ISPR Presence News

Monthly Archives: March 2015

Call: WEB3D 2015 – 20th International Conference on 3D Web Technology

Call for Papers

WEB3D 2015 – 20th International Conference on 3D Web Technology
June 18-21 – Heraklion, Crete, Greece

http://web3d2015.web3d.org

The annual ACM Web3D Conference is a major event which unites researchers, developers, entrepreneurs, experimenters, artists and content creators in a dynamic learning environment. Attendees share and explore methods of using, enhancing and creating new 3D Web and Multimedia technologies such as WebGL, X3D, VRML, Collada, MPEG family, U3D, Java3D and other technologies. The conference also focuses on recent trends in interactive 3D graphics, information integration and usability in the wide range of Web3D applications from mobile devices to high-end immersive environments.

This year’s event will be located in Heraklion, Crete.

TOPICS

We welcome the submission of papers presenting original work in Web3D research and application on the topics including but not limited to as described below. All submissions will be peer-reviewed for quality and contribution by the conference International Program Committee.… read more. “Call: WEB3D 2015 – 20th International Conference on 3D Web Technology”

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Ex Machina: SXSW film promotion cleverly evokes presence on Tinder

[In the new film Ex Machina Swedish actress plays a convincingly human robot; a promotion at the SXSW festival cleverly evoked presence. This story is from AdWeek, where there’s another image; the film has an official website where you can watch the trailer; for a discussion about the film see coverage in TechCrunch. –Matthew ]

Ava at SXSW (actress Alicia Vikander)

Tinder Users at SXSW Are Falling for This Woman, but She’s Not What She Appears – ‘Have you ever been in love?’

By Tim Nudd
March 15, 2015

Well, this is sneaky—and for some, a little heartbreaking.

Tinder users at the SXSW festival on Saturday were encountering an attractive 25-year-old woman named Ava on the dating app. A friend of ours made a match with her, and soon they were having a conversation via text message.

Ava at SXSW - Tinder-dialogue

But when he opened up Ava’s Instagram, it became clear something was amiss.… read more. “Ex Machina: SXSW film promotion cleverly evokes presence on Tinder”

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Call: Serious Games and Social Simulation (SSSG) – Special session at European Social Simulation Association 2015 conference

Call for Papers

SSC 2015: Special Session on Serious Games and Social Simulation (SSSG)
The Eleventh Conference of the European Social Simulation Association
September 14 to 18 in Groningen, The Netherlands

Dear all,

As organizers of the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Serious Games and Social Simulation (SSSG), we would like to invite you to consider submitting a paper for our special session at the 2015 Social Simulation Conference (SSC). This will take place from September 14-18 in Groningen, The Netherlands and the current deadline for full papers, extended abstracts and posters is set to April 13th.

In our SIG, we focus on the interplay between social simulation and serious games. We wish to bring together researchers working on both fields to a crossroads at which synergies will be created between the two areas. In SSSG, we investigate how the fields of social simulation and serious games are linked.… read more. “Call: Serious Games and Social Simulation (SSSG) – Special session at European Social Simulation Association 2015 conference”

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A first: Father witnesses his son’s birth from afar via Samsung VR headset

[Another innovative use of VR and presence; this is from The Australian, where you can see more images and watch Samsung’s 6:18 minute video (also on YouTube); the press release is available from PR Newswire; for a somewhat less enthusiastic take, see coverage in the Sydney Morning Herald. –Matthew ]

Samsung live birth transmitted via VR

Father watches son’s birth on Galaxy VR headset from 4000km away

Virtually visiting relatives in hospital may soon be possible following the demonstration of a Perth man witnessing his son’s birth from afar in Chinchilla on a VR headset.

March 16, 2015
Chris Griffith, Senior Technology Journalist, Sydney

Wife Alison Larke gave birth to their third child Steele in suburban Perth while over in Chinchilla 300km west of Brisbane and 4000km away, husband Jace Larke watched the event using a virtual reality headset that recreated the experience of being in his wife’s hospital room.… read more. “A first: Father witnesses his son’s birth from afar via Samsung VR headset”

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Call: Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association Postgraduate Network 2015 Conference

Call for Papers

Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA) Postgraduate Network (PGN)
MeCCSA
PGN Conference 2015

‘Transformative Practice and Theory: Where we stand today’
Coventry University in Coventry, United Kingdom
2-3 July 2015

Deadline: Monday 23rd of March 2015

Pre-Conference Screening of Oscar Award Winning Documentary CitizenFour on the 1st of July

Confirmed speakers: Dr. Clare Birchall (King’s College), Prof. Lisa Blackman (Goldsmiths), Dr. Rebecca Coleman (Goldsmiths), Prof. Gary Hall (Coventry University) and Associate Prof. Mandy Rose (University of West England/Digital Cultures Research Centre)

The multidisciplinary fields of media, communication and culture face the challenge of constantly responding to the changing landscape which they study. In recent years, these fields have shifted considerably due to the rise in digital and open media, which have opened up new spaces for debate. Our negotiation with, and use of, theory has been transformed through the turn to affect, and the ways in which we are now articulating the relationship between bodies, images and environments as permeable and interconnected.… read more. “Call: Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association Postgraduate Network 2015 Conference”

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Writing presence: How good storytelling helps a VR game feel real

[Insights into how media content, not just form, evokes presence (and another example of the explicit use of that term)… this is from Gamasutra. –Matthew ]

Portal character Chell in mirror

[Image: A player sees themselves as the character Chell in Portal]

Writing presence: How good storytelling helps a VR game feel real

March 3, 2015 | By Alex Wawro

The business of virtual reality design is booming, but the tools are still a bit clunky and untested. It’s hard enough to make a VR game that’s comfortable and satisfying to play for extended periods of time; how do you tell a good story in the process — and why should you bother?

“NPC [non player character] behavior, protagonist characterization and plotting…these things play as big a role as visuals in creating a sense of presence.” said Rob Morgan, a narrative designer with credits on virtual and augmented reality games like Wonderbook: Book of Spells and Gunner, during a talk at GDC today on the practical challenges of storytelling in VR games.… read more. “Writing presence: How good storytelling helps a VR game feel real”

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Call: Intelligent Virtual Agents conference 2015 (IVA 2015)

Intelligent Virtual Agents conference 2015 (IVA2015)
26 – 28 August
Delft, The Netherlands

http://iva2015.tudelft.nl

IMPORTANT DATES

Papers, Poster and Demo Submissions:
Submissions deadline: 15 March 2015
Author notification: 16 May 2015
Camera ready version: 31 May 2015

IVA 2015:
Doctoral consortium: Monday morning 24 Aug 2015
Tutorials: Monday afternoon 24 Aug 2015
Workshops: Tuesday 25 Aug 2015
Main conference: Wednesday 26 Aug – Friday 28 Aug 2015

CONFERENCE

Intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) are interactive characters that exhibit human-like qualities and communicate with humans or with each other using natural human modalities such as facial expressions, speech and gesture. They are capable of real-time perception, cognition and action that allow them to participate in dynamic social environments.

IVA is an interdisciplinary annual conference and the main leading scientific forum for presenting research on modeling, developing and evaluating intelligent virtual agents with a focus on communicative abilities and social behavior.… read more. “Call: Intelligent Virtual Agents conference 2015 (IVA 2015)”

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For Disney, the future of VR goes beyond a headset

[Some interesting insights about VR and presence (though not by name) from Disney’s Bei Yang; the story in Wired includes a 1:13 minute video. For more on Disney’s plans for VR, see coverage in Venture Beat. –Matthew ]

Goofy's Paint 'n Play at Disney Tokyo

[Image: At experiences like Goofy’s Paint ’n Play at Disney Tokyo, immersion goes beyond the usual VR headsets.]

For Disney, the Future of VR Goes Beyond a Headset

Chris Baker
03.09.15

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—This year’s Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco was full of buzz about head-mounted virtual reality displays. Valve unveiled the HTC Vive headset running Steam VR, Sony gave us a closer look at its Project Morpheus, and John Carmack confirmed that Samsung and Oculus will turn the “Innovator Edition” of its Samsung Gear VR unit into a full consumer-grade HMD later this year. Everywhere you turned, you saw attendees strapping on the future-goggles to check out VR game demos.… read more. “For Disney, the future of VR goes beyond a headset”

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Call: Futures of Real and Virtual Worlds – Special issue of Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

Call for Papers: Futures of Real and Virtual Worlds
A Special exploratory issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research
Edited by: Yesha Sivan, Editor in Chief

The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (http://www.jvwresearch.org/) is an online, open access peer-reviewed academic journal that engages a wide spectrum of scholarship and welcomes contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that intersect with virtual worlds’ research.

DESIGN THE FUTURE

This call is about the future, or more so, possible futures. We are looking for reflective papers (1000-3000 words) that will describe specific angles to the real and virtual worlds. We are exploring and defining our future. The collection of reflective futures will help us design the next 7 years of the journal.

Topics include but are not limited to:

  • 3D fun
  • Mini robots
  • Social networks that change our mind
  • Artificial limbs
  • New forms of hardware
  • Augmented and mixed environments
  • Wearables
  • User generated content
  • 3D printing
  • Visual data streaming
  • Immersive technologies
  • Shopping from home
  • Projections of the real
  • Wireless people
  • Portable friends
  • The Internet of Things
  • Virtual currencies
  • E-readers
  • And more…
read more. “Call: Futures of Real and Virtual Worlds – Special issue of Journal of Virtual Worlds Research”
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Brains aren’t fooled by virtual reality

[Would brain responses to sensorially richer virtual environments, or even a Holodeck, be more similar to those for nonmediated environments? This is from BrainBlogger. –Matthew ]

Man plays place-based game

Brains Aren’t Fooled By Virtual Reality

by Viatcheslav Wlassoff, PhD | February 24, 2015

The scenes and the environments in World of Warcraft games appear so real that, for a moment, you forget you are staring at the screen. Technology has advanced so much that we can not only recreate reality but also engage with it. But however real the virtual may seem, the brain knows the difference! According to the recently published findings, the neurons in the brain react differently when they perceive a virtual environment than when they are in the real world.… read more. “Brains aren’t fooled by virtual reality”

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