Telepresence refers to a suite of communication technologies and methodologies that provide a means for individuals or groups to participate in ocean science research cruises from remote locations. The implementation of telepresence allows for shore-based users to participate at sea without being physically present on the ship. Typically this is done through the use of cameras, video, and voice. The ability to share data, collaborate with experts in the field, and interact in real-time can lead to a successful scientific cruise.

Table 1. Telepresence Levels and associated minimum bandwidth requirements

Access to common communication systems for voice, video, text, desktop sharing, and file sharing for image and documents can be critical for collaborative ship to shore science communication. Many popular candidate solutions for science communication include the following.

Lite Manager Remote Desktop

http://www.litemanager.com/

Lite Manager is remote access software for remote administration of computers over the Internet for distant learning, providing remote support to users, it can be used to share the screen of an acquisition computer during a cruise. The program allows complete control of a computer desktop in real-time with full support for Windows. It provides secure remote access to the file system, processes and services of the remote computer. LiteManager has built-in tools for creating network map, collecting technical data, ability to deploy and update using remote installation services, configure private ID router (NOIP) and many other features.