Presence and Absence are fundamental states of being for mortal humans; being present or close, and being absent, far away, or lost [Ishii 2020]. We propose TeleAbsence as a counter concept to Telepresence. The purpose of Telepresence is to connect people who are alive. TeleAbsence aims to create illusionary communication channels with those no longer with us to soothe the pain of bereavement. TeleAbsence is designed around tangible objects, such as old typewriters, telephones, brushes, and pianos that were once touched and marked by the hand of a loved one.

More information at:
TeleAbsence project page: media.mit.edu/projects/teleabsence-1/overview/
ambientPhoneBooth project page: media.mit.edu/projects/teleabsence-ambientphonebooth/overview/
GhostTypeWriter project page: media.mit.edu/projects/ghosttypewriter/overview/
ColloGraphy project page: media.mit.edu/projects/collography/overview/
CAST: arts.mit.edu/cast/
MIT Media Lab: media.mit.edu