ity. Software to achieve this transformation does not yet exist, but early examples of related visual filtering have already appeared. One exciting teleimmersion project is designed specifically for surgical train- ing. Say a physician is engaged in a surgical procedure, and the entire process is videotaped. That video is then encoded into an e-book, where additional data is overlaid. By donning the appropriate data gloves and eyeglasses, another physician or student can then participate in that surgery virtually, performing it at his or her own pace and getting cues from the e-book when he or she is about to take a dan- gerous turn with the instruments. This will add incredible value to the medical education process. With a surgical e-book, a student gets all the feedback necessary to experience with a living patient. To really see the possibilities of teleimmersion, I recommend that you take a moment to view a short video that demonstrates the use of teleimmersion in mili- tary training today: Go to Atlantis Cyberspace, at www.atlantiscyberspace.com and select to view the Immersive Group Simulation (IGS) demonstration video. Intelligent Robot Squads Another part of human-machine interactions involves a whole new genre of being: robots. Intelligent robot squads-self-organizing groups of robots, under the con- trol of neural networks-will eliminate the need for humans to perform hazardous tasks. The performance of an overall robot squad is enhanced by the interaction of ICT Trends Driving the Broadband Evolution numerous individual thought processes, much like the behavior observed in flocks of birds or armies of ants. At the moment, it is a distant prospect, but it is coming. Today, a large variety of both single- and multipurpose robots perform a num- ber of functions: A six-wheeled, one-armed robotic vehicle is capable of explosives handling and defusing, nuclear surveillance and maintenance, hazmat response, SWAT operations, and airport security. Robot farmers can plow fields while taking measurements of soil