In The Robot in the Garden , a new collection of essays edited by Ken Goldberg, philosophers, artists, critics, historians, and engineers discuss the practical, philosophical and ethical problems posed by telepresence and telerobotics. Like most collections, the essays are uneven, but together they offer a valuable introduction to the subject. The book's major weakness is that only a few of the authors, including Catherine Wilson and Judith Donath, seriously grapple with the ethical implications of telepresence. One comes away from the volume feeling that the authors have only begun a conversation that needs to be elaborated in much greater detail. At the Telegarden , participants can direct a robotic arm to plant and water seeds in a garden located in the Ars Electronica Museum in Linz, Austria.
Visitors can look at the garden at any hour of the day.
People who become members of the project obtain the right to plant seeds and tend to the plants. Over time people from all over the world have become heavily invested in the care and watering of this little circle of earth in Austria, even though it is thousands of miles away from most of them. Watching and participating via the Internet in projects like the Telegarden seems to bring the world closer to us than ever before. But it has interesting effects on perception. Perhaps more important, if the Internet makes it easier than ever to see different parts of the world, it also makes it easier than ever to deceive people.