Comments for International Society for Presence Research

Comment on Final Fantasy video game characters model Prada: Time for a re-think by Kavita Nayar

Kavita Nayar — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:05:02 +0000

I am not surprised by this trend since I think the fashion and design industry has always been obsessed with the beauty of artificiality, but I do wonder how much it will impact our cultural standards for beauty compared to the current use of airbrushing “real” people. Perhaps our recognition that there is a line between artificial and real and the knowledge that we are choosing to feature artificial beauty will put the pressure off “real” people to attempt this perfection and add value to the authenticity of their features. Already virtual or artificial beauty is available in the pornography industry, but that doesn’t mean there has been a shift toward the preference for artificial perfection in this area.. or does it?

Comment on These creepy dolls are actually real humans by Kavita Nayar

Kavita Nayar — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:51:36 +0000

This is an interesting example of inverse presence where real humans are made to appear mediated, or not real, in some way. In light of growing criticism regarding the ways in which magazines (and media in general) objectify and set unrealistic expectations for the female body, it is noteworthy to see a photographer make an artistic statement by actually transforming the body (male and female) into object. It is even more controversial to transform them into toys made for children. I think this is indicative of a trend in fashion and design that attempts to reign in the unruly body by turning it into machine or object.

Comment on Jobs: Researcher positions at University of Freiburg – Human and Robot Navigation in Structured Environments by EDV

EDV — Mon, 07 May 2012 10:34:26 +0000

I use “AVM Navigator” for robot navigation and it works pretty well:
http://www.roborealm.com/help/AVM_Navigator.php

Comment on Telepresence Puppet robot to let doctors work remotely by Meghan C

Meghan C — Mon, 07 May 2012 03:42:32 +0000

It’s a great invention but I feel like maybe it would just be easier if an actual doctor was present. The doctor would have to learn everything about the technology first and so would the patient. I don’t know if the doctor would have time for that. And what if there were glitches? It seems like maybe it would cause more problems than it was worth. It evokes telepresence though because it gives the patient the feeling that the doctor was actually there. The patient would be able to hear and see the doctor through the screen and speakers, and vice versa. The fact that the doctor could direct the robot around because it runs on wheels would also make the patient feel more like the doctor was in front of them. The doctor would also be experiencing telepresence because they would be seeing the patient through their screen and listening to them through their speakers and directing the robot as if they were actually there as well.

Comment on Tupac Shakur hologram performs at Coachella music festival, may tour by Meghan C

Meghan C — Mon, 07 May 2012 03:23:46 +0000

When I first heard about this it was kind of unreal. I do believe Ed when he said that it was the most complicated thing that can ever be done. To create the most realistic image of someone who had died, literally as if he was there in front of you, moving and singing, is pretty eerie but I can only imagine how advanced and complicated it really is to create the moving realistic hologram. I don’t even think one could really notice that it was a hologram–he looked like he was there in person right next to Snoop Dogg. This is probably one of the most realistic forms of telepresence. We always discussed in class the different technologies that have been used to make us feel like we are actually “there” in a different setting, however here it is almost reversed. The hologram makes us feel like an actual person, in the flesh, is in our presence instead. I can’t imagine what must have been going through everyone’s heads at Coachella when this event happened–they probably didn’t believe what they were seeing because it was so realistic.

Comment on Darpa to troubled soldiers: Meet your new simulated therapist by Meghan C

Meghan C — Mon, 07 May 2012 03:06:23 +0000

This is a really great invention but in reality I really don’t see how it would help the patient. There would probably be too many glitches and there might be confusion for the patient. The reason why therapy works is because of the whole idea that you can talk to an actual person. I don’t see how talking to a computer, even though it is supposed to be as realistic as possible, would help. If it works for someone, good for them but I personally would never try it. It may give some data to military patients but I don’t know how accurate that would be. I would feel as if I was just wasting my time talking to a screen—I would need real human interaction. It does seem highly advanced however, thus evoking telepresence—the fact that they can appear empathetic, detect psychological symptoms by analyzing facial expressions, body gestures and speech, just like a real therapist. It is amazing though that it can detect all of this, along with how it can take note of how the patient spoke and moved. I haven’t heard of a technology as advanced as this. The experience would imitate how a real therapy session as go, making it as realistic as possible even though the person is just talking to a screen. It is a simulated experience of a therapy session.

Comment on Interactive teddy bear helps kids manage diabetes by Jia Tu

Jia Tu — Sun, 06 May 2012 22:12:23 +0000

This is a very interesting presence product. It is very important to help sick kids understand self-care. The interactive part might be involved in the sickness of the Teddy Bear if they eat too much sugar. Presence is not just seeing the blood glucose level on the screen. Not only the simulation of the physical reaction of the patient but also the change of emotion can reflect how the patients feel. In this case, the Teddy Beer can be any child’s friend. It can also help other health children to be more considerable and nicer by understanding other’s feeling.

Comment on Darpa to troubled soldiers: Meet your new simulated therapist by Eric Onyechefule

Eric Onyechefule — Sun, 06 May 2012 21:44:14 +0000

The simulated therapist might have the audio not in sync with the way the lips move but if you can get past that this therapist idea is actually one that can work. I always read places that people coming out from the army suffer from PTSD and the reason why is because they have no one to talk to while they are in action but I feel that if this therapist is taken seriously then it could work in minimizing the amount of PTSD cases coming from duty.

Comment on These creepy dolls are actually real humans by Eric Onyechefule

Eric Onyechefule — Sun, 06 May 2012 21:37:59 +0000

I can’t believe these dolls are actual humans. I just like Allison had to do numerous double takes because I can’t believe they are humans, they look too much like Barbie dolls. I wanted to know who are their make up artists! This is too crazy, look and look but I still can’t understand how they are real people!

Comment on Interactive teddy bear helps kids manage diabetes by Eric Onyechefule

Eric Onyechefule — Sun, 06 May 2012 21:32:08 +0000

I think that it’s really cool to see something like this because my family has dealt with diabetes and things like pricking fingers and be really draining and stressful so I know that children that have to go through this must be 10x worse. The idea of having the kids learn about diabetes not only teaches them about the disease but also helps the kids who are stricken with diabetes find a way to deal with it.