ISPR Presence News

Monthly Archives: May 2017

Call: Participatory Design Conference (PDC) – ‘Participatory Design, Democracy and Politics’

Call for Papers and Participation

The 16th biennial Participatory Design Conference (PDC)
“Participatory Design, Democracy and Politics”
201-24 August 2018
Hasselt & Genk, Belgium
http://www.pdc2018.org

Full papers deadline: 10 November 2017

The Participatory Design Conference (PDC) is a conference with a long history in bringing together scholars who present research on the direct involvement of people in design, development, implementation, and appropriation activities of information and communication technologies, spaces, artefacts, and services. PDC brings together a multidisciplinary and international group of researchers and practitioners encompassing a wide range of issues that emerge around participatory design, encountered and discussed in multiple fields. These include, but are not limited to, HCI (Human-Computer Interaction), CSCW (Computer Supported Cooperative Work), co-design, design research, CSCL (Computer Supported Collaborative Learning), ICT4D (Information and Communication Technology for Development), development studies, design anthropology, sociology, media studies, architecture and spatial planning, and arts.… read more. “Call: Participatory Design Conference (PDC) – ‘Participatory Design, Democracy and Politics’”

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Marketers take a trip to 2020 in News Corp.’s Home of the Future

[There are lots of examples of technologies designed to evoke presence in the ‘Home of the Future’ described in this story from Advertising Age. The original story includes a large photo gallery, there’s a 3:24 minute 360 video tour on Vimeo, you can explore the Home in interactive 360 images or VR at the Home of the Future website, and the press release is available from Unruly. –Matthew]

Marketers Take a Trip to 2020 in News Corp.’s Home of the Future

By Emma Hall. Published on May 11, 2017.

A wardrobe that matches your outfit to the weather forecast. An online shopping assistant who knows you well enough to purchase new products for you. Art that adjusts itself to your mood.

These futuristic concepts are a reality in a 2,000 square foot “Home of the Future,” created by News Corp.read more. “Marketers take a trip to 2020 in News Corp.’s Home of the Future”

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Job: Professor of Digital Living (with tenure) at Northumbria University, UK

Northumbria University, UK
Position: Professor of Digital Living (with tenure)
Faculty: Engineering and Environment
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/work-for-us/details/?roleId=92

Deadline: 7th June 2016

Northumbria University, UK, is currently recruiting for a Professor of Digital Living. To further strengthen our world-leading research we are investing to develop exciting opportunities in multi-disciplinary research areas. The Digital Living multidisciplinary research theme draws together expertise from the Faculty of Engineering & Environment, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Faculty of Business & Law and Faculty of Art, Design and Social Sciences.

We are particularly keen to encourage applications from those with research interests in the areas of: Urban Informatics, Human-Computer Interaction, Data Analytics, Social Computing, Interactive Architecture, Smart Cities.

Successful applicants would join either the Department of Computer and Information Science or the Department of Architecture and Built Environment, and will become part of the strong community of HCI researchers at Northumbria (see: http://northlab.uk/read more. “Job: Professor of Digital Living (with tenure) at Northumbria University, UK”

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This dystopian wearable detects AIs pretending to be humans

[The tool described in this story from Motherboard addresses, and hopefully will raise awareness about, a key ethical challenge of evolving presence-evoking technologies: the obligation to make presence experiences voluntary. It reminds me of the tools, such as ad skipping features in DVRs, developed in the conflicting efforts of advertisers to reach consumers and consumers to avoid forced exposure to advertising messages, but with potentially much more far-reaching consequences. –Matthew]

[Image: Flickr/Abode of Chaos]

This Dystopian Wearable Detects AIs Pretending to Be Humans

The ‘Anti-AI AI’ will literally send a chill down your spine.

Jordan Pearson
May 26, 2017

As AI algorithms that can impersonate the human voice get better and better, it might not be long before you pick up the phone and genuinely can’t tell if you’re talking to a human or a machine that’s been trained to sound like one.… read more. “This dystopian wearable detects AIs pretending to be humans”

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Call: Perceiving Video Games – Young Academics Workshop at Clash of Realities 2017

Call for Papers

Perceiving Video Games
Young Academics Workshop – Pre-conference event at the Clash of Realities 2017
Monday, November 6, 2017
Location: Cologne Game Lab (Cologne, Germany), www.colognegamelab.de
http://clashofrealities.com/2017/perceiving-video-games/

Organized by the Cologne Game Lab, TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences (Germany) in cooperation with IT University of Copenhagen (Denmark)

Workshop committee: Federico Alvarez (CGL), Curtis Maughan (CGL), Michael S. Debus (ITU)

Submission deadline for abstracts: July 28

Whenever we interact with video games we engage in different modes of perception. Video games are complex artifacts that bombard players with myriad stimuli, prompting them to act in particular ways. These stimuli are not only absorbed through the senses, but they are also processed and interpreted for meaning.

How do human cognitive and emotional capacities relate to video games? How does changing our behavior within a game affect the perception we have of it?… read more. “Call: Perceiving Video Games – Young Academics Workshop at Clash of Realities 2017”

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Montreal schizophrenia patients face their demons through virtual reality

[A treatment that uses presence to treat schizophrenia is yielding promising results, as reported in this story from CBC News (where it includes four more images and related links). –Matthew]

[Image: The Philippe-Pinel Institute’s pilot project has patients such as Richard Breton designing and facing their inner demons with the help of virtual reality technology. (Radio-Canada)]

Montreal schizophrenia patients face their demons through virtual reality

New experimental treatment has patients interact with avatars they design to reflect what they see and hear

CBC News
May 23, 2017

A pilot project at Montreal’s Philippe-Pinel Institute has patients with schizophrenia confronting voices that torment them by way of a virtual reality experience.

The project, developed by psychiatrist and researcher Alexandre Dumais, allows patients to create computer-generated avatars that look and talk like the demons they face inside their heads.

Richard Breton, a 52-year-old father of two, has struggled with schizophrenia since his early 20s.… read more. “Montreal schizophrenia patients face their demons through virtual reality”

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Job: Postdoctoral position on design of museum experiences at IT University of Copenhagen

Postdoctoral position in the GIFT project on design of museum experiences
The IT University of Copenhagen

Application Deadline: 6 June 2017

The IT University of Copenhagen invites highly motivated individuals to apply for a postdoc position starting on 1 September 2017 or soon thereafter for a duration of one year, with a possibility for extension.

The position will form part of a Horizon 2020 project entitled “Meaningful Personalization of Hybrid Virtual Museum Experiences Through Gifting and Appropriation (The GIFT project)”, at the Center for Computer Games Research. The GIFT project aims to develop a framework with tools, theory, and best practice guidelines to guide the development of mobile apps for museums that facilitate personalized experiences of both digital and physical museum exhibitions, along with two prototypes of such applications.

The project includes 6 European research partners beside ITU: Blast Theory (UK), NextGame (RS), University of Nottingham (UK), University of Uppsala (SE), European Foundation (NL) and Culture24 (UK).… read more. “Job: Postdoctoral position on design of museum experiences at IT University of Copenhagen”

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‘North Korea VR’ is an extraordinary glimpse of the world’s most oppressive country

[Presence via virtual reality lets us explore places most of us can never visit but that we need to better understand. This story is from Mashable, where it includes more images and a 4:37 minute video. See also coverage in Wired, and a closely related December 2015 post in ISPR Presence News. –Matthew]

‘North Korea VR’ is an extraordinary glimpse of the world’s most oppressive country

By Gianluca Mezzofiore
May 04, 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump has really upped the war of words with North Korea in the past few months, prompting an endless flow of news reports about the hermit regime.

What these reports often leave out, though, is the daily life in the North’s capital.

People commuting, playing, cycling, praying, chatting, moving around the city. What is it like to live in one of the most authoritarian, secretive places on earth?… read more. “‘North Korea VR’ is an extraordinary glimpse of the world’s most oppressive country”

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Call: AIC 2017 – 5th Edition of the International Workshop on Artificial Intelligence and Cognition

CALL FOR PAPERS

AIC 2017
5th Edition of the International Workshop on Artificial Intelligence and Cognition
Larnaca, Cyprus, November 1-3 2017
Workshop website: http://di.unito.it/AIC2017/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AIC_Workshop
hashtag: #aic2017ws

Paper submission deadline: July 15, 2017

MOTIVATION

The research in Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been based, from an historical standpoint, on a strong collaboration with Cognitive Science. This collaboration, has produced – along the years – mutual benefits. In AI this partnership has driven to the realization of intelligent systems based on plausible models of human cognition.

In turn, in cognitive science, this partnership allowed the development of cognitive models and architectures providing greater understanding on human thinking.

In recent years, after a period of partial fragmentation of the research directions, the area of cognitively inspired artificial systems is progressively attracting a renewed attention both from academia and industry and the awareness about the need for additional research in this interdisciplinary field is gaining widespread acceptance.… read more. “Call: AIC 2017 – 5th Edition of the International Workshop on Artificial Intelligence and Cognition”

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Newcastle U study explores prospects and ethics of VR porn

[This news release from Newcastle University describes a new study that raises important questions about the ethics of presence in the context of sexuality; see also researcher Matt Bloom’s opinion piece in The Conversation. –Matthew]

The ‘reality’ of virtual reality pornography

How the latest digital technology could blur the line between reality and fantasy, pushing the dangers of porn to a whole new level.

Published on: 19 May 2017

Experts at Newcastle University, UK, are investigating how virtual reality is changing the experience of pornography.

Through headsets such as the Facebook owned Oculus Rift and Playstation VR, the technology allows the user to become an active part of these ‘new’ sexual experiences.

Presenting their research at the CHI 2017 conference, the Newcastle team say the growing popularity of VR technologies that put users into experiences where previously they were an onlooker, could mean the extreme, degrading or even abusive imagery in pornography becoming all the more ‘real’.… read more. “Newcastle U study explores prospects and ethics of VR porn”

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