Saving the world from nuclear bombs, terrorists, and biological threats can't be easy, but 24's Jack Bauer always seems to find a way. However, he doesn't do it alone - not only does he have a support team with his CTU colleagues, but Video Conferencing and Telepresence are now playing a part in saving the world.
Take season seven's season finale, where a Telepresence system enabled Olivia Taylor, the President's daughter and acting chief-of-staff, to be questioned by the Attorney General and two Justice Department agents for her role in the death of Jonas Hodges, who was killed while in FBI custody after being accused of treason. Telepresence was used over traditional video conferencing as it provided high definition video, allowing for every detail in Olivia's facial expression and body language to be easily viewed to determine if she was telling the truth. The Telepresence system was on a secured network to prevent Olivia's testimony from getting in the hands of the wrong people. It also allowed the Attorney General to upload confidential documents for Olivia to verify that were located at a remote location.
24 may be fantasy, but the Telepresence system is in fact reality and many government organizations and companies globally are using it. TANDBERG, Polycom, and Cisco each manufacture these high definition, immersive room systems that give the illusion you are in the same room with the person(s) on the other end of the call that may in fact be hundreds, if not thousands of miles away. What's more, every aspect of the Telepresence system portrayed on 24 is a realistic feature - from the high definition clarity detail of facial expressions to the secured network and sharing of confidential documents -now only if saving the world could be that easy every hour.
What will the final season, the 8th day reveal? Our guess... more high tech systems helping Bauer save the world one hour at a time.
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