WSJ in their print edition has an article on CISCO and telepresence. It says:
The new offering includes three high-definition video screens, multiple cameras and microphones for high-quality audio. Such advanced systems, sometimes known by the moniker “telepresence,” are designed to create virtual meetings, nearly replicating features of in-person gatherings — a far cry from the herky-jerky image quality that characterizes some earlier systems.
This technology is likely to become increasingly popular. What really needs to happen is to bring immersive quality in such application to build personalized immersive telepresence systems so people could feel that they are really there. I believe that many groups are thinking about doing research in this area. We are definitely thinking about it at UCI. More updates on this when we make some progress. By the way, PRAJA was started with that goal but was too early. it seems that now technology is almost ready to build such systems and bring them to life.