[It continues to be an exciting time to be studying presence! This story from USA Today includes more pictures and a 2:12 minute video about ILM’s presence-evoking special effects. –Matthew] [Image: ILMxLAB’s creative director John Gaeta tests a prototype immersive experience. The experience combines live performance capture with sound and interactive real-time 3D rendering, immersing the viewer in the scene. (Photo: Greg Grusby)] Industrial Light & Magic wants to bring virtual reality to the movies Marco della Cava, USA TODAY June 12, 2015 SAN FRANCISCO — Industrial Light & Magic is taking the notion of DVD-extras to a whole other…

[This sounds like an impressive presence-enhancing tool; the story is from Tech Times and includes a 0:36 minute video, and much more information (including images and videos and links to a developer site) is available from Kickstarter. –Matthew] [Image: Smart gloves dubbed Gloveone will enable users to feel sensations when interacting with virtual objects. The brainchild of Spain-based NeuroDigital Technologies, Gloveone aims to give VR users a more immersive experience and will enable them to “feel” what they see. (Photo : NeuroDigital Technologies | Kickstarter)] Gloveone Smart Gloves Will Let You Feel Virtual Reality By Anu Passary, Tech Times |…

[This item from PSFK may be of interest: Follow one of the links to download the new PSFK Virtual Reality Report (some but not all parts are free). –Matthew] PSFK Launches The Virtual Reality Report The PSFK Labs team explores the potential virtual reality holds as a medium for better storytelling and story-making PSFK Labs 8 june 2015 For decades we have been on the edge of our seats, patiently awaiting the arrival of the holy grail of entertainment and storytelling: virtual reality. We have been teased by VR in movies, serving as inspiration for a plethora of science fiction…

[Aside from the use of presence to teach people about, and hopefully help prevent, environmental damage to rivers, this story in the Chattanooga Times Free Press contains links and detailed timelines and illustrations related to the evolution of VR. –Matthew] [Image: Andree Herbert tries out the Oculus Rift virtual reality device on March 20, 2015, in a classroom at the Tennessee Aquarium IMAX Theatre in Chattanooga. The Oculus Rift is a virtual reality device, and the aquarium is using a development kit version to build VR programming which teaches students about stream ecology conservation. Photo by Doug Strickland/Times Free Press.]…

[This is a fascinating and important discussion about the darker potential of presence technology; the first story is from International Business Times and the second piece is a post from Anders Sandberg’s blog Andart II (the image is from the Vertigo story). –Matthew] Virtual reality rape: Transhumanists highlight ethical issues arising from new technology By Anthony Cuthbertson June 8, 2015 The convergence of technologies such as virtual reality, haptic feedback and wireless connectivity raises the prospect of virtual sexual assault, two noted futurologists have warned. These new forms of violation could arise by combining emerging devices, such as suits that…

[Replicating the performances of stand-up comedians in a nightclub setting (reminiscent of a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode) sounds much more difficult than replicating musical stage performances, but it’ll happen at the Hologram Comedy Club at the (U.S.) National Comedy Center; this post is from the Washington Post Innovations blog, and an article in New Zealand’s Independent quotes the “programme manager” describing the (presence) experience: “You are immersed in the atmosphere. The reality of it being a hologram quickly fades into the background, because of how realistic it is. Your brain just kind of accepts it as a real…

[Here are two stories about the activist news agency RYOT’s use of VR to provide people the experience of being in the aftermath of the recent earthquake in Nepal and thereby increase their willingness to contribute to relief efforts. The first story, from Mic, provides an overview (and includes more pictures and the interactive video); the second, from RYOT is a poetic analysis of the power of VR and presence in this context and more generally (it also includes the video and more images). For more information, see Re/code’s Q&A with the filmmakers. –Matthew] Using Virtual Reality, You Can Go…