Teleportation

   Gov. Rick Perry knew he was making history last week when he materialized before a group of Richardson business leaders in the first successful demonstration of a technology called "teleportation."

  Govenor Perry himself was in Austin, but his three-dimensional, holographic image was being beamed to the University of Texas at Dallas using Internet2, a network connecting universities and corporations.

   It was a moment, Mr. Perry indicated, as significant as Alexander Graham Bell's first phone call to Thomas Watson.

   But "this technology, I happen to think, will have an even greater effect on the citizens of the world than what Mr. Bell came up with," he said.

   Teleportec Inc., a privately held Richardson-based firm that is marketing the technology arranged the demonstration. The company's Teleporter device projects holographic images in real time to locations worldwide.

   "It's the telephone of the future," said Teleportec's chief executive, Duffie White.

   Seeing a 3-D image of the auditorium at his end, Mr. Perry attempted to tell the Richardson audience what it felt like. "I can't shake your hand, but I'm there with you," he said. "I feel like I'm standing on the stage."

   Unlike videoconferencing, "teleportation" allows eye-to-eye contact by eliminating the need for cameras mounted atop computer monitors.

   "This way, you're looking directly at the person to whom you're speaking," Mr. White said. "You're not looking at a monitor with a camera just above the eye line. So it's ideal for business meetings."

   The transmission uses a variety of sources, including broadband networks, integrated services digital networks and other sources that allow video and audio signals simultaneously.

   "It sounds like Star Wars to me," said John Kuzma, a senior analyst with RHK Inc. of San Francisco. "Videoconferencing is just a cheap, nickel-and-dime application nowadays, but this sounds unique. If you can put this package together affordably, it could have potential."

   Teleportec is marketing its Teleporters for $70,000, including installation.

   Teleportec shares offices on the UTD campus with the Alliance for Higher Education, a nonprofit group of colleges, universities and corporations. Alliance provides Teleportec with access to Internet2.

   "It gives us access to a world of potential users, and that can only be good news for education," Mr. White said.

   Mr. Perry said he envisioned a broad range of uses for teleportation. "This can only help more Texas citizens learn," the governor said, pointing out the technology's potential for long-distance learning.

   The demonstration Thursday was hosted by Jim Adams, retired chairman of Texas Instruments Inc. "Things we're talking about today," he said, "were only dreams 20 years ago."

   Company Website:
Teleportec