[This is a thoughtful, example-filled, theory-building discussion of the essential elements of storytelling in VR, all with a focus on the user’s experience (including explicitly the experience of presence – see the third paragraph). It’s from Road to VR, where it includes the 29:39 minute podcast, another image and both mentioned videos. Several typos have been corrected. –Matthew] The Four Different Types of Stories in VR Voices of VR Podcast – Episode #293 By Kent Bye – Feb 4, 2016 For the past year, Devon Dolan has been trying to make sense of the interactive storytelling landscape that’s possible within…

[Robots are among many technologies that can evoke a sense of presence, a misperception of experience mediated by technology, in which the medium itself seems to be a living social actor. This story from IEEE Spectrum considers the possibility that as robots become more human-like in both appearance and behavior we’ll resist them as threats to our uniqueness (akin to anthropocentrism and computers). See the original story for an additional image featuring Geminoid DK with his doppelganger creator and the mentioned 2:56 minute video. –Matthew] Study: Nobody Wants Social Robots That Look Like Humans Because They Threaten Our Identity By…

[Without using the terms, this story from NPR clearly describes the experience of presence in the context of teleoperation. Go to the original version for the 3:43 minute audio interview, a 1:06 minute video, and more images. For more on what it’s like to pilot these drones, see coverage in Ars Technica; for more on the nascent sport, see the story in Quartz. –Matthew] [Image: UmmaGawd (Tommy Tibajia), a pilot in the Drone Racing League, flies his quadcopter in an abandoned power plant in New York. Credit: The Drone Racing League.] A Video Game IRL: Drone Racing League Aims To…

[This press release from the University of Arizona describes an application of presence that has great potential to protect people’s lives; the original includes more images, and for additional background see coverage from last fall in Tucson News Now. –Matthew] UA-Built Concussion App in NCAA Competition Sports-related concussions are now part of the national conversation, and a team of UA researchers — including football players Jason Sweet and Scooby Wright — is teaching athletes to recognize and report the signs. Emily Litvack, UA Office for Research & Discovery February 5, 2016 Despite new concussion-management protocols in the NCAA and NFL,…

[This is a special Saturday post on a timely topic; the story below from the Independent includes the new 2:00 minute Microsoft video. For more on presence-evoking tech related to football see coverage in USA Today. –Matthew] Super Bowl of the future: Microsoft imagines how their HoloLens augmented reality device will change how we watch sport Microsoft thinks their upcoming HoloLens could drastically change how we watch sport Doug Bolton 4 February 2016 Microsoft has released a video showing how NFL fans might watch American football in the future – and naturally, it involves their HoloLens augmented reality headset.…

[This story from Inc. is about how we can make robots more ‘human’ and more likely to evoke the responses that humans do for each other. The original story features a different image and includes the video mentioned at the end; a related video from June 2015 is available on YouTube. –Matthew] This Robot Can Tell If You’re an Introvert How one PhD student wants to make robots less creepy–and more emotionally intelligent. Ilan Mochari, Senior writer, Inc. Feb 2, 2016 Would you be more receptive to working with a robot if the robot–like a human–knew when to make direct…