ISPR Presence News

Monthly Archives: August 2016

Job: Senior Lecturer in Culture, Aesthetics and Media specialising in Interactive Media at University of Gothenburg

Senior Lecturer in Culture, Aesthetics and Media specialising in Interactive Media
Department of Cultural Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Type of employment: Permanent post
First day of employment: By agreement
Reference number: PER 2016/265

http://www.gu.se/english/about_the_university/announcements-in-the-job-application-portal/?languageId=100001&disableRedirect=true&returnUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gu.se%2Fomuniversitetet%2Faktuellt%2Fledigaanstallningar%2F%3Fid%3D19144%26Dnr%3D770674%26Type%3DS&Dnr=770674&Type=S

Closing date for the application: 2016-09-15

At the Department of Cultural Sciences we offer courses and pursue research in Art History and Visual Culture, Children and Youth Culture, Cultural Studies, Ethnology, Film Studies, Gender Studies, Musicology and Scandinavian Studies. Whether the studies concern different kinds of specific cultural expressions or wider cultural perspectives, our shared aim is to explore a multitude of aesthetical, historical, communicative and meaning-making aspects of human interaction in contemporary society.

SUBJECT AREA

Culture, Aesthetics and Media specialising in Interactive Media

SPECIFIC SUBJECT DESCRIPTION

In an era of converging and participatory modes of production and consumption of media and arts, we need new combinations of research on ‘culture’, ‘aesthetics’ and ‘media’.… read more. “Job: Senior Lecturer in Culture, Aesthetics and Media specialising in Interactive Media at University of Gothenburg”

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What it’s like to experience a virtual reality orgy

[The film Viens! is “an experiment meant to transform and ‘test the boundaries of intimacy, presence and empathy’”; this story from Broadly raises several interesting questions about the future of VR and presence experiences (the original story features more images and related links). –Matthew]

A kiss from VR orgy film (screenshot)

What It’s Like to Experience a Virtual Reality Orgy

If you thought real orgies weren’t nerve-racking enough, try sitting through a tantric sex film shot in 360 degree virtual reality.

by Katherine Templar Lewis
Aug 30 2016

“Put your feet on the ground. Don’t hold the headset. And breathe.” The experience will only last 12 minutes, I’m told. But 12 minutes is a very long time in the middle of a virtual reality orgy.

Where do I look? Every time I move my head, playful, naked writhing bodies loom out of a white billowing cloud of abstract space.… read more. “What it’s like to experience a virtual reality orgy”

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Call: 2nd IEEE International Conference on Internet-of-Things Design and Implementation (IoTDI 2017)

Call for Papers

The 2nd IEEE International Conference on Internet-of-Things Design and Implementation (IoTDI 2017)
Held in conjunction with CPSWeek 2017 (https://cpsweek2017.ece.cmu.edu/)
April 18-21
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
http://conferences.computer.org/IoTDI/

Full paper submission deadline: October 13th

SCOPE

A confluence of technological advances marks the advent of a new era. World data volume is growing at an unprecedented pace, much of it from embedded devices. Smart cities are expected to grow, fed by millions of data points from multitudes of human and physical sources. Cyber-attacks grow more nefarious, bringing down physical systems. Social networks are becoming ubiquitous, offering information on physical things. The separation between cyber, physical, and social systems is blurring. Collectively, these developments lead to the emergence of a new field, where the networking and physical realms meet. It is the field of the Internet of Things (IoT). This conference is an interdisciplinary forum to discuss challenges, technologies, and emerging directions in system design and implementation that pertain to this Internet of Things.… read more. “Call: 2nd IEEE International Conference on Internet-of-Things Design and Implementation (IoTDI 2017)”

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A Dutch artist takes augmented reality into the clouds

[The installation described in this story from The Creators Project should evoke a welcome sense of spatial presence among travelers. The original includes different images and a 1:08 minute video, and for more photos and information see the project’s page on the Studio Roosegaarde website. –Matthew]

Woman walking by Beyond at Schiphol Airport

A Dutch Artist Takes Augmented Reality into the Clouds

DJ Pangburn — Aug 28 2016

If travelers happen to visit Departure Hall 3 of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, they may notice an immersive installation of clouds. Titled Beyond, Dutch artist Daan Roosegaard’s latest work is a “cloud wall” that creates the impression of a 3D cloud-laden sky vanishing into a great aerial distance. A beautiful feat of optical illusion, it is 100 meters long and 10 centimeters thick, and comprised of 160 billion pixels.… read more. “A Dutch artist takes augmented reality into the clouds”

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Call: The Synthetic Method in Social Robotics (SMSR 2016) at ICSR 2016

Call for Abstracts (1000 words)

Workshop on
The Synthetic Method in Social Robotics (SMSR 2016)
@ The Eight International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2016)
Kansas City, USA
November, 1-3, 2016
Website: http://icsr2016.engr.ku.edu/
Contact: ldamiano@unime.it

Important Dates:
Abstract Due – September 25, 2016
Notification of Acceptance – October 05, 2016

We are interested in submissions of original HRI and Social Robotics research, or research from related fields relevant to the topic of “Artificial Sociality”. The submissions, in the form of an abstract (min 800, max 1000 words), should be related to the investigation of one or more specific aspects of the application of the Synthetic Method in Social Robotics and HRI (e.g. theoretical, epistemological, applicative, socio-cultural, ethical aspects). In particular, we are interested in abstracts presenting original research works related with, but not limited to, the following questions:

  • Is it possible to identify a set of human and/or animal social competences that can be considered as an essential condition of “social presence” and/or “social competence” in robotic agents?
read more. “Call: The Synthetic Method in Social Robotics (SMSR 2016) at ICSR 2016”
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No Man’s Sky is an existential crisis simulator disguised as a space exploration game

[As this story from Vox explains, the new game No Man’s Sky not only adds evidence to the debate about the possibility that our entire world is a convincing simulation, it raises deep questions about the nature and purpose of our lives. Here’s a quote from the second-to-last paragraph: “[B]y refusing to provide you with a purpose, it forces you to reconcile with the essential emptiness of its universe, with the pointlessness of a game whose only reward is the opportunity to continue playing the game. It is cold and lonely and empty and unsatisfying — and that may be the point. It is an existential crisis simulator, an infinite, interactive reflection on mortal ennui.” –Matthew]

No Man's-Sky screenshot

No Man’s Sky is an existential crisis simulator disguised as a space exploration game

It’s cold and lonely and empty and unsatisfying. It’s also worth your time.read more. “No Man’s Sky is an existential crisis simulator disguised as a space exploration game”

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Call: IEEE Virtual Reality 2017

Call for Papers

IEEE Virtual Reality 2017: The 24th IEEE Virtual Reality Conference
March 18-22, 2017, Los Angeles, California
http://ieeevr.org/2017

Paper abstracts due: September 12, 2016

IEEE VR 2017 seeks original, high-quality papers in all areas related to virtual reality (VR), including augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and 3D user interfaces.

Each paper should be classifiable as mainly covering research, applications, or systems, using the following guidelines for each:

  • RESEARCH PAPERS should describe results that contribute to advances in state-of-the-art software, hardware, algorithms, interaction, or human factors.
  • APPLICATION PAPERS should explain how the authors built upon existing ideas and applied them to solve an interesting problem in a novel way. Each paper should include an evaluation of the success of the use of VR/AR/MR in the given application domain.
  • SYSTEM PAPERS should indicate how the implementers integrated known techniques and technologies to produce an effective system, along with any lessons learned in the process.
read more. “Call: IEEE Virtual Reality 2017”
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Google patents video conferencing drones

[There are certainly lots of challenges, but this new patent from Google is an interesting approach to creating effective and useful telepresence experiences. The story is from TechRepublic, where it includes different images; the patent is available from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. –Matthew]

A drone hovers at a booth during CES 2016

[Image: Source: Quartz; credit: AP Photo/John Locher]

Google may soon take conference calls to the sky with video conferencing drones

On Tuesday, Google was awarded a patent for a quadcopter with cameras and screens. But could it replace traditional video conference calls?

By Alison DeNisco
August 10, 2016

Conference calls may soon take flight, literally: On Tuesday, Google was awarded a patent for a video conferencing drone, complete with cameras, microphones, and projection screens.

While current video conferencing solutions allow multiple users to interface electronically with both audio and video, each user typically has to be sitting in a conference room or in front of their laptop.… read more. “Google patents video conferencing drones”

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Call: 2nd International Workshop on Advancements in Social Signal Processing for Multimodal Interaction (ASSP4MI at ICMI2016)

Call for Papers:
The 2nd International Workshop on Advancements in Social Signal Processing for Multimodal Interaction (ASSP4MI@ICMI2016)
16 Nov 2016, Tokyo, Japan

held in conjunction with the 18th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI 2016)

http://hmi.ewi.utwente.nl/~truongkp/icmi2016-assp4mi
http://icmi.acm.org/2016/

Extended Deadline: 2 September 2016

OVERVIEW

In the last decade, an increasing need for affective and socially intelligent technology has been seen, partly caused by upcoming interactive technology that is enhancing our daily lives in our homes and at work. This has led to a significant increase of research in Social Signal Processing (SSP) in which the aims are to model, analyse, and synthesize social signals (including affective signals) and to develop socially intelligent machines. This body of work is inherently multimodal (e.g., eye gaze, touch, vocal, and facial expressions) and multidisciplinary (e.g., psychology, linguistics, computer science). Major research foci include the automatic understanding and generation of emotional and social behavior in specific situations.… read more. “Call: 2nd International Workshop on Advancements in Social Signal Processing for Multimodal Interaction (ASSP4MI at ICMI2016)”

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Photographer June Korea explores living with a sex doll

[This fascinating interview with photographer June Korea explores the current and possible future roles of life-sized dolls and the medium-as-social-actor presence responses they evoke. The original story in Highsnobiety includes many images. –Matthew]

Eva: Still Lives by June Korea - Eva reclining on bed by window

Meet the New York-Based Artist Living With a Sex Doll

By Maddie Holden
July 27, 2016

We get a lot of strange emails here at Highsnobiety: newly formed brands and aspiring artists often reach out in the hopes of being featured, and plenty of these emails are attention-grabbing and unusual. However, South Korean-born and NYC-based artist June Korea stood out more than most.

His new work, Still Lives: Eva, is a staged documentary of a man’s life living with a sex doll and the images are certainly eye-catching. We wanted to dig deeper about what motivates an artist to explore this kind of subject matter, and, of course, we had the same question most people have: “Is this guy for real?”… read more. “Photographer June Korea explores living with a sex doll”

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