ISPR Presence News

Monthly Archives: July 2010

ISPR News: First election of Board of Directors concludes

The International Society for Presence Research has conducted its first election and the individuals below have been elected to 2 year terms on the organization’s Board of Directors.

If you have questions or suggestions regarding ISPR, or would like to help serve the organization and the telepresence community, please contact one of the Board members or send a message to ispr@ispr.info.

Matthew Lombard (President)
Media Interface and Network Design Lab (M.I.N.D. Lab)
Department of Broadcasting, Telecommunications and Mass Media
Mass Media & Communication Doctoral Program
Temple University
USA

Phil Turner (Vice-President of Administration)
School of Computing
Edinburgh Napier University
Scotland

Robby Ratan (Vice-President of Development)
Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism
University of Southern California
USA

Astrid Marieke von der Pütten (Vice-President of Membership)
Universität Duisburg-Essen
Germany

Vicky McArthur (Student Officer)
York University
Ontario, Canada

Frank Biocca
Media Interface and Network Design Lab (M.I.N.D.… read more. “ISPR News: First election of Board of Directors concludes”

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Cisco TelePresence used for virtual dance rehearsal

[From Network World]

Cisco TelePresence used for virtual dance rehearsal

Connects dancers in Shanghai and New York

By Anuradha Shukla, MIS Asia
July 07, 2010

Young dancers in Shanghai and New York are preparing for a National Dance Institute production by leveraging Cisco TelePresence.

National Dance Institute is a not-for-profit organisation that uses arts to engage children and motivate them towards excellence. The performers are using the technology to prepare for the production before they meet face-to-face.

Smart connected life

For the rehearsal, the dancers from Shanghai Children’s Palace and the choreography team leveraged the Cisco TelePresence suite in the Cisco Pavilion at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. On the other hand, the NDI dancers were in the Cisco TelePresence suite in Cisco’s office in New York.… read more. “Cisco TelePresence used for virtual dance rehearsal”

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Call: Group-Awareness in Online Work, Learning & Games Workshop at HCI 2010

Dear colleague,

You are invited to present and/or participate in the Group-Awareness in Online Work, Learning & Games Workshop in the HCI 2010http://www.hci2010.org/

The 24th BCS Conference on Human Computer Interaction – HCI2010
‘Play is a serious business’. 6th – 10th September – University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland

Facebook event:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=114026525289972&ref=ts  

Workshops:
http://hci2010.abertay.ac.uk/workshops.html

Group-Awareness in Online Work, Learning & Games

ABSTRACT

With the rapid advance of Web 2.0 technologies online group collaboration has become increasingly popular. Groupware applications and technologies are now accessible to all branches of academia and industry with leaders and visionaries embracing them in diverse fields including work, learning and games. Group collaboration and awareness offer the opportunity and challenge for shared experience, creation and discovery.… read more. “Call: Group-Awareness in Online Work, Learning & Games Workshop at HCI 2010”

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Beyond: Collapsible input device for direct 3D manipulation beyond the screen

[From designboom; more information and a 2:13 minute video are here]

Jinha Lee: Beyond 

While touchscreen devices are more ubiquitous than ever, really only allow users to draw in two dimensions. Beyond is a concept that allows users to sketch in three dimensions of an interactive surface developed by Jinha Lee and Hiroshi Ishii of the MIT Media Lab. The system utilizes a collapsible input device for direct 3d manipulation. The small pen-like tool collapses into the digital world when pressed against the screen, giving the illusion that it is inside the virtual space. By moving the pen around the screen and adjusting its height, users can draw objects in three dimensions. By adding an interactive glove element, the system can even be used to draw cubes, cylinders and other three-dimensional objects. While the concept is quite novel, it could become an indispensable tool for designers sketching digitally.… read more. “Beyond: Collapsible input device for direct 3D manipulation beyond the screen”

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Call: American Telemedicine Association (ATA) 2011 Meeting and Exposition

American Telemedicine Association (ATA)

ATA 2011 Call for Presentations

ATA 2011 will be the largest international meeting and exposition focusing exclusively on telemedicine, telehealth & remote medical technologies. If you use telecommunications solutions for healthcare, this is the single most important event of the year!

Recognized throughout the world as the primary forum for the telemedicine industry, ATA’s peer-reviewed educational program sets the standard for continuing medical education on the topics of telemedicine and telehealth. We invite you to submit an abstract to be considered for inclusion in the ATA 2011 Sixteenth Annual International Meeting and Exposition educational program.

Abstracts accepted through September 15, 2010… read more. “Call: American Telemedicine Association (ATA) 2011 Meeting and Exposition”

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Designing touch-sensitive virtual reality tools to train and test tomorrow’s surgeons

[From Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York]

[Image: A medical student from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is shown testing the new haptically-enhanced virtual surgery simulator.]

Designing Touch-Sensitive Virtual Reality Tools To Train and Test Tomorrow’s Surgeons

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Researchers Receive $2.3 Million NIH Grant To Develop and Validate Virtual Reality Hardware, Software for Training and Certifying Laparoscopic Surgeons

Published July 15, 2010

Minimally invasive surgery is increasingly common and effective for operating inside the human abdomen. In these laparoscopic procedures, which use slender, handheld tools inserted into the body of the patient, the skill of the surgeon is the most important factor determining the success of the operation. A team of interdisciplinary researchers led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has won a $2.3 million federal grant to develop a touch-sensitive virtual reality simulator that will standardize how surgeons are trained and certified to perform laparoscopic procedures.… read more. “Designing touch-sensitive virtual reality tools to train and test tomorrow’s surgeons”

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Call: Chapters for book on Pervasive Advertising

CALL FOR CHAPTERS

Book on Pervasive Advertising To appear in Springer HCI Series

Chapter Proposal Submission Deadline: July 31, 2010

We invite you to submit chapters for the upcoming book on Pervasive Advertising. The book aims at providing an overview of the state-of-the-art in the field for researchers in HCI, Pervasive/Ubiquitous Computing and Pervasive/Ubiquitous Marketing, as well as management and practitioners in advertising industries.

We invite chapters on technological, strategic and ethnographic issues of Pervasive Advertising. Possible topics include:

  • New technology in mobile and digital signage advertising
  • Audience Measurement
  • Context Management and Personalization for Pervasive Advertising
  • HCI, Interfaces and Interaction Paradigms for Pervasive Advertising
  • Ethnographic or Sociological Observations
  • New Business Models for Pervasive Advertising
  • Privacy and Spam
  • New Advertising Paradigms.

We believe that our research community has a responsibility to contribute towards the improved understanding of the implications of the synergy of Pervasive Computing and Advertising and whenever possible to play a leading role in shaping it in a positive and meaningful way.… read more. “Call: Chapters for book on Pervasive Advertising”

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Heads-Up Virtual Reality (HUVR) bridges visual with tactile, in 3D and on the cheap

[From the University of California, San Diego News Center; a 0:31 minute video is here]

Heads-Up Virtual Reality (HUVR) Bridges Visual with Tactile, in 3D and on the Cheap

July 16, 2010
By Tiffany Fox

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have created a new, relatively low-cost virtual reality device that allows users not only to see a 3D image, but “feel” it, too.

The Heads-Up Virtual Reality device (or HUVR, pronounced ‘hover’) couples a consumer 3D HDTV panel with a half-silvered mirror to project any graphic image onto the user’s hands and/or into the space surrounding them. With his or her head position tracked to generate the correct perspective view, the user maneuvers a touch-feedback (haptic) device to interact with the generated image, literally ‘touching’ the image’s angles and contours as if it was a tangible three-dimensional object.… read more. “Heads-Up Virtual Reality (HUVR) bridges visual with tactile, in 3D and on the cheap”

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Job: Four positions available at Goldsmiths College, University of London

Four positions available at Goldsmiths College, University of London

Application Deadline: July 21, 2010

The Department

The department is renowned nationally and internationally for its interdisciplinary research from a strong base in computer science. In RAE 2008, all our full time staff were submitted and 20% of our research was categorised as world-leading, placing us among the top Computer Science research universities in the UK.

The RAE panel stated that “The inter-disciplinarity of the submission is strongly commended and contributes substantially to the diversity of UK research in this area.” Our research environment was described as “substantially of internationally excellent quality”, and the report noted the “strategic focus on the Creative industries that contributed in very large part to a vital, sustainable and credible submission.”

The Positions

Type of Contract:  Fixed-Term
Full Time/Part Time:  Full Time
Interview Date:  Week commencing Monday 2 August 2010
Closing date for applications:  21 July 2010

Up to £38, 281 pa inclread more. “Job: Four positions available at Goldsmiths College, University of London”

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‘Virtual human’ Milo comes out to play at TED in Oxford

[From BBC News, where the story includes a 3:55 minute video]

13 July 2010

Milo made his world debut in 2009 at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles

‘Virtual human’ Milo comes out to play at TED in Oxford

By Jonathan Fildes Technology reporter, BBC News, Oxford

Microsoft has shown off its “virtual human” that reacts to a person’s emotions, body movements and voice.

Milo, as he is known, is designed for use with the firm’s hands-free Xbox 360 motion controller called Kinect.

The technology is the brainchild of veteran UK games designer Peter Molyneux.

“I want to introduce a new revolution in storytelling,” he told the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Global conference in Oxford.

“Films, TV, even hallowed books, are just rubbish because they don’t involve me,” he said. “It’s a sea of blandness.”

Mr Molyneux said that he wanted to create a character “that seemed alive, that would look me in the eyes, and feel real”.… read more. “‘Virtual human’ Milo comes out to play at TED in Oxford”

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  • Find Researchers

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