[Telepresence history at the White House! This is from Tech Times and more images, and a video of the event, are available from the Disability Visibility Project blog. Gizmodo broadens the focus with “The 5 Best Times Obama Met With Robots.” –Matthew] [Image: President Obama greets Alice Wong, Disability Visibility Project Founder, via Beam Pro telepresence robot before a White House reception to mark the 25th anniversary of the Americans Disabilities Act. Posted on Instagram by Pete Souza (@petesouza).] POTUS Meets Robot Guest In The White House For The First Time By J.E. Reich, Tech Times | July 21 So here’s…

[Interesting how small affordances can impact users in powerful ways that blur the real and virtual worlds; this is from SiliconANGLE, where the post includes an additional image. –Matthew] Players in World of Warcraft can now have virtual cats curl up in their virtual laps by Kyt Dotson | Jul 21, 2015 People are already able to play video games and have their cats curl up in their laps—but now World of Warcraft players can have their cats in games curl up on their characters’ laps. It’s cat lap inception! This recent addition to Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.’s cultural juggernaut massively…

[Another realm in which VR and presence are making an impact (pun intended), thanks in part to our colleague Jeremy Bailenson; this is from USA Today, where the story includes more images, videos and links. –Matthew] [Image: STriVR CEO Derek Belch (center) outfits Arkansas quarterback Brandan Allen (left) as Razorbacks coach Bret Bielema looks on. Photo: Walt Beazley, Razorbacks Communications.] Virtual reality becomes a reality for college football George Schroeder, USA TODAY Sports June 9, 2015 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When he put on the mask and slipped on the headphones, Brandon Allen wasn’t sure exactly what he was getting into.…

[Amazing that people are spending so much time and effort on creating these simple (presence) illusions. This story, which includes a collection of examples, is from My Modern Met from last year; more recent coverage and examples are in the Huffington Post, and there’s lots more on Tumblr. –Matthew] Incredible 3D GIFs Created with a Simple Visual Effect Posted by Pinar on February 15, 2014 Animated gifs seem to be everywhere these days, but some gif creators are taking the visual experience of viewing quick clips of silent motion to another level. By carefully adding a couple of solid-colored (typically…

[This piece about the possible roles of VR and AR in religious observance is written with respect to Christianity but the logic applies to most or all religions; it’s from Humanity+ Magazine and the original includes additional images. –Matthew] [Image: Digital reconstruction of the Guild Chapel, Stratford-upon-Avon looking east. The image shows ‘The Last Judgement’ over the chancel arch, and ‘The Dance of Death’ on the north wall of the nave. (Image: Geoff Arnott/Heritage Technology)] Virtual Reality is the Future of Religion July 16, 2015 Rev. Dr. Christopher Benek 25 years ago most people didn’t imagine that the Internet would…

[The technologies that provide people mediated experiences of cultural artifacts that do or did exist are evolving quickly, raising all kinds of interesting issues and questions; this column from The Conversation (which includes a 3:00 minute video) highlights some of them and would be a good starting point for a larger discussion. –Matthew] [Image: Virtual history. Cyark/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY] Museums are using virtual reality to preserve the past – before it’s too late July 14, 2015 Jenny Kidd, Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University Cultural institutions are steeped in history and tradition, but they are also…