[It’s easy to be blasé about technology events, but this surgery experienced remotely in VR in real time by thousands of people around the world last week is pretty amazing. Our colleague Skip Rizzo is quoted extensively in this story from CNN, which features a photo gallery and a 1:00 minute interactive video. –Matthew]

Step in the operating room, wherever you are in the world

By Meera Senthilingam, for CNN
Thursday April 21, 2016

(CNN) All you need is a headset and smartphone to enter a virtual world of gaming, movies, travel — and now surgery. Health care company Medical Realities is using virtual reality to transport people directly into an operating room to watch surgeons as they operate.

The first surgery of this kind took place last week at the Royal London Hospital, when Dr. Shafi Ahmed gave global access to his operating theater as he removed cancerous cells from a 70-year-old British man with colon cancer.… read more. “First real-time VR surgery: Step in the operating room, wherever you are in the world”

[This brief story from Venture Beat describes a novel application of presence; the fact that the content users experience is created in the same (or at least a similar) physical space may heighten the illusion. –Matthew]

VR Bangers and AuraVisor to offer adult virtual reality content in hotel rooms

Dean Takahashi
April 18, 2016

Virtual reality porn company VR Bangers has partnered with headset manufacturer AuraVisor to offer a headset preloaded with adult content in hotel rooms.

The headset will combine AuraVisor’s wireless VR headset technology with VR Banger’s “immersive porn.” It will initially be available in Las Vegas hotels, where it will be called the “VR Bangers Hotel Experience.” VR is expected to become a $30 billion business by 2020, according to Digi-Capital, and the companies are betting porn will be a big part of that.

The experience will cost $20, and you will be able to buy it using a credit card.… read more. “VR Bangers and AuraVisor to offer adult VR content in hotel rooms”

[This story about the Ossic X 3D headphones includes first-person descriptions of the “real-life” sound the device produces; it’s from Tech Insider, where it includes more images. In coverage by Wareable, Ossic a quote from co-founder and CEO Jason Riggs explicitly refers to presence: “Accurate 3D sound is going to be key. You don’t want to break the sense of presence, or break the illusion. The sounds that are coming from outside your FOV (field-of-view), will make you turn and look at them – and when you do, you want to turn and know exactly what and where it is. That accuracy is going to help with the fundamental premise of VR which is teleporting you to another place. A completely immersive experience and believing you are there.” –Matthew]

I tried the next evolution of headphones and it sounded amazing

Antonio Villas-Boas
Apr.… read more. “Ossic X 3D headphones create personalized presence for VR, games and music”

[This story from The Stack describes a new IMAX venture that combines its presence-evoking film presentation technology with the group cycling experience. The original story includes a 4:31 minute video report from the program CBS This Morning. More information is available from the press release and the IMAXShift website, which features this promotional text: “Let The IMAX Experience® change the way you think about fitness. Crystal clear audio surrounds you as sharp, hyperreal visuals suck you into the massive screen. A unique ride that leaves you breathless before you even break a sweat.” –Matthew]

IMAX launches IMAXShift, a virtual cycling studio

Nicky Cappella
18 Apr 2016

IMAX Corporation announced today that it is testing an immersive group cycling concept called IMAXShift, which will use IMAX technology to provide a state-of-the-art, immersive indoor cycling experience. The test studio will open in Brooklyn, NY on April 28.… read more. “IMAX launches IMAXShift, a virtual cycling studio”

[Even though most people won’t see Ang Lee’s new film in 3D, 4K resolution and 120 frames per second, this presentation is said to be historic and a glimpse into the possible future of cinema, and it clearly involves (tele)presence. As reported by Variety, the people who attended said it was “as though I was there,” it provided an “almost VR-like sense of presence,” “it was literally as if you were there,” and was “as immersive and involving an image play as I’ve ever seen.” Coverage in The Verge includes the assessment that “It truly was more like looking through an impossibly-clean window than watching a screen, with the 3D producing no eye strain whatsoever.” See additional coverage in The Hollywood Reporter. –Matthew]

[Image: The Hollywood Reporter]

Ang Lee’s ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ First Footage Stuns Viewers at NAB Show

Advanced format leaves attendees praising both tech and the film itself

David S.… read more. “The future is presence: Ang Lee’s 3D-4K-120fps film preview stuns viewers at NAB”