[Presence experiences don’t have to involve experiencing the world as yourself or even another human; check out the 1:57 minute video and the other screenshots in this story from The Creators Project blog. –Matthew]

Finally, Virtual Reality Lets You Become a Mystical Forest Creature

By Kevin Holmes
Sep 22 2015

In previous eras if you wanted to experience the world through the eyes of an animal you’d have to be some kind of next level shaman, but now we have virtual reality. In the Eyes of the Animal, the latest project from Marshmallow Laser Feast—Robin McNicholas, Barney Steel, and Adam Doherty—does exactly that. Set in the sculpture-laden Grizedale forest in the Lake District in the north of England, the 360° therianthropic VR experience let users see the forest through the eyes of its inhabitants.… read more. ““In the Eyes of the Animal” VR experience lets you become a mystical forest creature”

[Here’s another interesting application of VR and presence; as so often happens, this story from The Los Angeles Times includes many descriptions of presence but not the term itself. -Matthew]

[Image: Neal Taylor watches and listens a Los Angeles Philharmonic performance via a virtual reality headset in the orchestra’s Van Beethoven. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)]

L.A. Philharmonic’s Van Beethoven takes virtual reality for a classical spin

September 24, 2015
David Ng

Can the technology that set the video gaming world abuzz create classical music fanboys and girls?

The Los Angeles Philharmonic has launched a virtual reality project in which people don VR goggles and Samsung headsets that give them a 3-D, 360-degree experience of four minutes of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, performed by the orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

The VR goggles and other equipment were put aboard a bus, dubbed Van Beethoven, and sent out to tour the county through October.… read more. “L.A. Philharmonic’s Van Beethoven takes VR for a classical spin”

[Shared augmented reality is more difficult than shared VR, with all kinds of interesting potential uses; this story, which features some of our presence colleagues, is from MIT Technology Review; btw, as the CNET coverage notes, the headsets are called “Reality Mashers.” –Matthew]

[Image: One of Lanier’s students, Andrea Stevenson Won, wears a headset developed in his lab at Microsoft.]

Microsoft Researchers Are Working on Multi-Person Virtual Reality

Researchers in Jaron Lanier’s lab at Microsoft are exploring ways for people to share the experience of mixed reality.

By Will Knight on October 12, 2015

Augmented or mixed reality, which renders virtual images in a view of the real world, can be spectacular to experience. But it may be even more fun when you bring a friend.

Researchers in the Microsoft lab of Jaron Lanier are experimenting with multi-person augmented reality, and the results of their work could help shape the way the technology is commercialized and used.… read more. “Microsoft’s Project Comradre: Multi-person augmented reality”

[Note: Apologies for the lack of posts Monday, due to computer server problems beyond our control]

[Aside from all the good this invention can do in testing vision, as someone with reduced vision (due to congenital nystagmus) and of course interested in VR and presence, I find its potential for personalized prescription VR screens particularly interesting; the story is from MIT Press. –Matthew]

[Image: Ramesh Raskar holding the Netra device. Credit: John Werner/Camera Culture Group]

Smarter lenses

Newly launched mobile eye-test device could lead to prescription virtual-reality screens

Rob Matheson | MIT News Office
October 19, 2015

After five years of development and about 40,000 tests worldwide, the mobile eye-test device developed by MIT spinout EyeNetra is coming to hospitals, optometric clinics, optical stores, and even homes nationwide.

But on the heels of its commercial release, EyeNetra says it’s been courting offers from virtual-reality companies seeking to use the technology to develop “vision-corrected” virtual-reality displays.… read more. “MIT’s EyeNetra could lead to prescription virtual-reality screens”

[Here’s an ambitious plan for a 21st century virtual World’s Fair; this story is from Variety and there’s more coverage in Fortune; the Landmark press release is available via PR Newswire, and an earlier story in ISPR Presence News describes the company’s plans for mixed reality theme parks. –Matthew]

Landmark Entertainment Is Building A Virtual Reality World’s Fair

October 15, 2015
Janko Roettgers, Senior Silicon Valley Correspondent

Landmark Entertainment President and CEO Tony Christopher thinks it’s about time that the world joined virtual reality: Landmark is unveiling plans to build what it calls a Virtual world’s fair, which could eventually house hundreds of pavilions and become a space for millions of consumers to meet, enjoy entertainment, shop and even take civic action. “It’s the world coming together to celebrate the world,” Christopher said during a recent interview.… read more. “Landmark Entertainment is building a Virtual Reality World’s Fair”