ISPR Presence News

Monthly Archives: July 2016

Call: 12th International Symposium on Visual Computing (ISVC’16)

CALL FOR PAPERS and SPECIAL TRACKS

12th International Symposium on Visual Computing (ISVC’16)
December 12-14, 2016
Monte Carlo Resort & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
http://www.isvc.net

Submission Deadline: Aug 20, 2016

ISVC provides a common forum for researchers, scientists, engineers and practitioners to present their latest research findings, ideas, developments and applications in visual computing. We seek papers contributing to the state of the art and practice in any of the four main areas of visual computing: (1) computer vision, (2) computer graphics, (3) virtual reality, and (4) visualization. A “best paper” award ($500) will be sponsored by industry (TBA). The symposium’s proceedings will be published by Springer-Verlag in Lecture Notes in Computer Science.… read more. “Call: 12th International Symposium on Visual Computing (ISVC’16)”

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Veeso VR headset relays facial expressions to the virtual world

[Whether Veeso’s product or that of a competitor, face-tracking in VR has significant potential to enhance social presence. This story is from Gizmag, where it includes more images and a 3:01 minute video; for an interview with the head of the company see coverage in UploadVR. –Matthew]

Veeso demo (animated gif)

VR headset that relays facial expressions to the virtual world

Michael Irving
July 24, 2016

VR hardware is already capable of tracking your head, your hands, your eyes and in some cases, your feet, but Veeso is claimed to be the first VR headset to capture your face and transmit your expressions – and as a result, your emotions – onto a virtual avatar in real time. With it, the company is emphasizing emotional connections through chat apps and social games like poker.

Like the Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard, Veeso is a smartphone-based VR headset, which the company claims is compatible with Android and iOS devices.… read more. “Veeso VR headset relays facial expressions to the virtual world”

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Call: Artificial Intelligence for Human-Robot Interaction (AAAI Fall Symposium)

Artificial Intelligence for Human-Robot Interaction
AAAI Fall Symposium Series
November 17-19, Arlington, VA, USA
http://ai-hri.github.io/2016/authors.html

Submission deadline: August 4, 2016

Call for Papers: All Authors

AI-HRI (The AAAI Fall Symposium on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)) seeks to bring together the subset of the HRI community focused on the application of AI solutions to HRI problems. Building on the success of the two previous years’ symposia, the central purpose of this year’s symposium is to share exciting new and ongoing research, foster discussion about necessary areas for future work, and cultivate a vibrant, interconnected research community. AI-HRI encourages computational AI and HRI researchers, industry members, and interested social scientists to submit:

FULL PAPERS: 5-7 page papers (with only references on the seventh page) highlighting state-of-the-art HRI-oriented AI research, HRI research focusing on the use of autonomous AI systems or the implementation of AI systems in commercial HRI products.… read more. “Call: Artificial Intelligence for Human-Robot Interaction (AAAI Fall Symposium)”

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CamSoda VR platform invites users to have virtual sex with real performers

[This story from Forbes suggests that with patent issues resolved, products and online services that offer sexual experiences via virtual reality (‘teledildonics’) may finally succeed in the marketplace; of course that success will in large part depend on the extent and nature of the presence illusions they provide. The original version of the story includes more pictures and a 0:56 minute video. –Matthew]

CamSoda VR graphic

This VR Platform Invites Users To Have Virtual Sex With Real Performers

Janet Burns, Contributor
Jul 21, 2016

A popular cam site is hoping that our brave new world of high-tech lovin’ has plenty of people in it that want virtual ‘sex’ with cam models. Next month, CamSoda is launching a new virtual-reality (VR) platform that will allow patrons to physically ‘interact’ with performers via teledildonics, a.k.a. connected and coordinating sex toys–technology that’s long been bound by patent law, but which soon may finally be let loose.… read more. “CamSoda VR platform invites users to have virtual sex with real performers”

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Call: 2016 Digital Games Research Association Australia (DiGRAA) Conference

Call for Papers

2016 Digital Games Research Association Australia (DiGRAA) Conference
November 17-18
Melbourne, Australia

Abstract Submission Deadline: August 19

We invite you to contribute to a two-day game studies conference from November 17th-18th, 2016 to be held at Swinburne University of Technology. The theme for the DiGRAA National Conference 2016 will be ‘Tensions’.

DETAILS

Games have frequently been sites of conflict, contention, and competition. As both games and gaming culture develop, however, these sites of conflict and their related tensions are shifting across multiple axes. Games themselves are objects of tension in different ways: while conflict is still often used to drive narrative and gameplay, designers continue to experiment with the line between comfort and unease. Conversely, those who play and make games are more diverse than ever before, and the tensions over representation, politics, and demographics continue to dominate public games discourse.… read more. “Call: 2016 Digital Games Research Association Australia (DiGRAA) Conference”

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New movie screen allows for glasses-free 3-D at a larger scale

[Wearing 3D glasses, even the modern smaller, lighter ones, interferes with presence (especially for those of us who have to wear them over vision-correcting glasses); this MIT News story reports on a promising development toward getting rid of 3D glasses in movie theaters. See the original for more information and a 0:49 minute video. –Matthew]

MIT glasses-free 3D (audience in theater)

New movie screen allows for glasses-free 3-D at a larger scale

Adam Conner-Simons | CSAIL
July 25, 2016

3-D movies immerse us in new worlds and allow us to see places and things in ways that we otherwise couldn’t. But behind every 3-D experience is something that is uniformly despised: those goofy glasses.

Fortunately, there may be hope. In a new paper, a team from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science have demonstrated a display that lets audiences watch 3-D films in a movie theater without extra eyewear.… read more. “New movie screen allows for glasses-free 3-D at a larger scale”

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Call: 7th Budapest Visual Learning Conference – Virtual, Visual, Veridical

Call for Abstracts

7th Budapest Visual Learning Conference
November 11–12, 2016

Visual Learning: VIRTUAL – VISUAL – VERIDICAL

How do the visual and the virtual relate to each other, what are the relationships between image and truth? How can the visual be veridical, and how is the really real reflected by virtual reality? How are images handed down, and what do traditions amount to in the network age?

Invited speakers:
James E. Katz (Boston University)
Petra Aczél (Corvinus University of Budapest)
Zoltán Kövecses (Eötvös Lóránd University of Budapest)
Philipp Stoellger (Universität Heidelberg)
Kristóf Nyíri (Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

Conference to take place in Budapest, November 11–12, 2016. Conference organized by the Visual Learning Lab, Department of Technical Education, Budapest University of Technology and Economics (http://vll.mpt.bme.hu).

Contributions are invited from educational, communication and media theorists, philosophers, linguists, psychologists, and other interested scholars on the following and related topics:… read more. “Call: 7th Budapest Visual Learning Conference – Virtual, Visual, Veridical”

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‘The Hubble Cantata’: A Live VR performance for 6,000 people

[This looks like it could be a compelling communal virtual reality experience; the story is from Live Science, where it includes a different image and a 4:16 minute video. See the Kickstarter page and the event’s website for more information. –Matthew]

The Hubble Cantata - promotional graphic

[Image: Source: The Hubble Cantata Kickstarter page]

‘The Hubble Cantata’ Weds Live Music with VR Views of the Cosmos

By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer | July 25, 2016

An event combining virtual reality and live musical performance aims to bring together a 20-piece orchestra, a 100-person choir and breathtaking views of the cosmos captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.

And it’s going to be available to the public for free.

“The Hubble Cantata”will premiere in Brooklyn, New York, on Aug. 6 at the Prospect Park Bandshell, as part of the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival. Up to 6,000 people will be able to experience an installation featuring 360-degree sound delivered by live musicians and vocalists, including two opera soloists.… read more. “‘The Hubble Cantata’: A Live VR performance for 6,000 people”

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Mr. Robot VR experience, coming back soon, is “true storytelling”

[This follow-up story about the Mr. Robot VR experience (the original post is here), includes a detailed description and review (starting in the fourth paragraph) and the good news that those who missed the viewing window last week will get another chance after July 25 (see the last paragraph). The story is from The Verge, where it includes many more pictures. –Matthew]

Mr. Robot building sign

The Mr. Robot VR experience isn’t a gimmick — it’s true storytelling

By Bryan Bishop
on July 22, 2016

Mr. Robot mastermind Sam Esmail has made a point of taking on nearly every creative role possible on his show, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when the idea came up for a virtual reality tie-in, he took the same hands-on approach. Debuting at Comic-Con, Mr. Robot VR is a 13-minute narrative experience written and directed by the auteur that takes viewers on a flashback journey with lead character Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) as he remembers an early encounter with his dealer-turned-love-interest Shayla (Frankie Shaw).… read more. “Mr. Robot VR experience, coming back soon, is “true storytelling””

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VR safety campaign gives students realistic car crash experience

[Another example of using VR and presence for the public good; this story (which reads like a press release) is from The Hemming Fire website; the VF4 website identifies the four main causes of deaths of young drivers addresses in the road safety VR project as “using a mobile phone, not wearing a seatbelt, being under the influence of drink or drugs, [and] speeding.” A 1:22 minute video report is available on YouTube. –Matthew]

Students experiencing VF4 360 road safety campaign

[Image: Source: The Hinckley Times]

Leicestershire FRS adopts VR headsets to provide young drivers with a car crash experience

Published:  22 July, 2016

Samsung Electronics has announced that its Samsung Gear VR headsets will be used as part of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue’s Virtual Fatal Four 360 (VF4 360), the UK’s first road safety virtual reality project.

VF4 360 is one of Samsung’s first VR projects for the public sector, a uniquely innovative virtual reality safety experience using the latest Samsung Gear VR technology, designed to give young motorists the most realistic experience of a road traffic collision from the driver’s perspective.… read more. “VR safety campaign gives students realistic car crash experience”

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