ISPR Presence News

Monthly Archives: March 2016

Virtual Reality roller coasters are here (and everywhere)

[This story from IEEE Spectrum provides a thoughtful and detailed description of the history and experience of riding roller coasters that incorporate VR. Note the explicit mentions of presence, beginning in the 8th paragraph; the original story includes another image, two videos and the sidebar “Virtual Reality Rollercoasters You Can Ride Now! (or Soon).” –Matthew]

Alton Towers Galactica VR (art)

[Image: Source: Los Angeles Times]

Virtual Reality Roller Coasters Are Here (and Everywhere)

The U.K.’s Alton Towers, which opens its Galactica ride this week, is one of more than a dozen amusement parks that are giving old rides new life with VR

By Kristen Clark
Posted 23 Mar 2016

Everything is black. I feel my body tilt forward, then lurch into motion. The world around me blinks into being, and I find myself floating through a long metal conduit, which opens beneath me, leaving me dangling over a massive space station inhabited by spiderlike robots.… read more. “Virtual Reality roller coasters are here (and everywhere)”

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ISPR News: You’re invited to Join the new ISPR Presence Community Facebook group

ISPR Presence Community Facebook group header

An important announcement:

The International Society for Presence Research has established a new group on Facebook, the ISPR Presence Community group, and you’re invited to join. As the name implies, we hope it enhances the sense of community among those who study, design, market and/or are just interested in any aspect of (tele)presence. I’ll post images and links to stories I find that don’t fit in ISPR Presence News and all group members are encouraged to post anything that they think might be of interest or value to the community. This group is completely public and of course free, and you can join by clicking on the ‘Join’ link on the group’s page, at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ISPRpresencecommunity/; you need not be a member of ISPR or have attended an ISPR conference or other event. If you’re on Facebook, please consider joining us!… read more. “ISPR News: You’re invited to Join the new ISPR Presence Community Facebook group”

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Call: Designing Gameful and Ethical Experiences – DIS 2016 Workshop

Call for Papers:
Designing Gameful and Ethical Experiences
Workshop 4th June 2016 to be held in association with Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) 2016 Conference 4th -8th June, Brisbane, Australia

Important Dates:
Submissions by: April 7th 2016
Notifications: April 21st, 2016
Workshop: June 4th, 2016 (Part of DIS2016, June 4th-8th)

Organisers: Zachary Fitz-Walter, Sarah-Kristin Thiel, and Cody Phillips

Workshop website: http://dis2016.gamificationdesigns.com
DIS2016 website: http://dis2016.org

This workshop aims to discuss the effective and ethical design of gamification, gameful and persuasive human-computer interactions. The workshop is open to both researchers and industry practitioners with an interest in gamification, gameful and persuasive computing.

You can submit an optional research paper 2-4 pages in length presenting any current or future research or industry projects related to this topic from any domain (e.g., health, education, enterprise). These papers should detail the research or industry project and if applicable discuss the domain, the problem being addressed in the domain, the target users, the design process being used, any ethical considerations, and the outcomes of any empirical studies undertaken.… read more. “Call: Designing Gameful and Ethical Experiences – DIS 2016 Workshop”

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Realities.io’s jaw-droppingly detailed photogrammetric VR environments

[Here’s another clever technique for creating immersive, literally photo-realistic presence-evoking virtual environments; the story from Road to VR includes more images, and a 3:06 minute video titled “This is Not a Live Action Video, This is a VR Scene from Realities.io” is available on YouTube. For more coverage, see the Just A/VR Show. –Matthew]

realities.io photogrammatry VR

Inside ‘Realities’ Jaw-droppingly Detailed Photogrammetric VR Environments

By Ben Lang – Mar 11, 2016

Realities wants to transport viewers to exciting places across the globe in ways that are much more immersive than the single, flat vantage point of a 360 degree photo or video. The company is creating an efficient photogrammetry pipeline to build sometimes frighteningly realistic virtual environments that users can actually walk through.

I recently visited the Realities team to check out their very latest work. After donning a Vive Pre headset and playing around for a solid 10 or 15 minutes, I was thoroughly impressed… and I hadn’t even left the menu.… read more. “Realities.io’s jaw-droppingly detailed photogrammetric VR environments”

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Call: ICMI 2016, the 18th International Conference on Multimodal Interaction

Call for Long and Short Papers

ICMI 2016, the 18th International Conference on Multimodal Interaction
November 12-16, 2016
Tokyo, Japan

Full details including Calls for Demos, Grand Challenges, Workshops and Doctoral Consortium can be found at http://icmi.acm.org/2016/

The 18th International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI 2016) will be held in Tokyo, Japan.  ICMI is the premier international forum for multidisciplinary research on multimodal human-human and human-computer interaction, interfaces, and system development. The conference focuses on theoretical and empirical foundations, component technologies, and combined multimodal processing techniques that define the field of multimodal interaction analysis, interface design, and system development.

This year, ICMI welcomes contributions on machine learning for multimodal interaction as a special topic of interest. ICMI 2016 will feature a single-track main conference which includes: keynote speakers, technical full and short papers (including oral and poster presentations), demonstrations, exhibits and doctoral spotlight papers.… read more. “Call: ICMI 2016, the 18th International Conference on Multimodal Interaction”

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Virtual reality movie theaters are now a thing

[What is said to be the world’s first permanent VR theater has opened, as detailed in this story from VentureBeat; the original includes more images and a 1:40 minute video; coverage in Architectural Digest identifies the initial offerings: “Moviegoers have the option, for example, of watching In Your Face, a film specifically developed for the VR Cinema. The movie looks at the moral dilemma of the Syrian refugee crisis and asks viewers what they would do if a refugee showed up at their door, unannounced. There are lighter options, too. Invasion! is an animated film featuring a rabbit and a UFO. VR Cinema also has packages intended for kids.” –Matthew]

VR Cinema in Amsterdam

Virtual reality movie theaters are now a thing

Paul Sawers
March 5, 2016

Virtual reality (VR) was the talk of the town at Mobile World Congress (MWC) last month, and it has become increasingly clear that VR will be the hot technology trend of 2016.… read more. “Virtual reality movie theaters are now a thing”

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Job: “Measuring behaviour during real and synthetic social interactions across cultures” – Funded PhD studentship at Edge Hill University

Funded PhD studentship in Virtual Reality and Games
Measuring behaviour during real and synthetic social interactions across cultures
Edge Hill University
Ormskirk, Lancashire, United Kingdom

PhD funded through the Graduate Teaching Assistant scheme
Supervisors: Prof Daniela Romano (Computing), Prof Geoff Beattie (Psychology), Dr Ardhendu Bahera (Computing)

https://jobs.edgehill.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=EHGT100H-0316

Closing Date: Sunday 10 April 2016

ABOUT US

When Edge Hill was awarded the University of the Year title for 2014/15, Times Higher Education described it as “a great success story…an institution that improves and impresses year after year”. The award recognised our outstanding achievements in student satisfaction, staff engagement, graduate employment and innovation as well as our strengthening research profile, investment and growth. It also celebrated Edge Hill University’s distinct role in “transforming lives” – reflecting a distinctive philosophy of creating opportunity from excellence.

Based on an award-winning campus in West Lancashire, and voted Best University Workplace 2015, Edge Hill University offers a stimulating and empowering environment for ambitious and high performing professionals.… read more. “Job: “Measuring behaviour during real and synthetic social interactions across cultures” – Funded PhD studentship at Edge Hill University”

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How VR and presence can enhance the life of older adults

[Designing presence experiences for older people, as with any demographic, has both challenges and potential benefits. This story is from the Wall Street Journal’s Experts blog; the image comes from a November 11, 2015 press release via Hypergrid Business about the Honor 360 program, which brings “National Memorials to those aging and disabled military veterans who cannot make the trip.” –Matthew]

Veteran with Google Cardboard headset

[Image: Veteran with Google Cardboard headset (Image courtesy Veterans United Foundation)]

How Virtual Reality Can Enhance the Life of Older Adults

By Marc Agronin
Mar 21, 2016

Marc E. Agronin is a geriatric psychiatrist at Miami Jewish Health Systems and the author of “How We Age” and the newly released “The Dementia Caregiver: A Guide to Caring for Someone with Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Neurocognitive Disorders.”

My three teenage boys recently attempted what might seem a cruel experiment, teaching their 75-year-old grandmother to play one of their videogames.… read more. “How VR and presence can enhance the life of older adults”

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Call: Videogame Cultures – 8th Global Meeting

Videogame Cultures
8th Global Meeting

Call for Presentations 2016

Monday 5th September – Wednesday 7th September 2016
Mansfield College, Oxford, United Kingdom

This year’s Videogame Cultures will explore various ways in which videogame culture and genres develop within the framework of five thematic tracks. As the videogame development and videogame cultures are highly complex and variant phenomenon, this often leads to the overlap of the issues across themes, so we are inviting participants of all backgrounds (academic, developer, producer, player, fan etc.) to submit their proposals. The potential participants are encouraged to think broadly within and across thematic tracks; the submissions shall address topics and questions such as (though not limited to) those listed further:

1) Gameplay Ethics:
Principles of Ethical Game Design. Ethics of Experience. Role of Agency. Games as Empowerment. Modes of limited/guided/free choice to act. Ethical Fun.

2) Gender and Gameplay: How are changing the players demographics?… read more. “Call: Videogame Cultures – 8th Global Meeting”

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Augmented reality, holographical telepresence and a future without screens

[In a widely praised TED Talk last month Microsoft’s Alex Kipman said “I believe our children’s children will grow up in a world devoid of two-dimensional technology… I can see holographical telepresence in our future.” This story is from IndustryWeek; there’s no video of the talk yet but for more background, see an insider’s post in the Reality Prime blog. –Matthew]

Alex Kipman at TED 2016

[Image: From GeekWire]

Augmented Reality Looks to a Future Without Screens

Still in development, the Microsoft HoloLens and other augmented reality devices could send our desktops, laptops, tablets and even smartphones into the Dumpster of irrelevancy.

Feb 19, 2016 Agence France-Presse

Microsoft inventor Alex Kipman was joined by holograms at a renowned TED gathering Thursday as he gave a glimpse into a future where computer screens are relics.

Kipman slipped on HoloLens augmented reality (AR) headgear that his team is readying for market and became a wizard of sorts, calling forth magical landscapes, cold-hard data, and even summoning the hologram of a NASA scientist for a chat.… read more. “Augmented reality, holographical telepresence and a future without screens”

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