Abstract
In recent years, thanks to the development of computers and internet related technologies, it is becoming easier to communicate with people located in a remote site. Video and audio media is commonly used in remote communication. Therefore, quality of video and audio media is very critical to maintain the quality of remote communication. However, tele-existance of remote participant also plays an important role to keep good communication. Various studies have been carried out to increase the feeling of tele-existance in remote communication, for example a software avator or an avator robot is often used for this purpose. This study proposes an idea of active display to show the presence of a speaker in additon to the visual presentation of the speaker during remote communication. First, this paper descrives the idea of acitve display in the context of awareness support in remote communication. Then the paper shows a simple prototype system of active display using a robotic arm, and explains the mechanism to follow the three types of user's gestures in communication, which are nodding, head tilting, and bend forward. Based on the experiment using the protoypte, the paper discusses how to implementate these gestures in remote communication to enhance the tele-existance of a remote participant.
