So, you wish to attend a meeting in an office on the 35th floor of the Empire State Building in New York City. But you live in Dubai.

Option 1 – Telepresence Robot

Robots have a physical presence in the real world. They will either be stationed somewhere (like an Avis outlet), or parked close to where they were last used (like a car share parking space). Travelling for free in the Then, as fast as you like, you can locate robots (displayed in an overlay) and hire them.

So you locate the closest robot to the Empire State Building, pay the fee (say $30 per hour) and steer it along streets. Most likely it will be able to drive itself to a specified destination, and estimate how long it will take. You could leave your VR system while it travels (the halo above your Avatar face on the robot screen would turn Amber to indicate you aren’t there), or just look around and choose to take side tours if you see something interesting.

For manual control, any of these are technically possible:

• point and click/speak – the VR system will know what you are looking at and if you just say go there or click your fingers the robot will make its own way there
• use a controller like on an XBox
• just speak – hey system, see that purple door, I want to go 5 feet to the left of that and stand next to the pole

When you get to the entrance of the Empire State Building, there will be two virtual entrances for Robots and Avatars. One is for the observation decks, and the other for the rest of the building – you choose the latter.

The MapMerge system will determine if you have the right to enter the building. Possible means for this include:

•  it will know that you have booked a meeting within the building
• you have a pass for the building
• you are a law enforcement official
• you are determined to be a bona fide business person via an algorithm that looks at your travel history, relationships, social networking and professional affiliations. Or just who you work for…
• the security system asks who you are visiting and they are contacted for authorisation

Except for the last option, the system will not know which office or floor you are visiting.

Once in, you simply find the elevator and travel to the office. Robots might have their own elevators.

The office itself will have a similar rights system to check that you are allowed entry. Once inside you will approach the receptionist the same as a real person would, and do as instructed.

When you are in the office, having the meeting, it will be just like being a real person, except:

• you will be able to see any Avatars that are present, as well as real people
• information (like documents or videos) can be shared directly to you screen

Option 2 – Avatar

Instead of finding a robot for hire in the Then, you find a spawning point. It might be free, or attract a micro-payment. Once you materialise in the Now, your primary means of movement is walking. You will walk using your VR system, or using a controller and a computer or tablet (not as immersive). Running is an option.

Taxis

The taxis are real, in the real world. They can be hailed or found at taxi ranks. It is anticipated that busy spawning points will have taxi stands or public transport nearby.

Hiring a taxi will be the same as hiring a telepresence robot – you will look at it, see the price, and agree either verbally or by clicking your fingers, to hire it. Instantly you will be in the passenger seat.

Depending on your visibility settings, other people/robots/avatars may or may not see you in the taxi. If visible, you will be a half-height, computer generated Avatar projected standing on the seat.  The dimensions of the taxi might necessitate your Avatar appearing to be less than half-height. You will have a halo.

You will have enhanced vision via cameras that the taxi has. Because the taxi is actually driving in the real world, traffic jams could be a factor. The driver may or may not wish to converse with you. The driver drops you off close to the entrance of the Empire State Building. Entry is the same process as for the robot. The key difference is that what you see is via the Then, and any cameras in the Now that you have permission to connect with. It is expected that office buildings will be full of cameras that you can share, in public areas. A robot sees total reality.

Public Transport

Conceptually this is a little bit more difficult – read more here.

You arrive at a real bus stop, but waiting for a bus in a virtual world is too arduous. So, as soon as you step into the designated zone at a bus stop (the system easily understands that being in the zone and not moving indicates a desire to catch a bus) a bus arrives. The bus is virtual, and is an accurate representation of the last real bus to traverse this route.

You choose to pay, and instantly you are inside the bus. Cameras from the real world bus let you have a full travel experience in your virtual journey. Your experience is the same as catching the real world bus, except it is presented virtually and time-shifted forward to suit you.

Inside the bus you can see and communicate with other Avatars, dependent on privacy setting and also recency. Certainly you can see other Avatars who are travelling with you. You might be able to see other Avatars who boarded the same virtual vehicle within the last x minutes. Discussing what you see out of the bus windows will mostly not work, because you will be seeing different stages of the same journey.

You will only be able to disembark at a bus stop, and then you will need to walk to the building entrance.

Trains and planes will operate in a similar manner, but will cost more and vision might be more restricted.

Once at the building entrance, the entry process will be the same. The main difference is that only people wearing special glasses (or robots, or drones) will be able to see you, and only if your visibility is set to public.

Inside the office, what you can see in the Now will be dictated by your hosts. When you arrive, your hosts will be asked by the MapMerge system what they will allow you to see. Usually this will be one of pre-determined sets, or the basic room avatar. If manually described it would go something like this:

System: let the avatar see all the people here except for Mr Fleming. The Avatar can see all structural elements of the room, including carpet and art and views through the windows. It can see computers and desks, but nothing on the desks.

The vision will be provided via fixed cameras, and cameras in the special glasses worn by real person participants.