杏吧原创

Read more: 鈥�Seven technologies to disrupt the next decade鈥�

You wouldn鈥檛 rest your feet on a colleague during a meeting. But what if your workmate was a robot controlled by a co-worker many kilometres away 鈥� would it still be rude?

This is typical of the new etiquette questions that will be raised by remote-controlled telepresence robots, which allow you to transport your 鈥渟elf鈥� anywhere in the world to take a look around. A roving version of you, these robots could alter the way we travel and interact with each other.

Today鈥檚 telepresence robots, such as and the , are simple video screens on wheels, with a camera and microphone to allow their driver to move them around their surroundings and talk to people. The devices can be operated through a web browser.

While it may seem gimmicky, the fact that telepresence robots offer their controllers a mobile physical presence in another place has a powerful influence on social interactions. 鈥淭hey help to foster a closer connection,鈥� says Katherine Tsui, a robotics researcher at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Video-conferencing has already changed the way businesses operate and the 鈥渃loseness鈥� of remote communication. Telepresence is the next step.

The robots could radically improve the lives of people who are housebound too. Leila Takayama at robotics company Willow Garage in Menlo Park, California, has been studying how old people respond to the technology. They embraced the idea of getting out and walking around a park or museum.

If telepresence catches on, it could create new social rules. For one, you can鈥檛 screen a visit from a robot like you would a phone call 鈥� the controller鈥檚 face is there peering at you. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing for someone not to answer your email or phone call, but it鈥檚 another for them to ignore you when you walk up to them as a robot and start a conversation,鈥� says Tsui.

We are also used to treating machines with less respect than a human, so where will this technology leave concepts like personal space and harassment? If you turn down somebody鈥檚 volume or push them over, will that break acceptable social norms?