[Saturday’s historic marches on Washington, D.C. and around the world were captured in immersive 360 videos and photos by many news organizations; I’ve compiled a selection of links to them below. It’s interesting to compare the sense of presence and related impacts created by the different combinations of content and form used in these efforts to give users a sense of the experience of being there. Some of these and others are also available on YouTube (search for “women’s march on Washington 2017 360”) including C-SPAN’s 9:00 minute video (not on their website since it didn’t air). Standard format videos are…

[The U.S. Transportation Security Administration is creating a “vast catalogue” of detailed, 360 degree virtual versions of Washington area sites – “think of it as virtual reality that allows you to travel through any transportation asset as if you were there”; this story is from The Washington Post. –Matthew] [Image: A construction worker looks at scaffolding being put up Jan. 11, 2017, near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington as part of a stage to be used in the inauguration festivities for President-elect Donald Trump. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)] TSA team works to ensure inauguration safety with library of ‘virtual’ sites By…

[As this story from New Atlas points out, key benefits of the new Teleport telepresence robot are its simplicity and affordability; the original story includes a gallery of 7 pictures and the video mentioned at the end. In coverage in the Brisbane Times (which includes another video), Teleport creator Marita Cheng is quoted as saying “It gives you much more freedom and mobility, it makes you feel like you are there… People who have used our robots say it is 100 per cent more immersive than what they thought it would be. I guess if you look at the product…

[Another example of the need to consider the ethics of presence; this story is from CNN. –Matthew] [Image: Leia (Carrie Fisher) is no longer a ‘Princess, going by ‘General’ in “The Force Awakens.”] Carrie Fisher’s death renews questions about digital re-creation By Brian Lowry, CNN January 16, 2017 Carrie Fisher’s death was a jolt to the broad community of “Star Wars” fans. But it could help spark a necessary and overdue conversation about what might be called digital etiquette, and the practice of using computer-generated imagery to re-create and manipulate the likenesses of dead actors. Last week Lucasfilm responded to…

[This story from Haaretz catalogs many recent uses of VR and presence to evoke empathy, with a variety of positive effects, but the last section considers more cautious perspectives (including from our colleague Doron Friedman) regarding the efficacy and morality of evoking empathy in this way. The original version of the story includes eight videos. –Matthew] [Image: Trying on VR headset at Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, last February. Credit: Pau Barrena/Bloomberg.] Can virtual reality bring world peace? The technology is being put to seemingly good uses, but some researchers disagree. By Shira Makin Jan 16, 2017 You are standing on…

[This week’s change in White House occupants is causing profound anxiety – a Scottish newspaper Sunday provided a creative suggestion that we’re living in a “huge interactive virtual reality project, which will unfold on TV, in the press, and on Twitter over the next four years” – but the Ad Week story below notes the continuity of efforts of U.S. Presidents to share the experience of being in “the people’s house,” with increasing ability to evoke a sense of (tele)presence. The new video is available on the White House Facebook page and a post on the Oculus blog has more…