcher, wearing a video headset, see 
remote locations through cameras mounted on a remotely-operated 
robotic vehicle.  The researcher points the camera by moving his 
or her head and steers the vehicle with a pair of joysticks or 
with body motion.  Manipulators on the robot relay the "feel" of 
an object's weight and texture.

   Telepresence is similar to "virtual reality," another 
computer science innovation that has a video headset, input 
devices to control movement and ways to create tactile feedback.  
While virtual reality allows a user to see and interact with a 
computerized video image, telepresence lets a researcher see 
what a robot sees and to do actual tasks in a real environment.
                            - more -
                             - 2 -


    "The difference between telepresence and virtual reality is 
with telepresence we're trying to give users the feeling that 
they're in a remote location," said Owen Gwynne, Telepresence 
Project Engineer at Ames.

   Ames scientists are now testing telepresence as a way to 
control a robot for underwater scientific research.  The 
advantage of studying the technology in this setting is that 
mobile submersible robots already are available.  Deep Ocean 
Engineering Inc., San Leandro, Calif., built the rover that NASA 
is using in its experiments.

   Although remotely-operated vehicles have done jobs from 
commercial diving ventures to nuclear power plant cleanup after 
an accident, the NASA studies are the first using telepresence 
to control robotic devices to accomplish science outside the 
laboratory.  Briggs called the research technique 
"revolutionary" because it is an opportunity to simulate 
planetary studies in hostile Earthly environments, such as the 
frigid waters of Antarctica, and eventually to perform real 
research on the moon and Mars.

   Dr. Carol Stoker is the Telepresence Project Manager at Ames.  
Ames researchers Dr. Michael McGreevy and Dr. Christopher McKay, 
Dale Anderson of Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Co., 
Sunnyvale, Calif., and Dr. Robert Wharton of the Desert Research 
Institute in Nevada also are participating.

                             -end-

NOTE TO EDITORS:  A video clip to illustrate this release is 
available by calling 202/453-8594.  Still photos also are 
available (202/453-8375).

Color:       92-HC-56                         B&W:     92-H-59
                92-HC-57                         B&W:     
92-H-60
                92-HC-58                         B&W:     
92-H-61