ISPR Presence News

Monthly Archives: February 2017

Call for Papers: Real Virtual Relationships – Special issue of Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

Call for Papers

Real Virtual Relationships
A special issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research to be published 2017 Q2

Guest Editors:
Richard E. Ferdig (Kent State University, USA)
Kristine E. Pytash (Kent State University, USA)
Elyse Graham (SUNY Stony Brook, USA)
Glenn W. Muschert (Miami University, USA)

Deadline for abstracts: March 15, 2017

MOTIVATION AND SCOPE:

We live in an era of digitally-mediated relationships. From finding a spouse online to daily interactions facilitated through social media, it is difficult for many people to imagine building and sustaining both platonic and romantic relationships without technology. Virtual worlds are no strangers to these interactions. Virtual world inhabitants will often initially use the space to develop alternative self-portraits (e.g. Black, Ferdig, DiPietro, Liu, & Whalen, 2009). They then create and maintain relationships with those avatars and other human players out-of-world, with other human players in-world, and with non-player-characters in-world (Ferdig & Pytash, 2012).… read more. “Call for Papers: Real Virtual Relationships – Special issue of Journal of Virtual Worlds Research”

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Google tech reveals faces behind VR/MR headsets

[It’s still early days for this innovation from Google but allowing both observers and participants to see the faces of VR and MR users could significantly boost the potential for presence experiences. That potential is only briefly mentioned in the last paragraph in this post from the Google Research Blog, which includes more images and a 1:46 minute video. –Matthew]

 

Headset “Removal” for Virtual and Mixed Reality

February 21, 2017
Posted by Vivek Kwatra, Research Scientist and Christian Frueh, Avneesh Sud, Software Engineers

Virtual Reality (VR) enables remarkably immersive experiences, offering new ways to view the world and the ability to explore novel environments, both real and imaginary. However, compared to physical reality, sharing these experiences with others can be difficult, as VR headsets make it challenging to create a complete picture of the people participating in the experience.… read more. “Google tech reveals faces behind VR/MR headsets”

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Call: Usage of Simulations, Educational Games and Gamification in Education – 2017 Americas Conference on Info Systems

Call for Papers

Minitrack: Usage of Simulations, Educational Games and Gamification in Education
Track: IS in Education, IS Curriculum, Education and Teaching Cases (SIGED)
2017 Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS)
Boston, MA, August 10-12, 2017, http://amcis2017.aisnet.org/

Deadline for paper submission: March 1, 2017

The Usage of Simulations, Educational Games and Gamification in Education minitrack solicits studies that examine the usage of serious games, simulations, or gamification in education. Although the focus is on studies on information systems education, studies from other fields are also welcome especially if the results can be used across different educational settings. This track invites both research papers and teaching cases related to the theme. This mini-track accepts a wide range of research methods and methodologies. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Research, case studies, empirical studies of serious games, simulations and ramification in classroom settings
  • Gamification in online courses and MOOCS
  • Designing serious games
  • Game mechanics for serious games
  • Adoption and diffusion of serious games and simulations in the classroom
  • Teacher attitude towards the usage of games in classroom settings
  • Effectiveness and efficiency of serious games and simulation
  • Student interaction with serious games and simulations
  • Assessment in serious games
  • Usage of the games and simulations as proxy for assessment
  • Game analytics
  • Ethical considerations
  • Implementation issues
  • Interactive digital storytelling based games
  • Game integration in the educational curriculum
  • Quality assurance
read more. “Call: Usage of Simulations, Educational Games and Gamification in Education – 2017 Americas Conference on Info Systems”
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Telepresence gives students new view of teaching

[Telepresence is being used at Grand Canyon University to let teachers-in-training learn by ‘being’ in a remote elementary school classroom; this story is from Grand Canyon University Today, where it includes several more images. –Matthew]

Telepresence gives students new view of teaching

February 08, 2017
Story and photos by Jeannette.Cruz, GCU News Bureau

Three Grand Canyon University educators in the College of Education are exploring a new way to virtually provide students with an opportunity to get their feet wet in the profession.

The initiative – a live, telepresence practicum pilot – engages students in an elementary school setting through video conferencing technologies. A camera inside a kindergarten classroom at Paradise Valley Unified School District, paired with a computer, allows faculty and students to see and hear without being seen. A unique feature is the mobility of the camera, making it possible for students to zoom in closer to a table or to pick up dialogue.… read more. “Telepresence gives students new view of teaching”

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Call: Joint Conference on Serious Games 2017 (JCSG 2017)

Call for Papers

Joint Conference on Serious Games 2017 (JCSG 2017)
23-24th November 2017, Valencia, Spain
http://jointconference-on-seriousgames.org/

Paper submission deadline: April 1st, 2017

FUSION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO ENHANCE SERIOUS GAMES OUTCOME

Over the last 10 years, the use of serious games in several fields like learning, simulation, training, health, well-being, management, assessment or marketing exploded. We gained a deeper knowledge on their efficiency and effectiveness, in particular taking into consideration the needs of the digital natives’ generation, and the single or combined use of scientific and artistic fields has grown in acceptance. However, there are still several barriers in the large-scale adoption of serious games. How can these fields be combined to achieve the best possible results? How to increase the perceived quality of serious games in front of the latest emerging entertainment games? How to ensure the capacity of serious games as valuable learning and training tools?… read more. “Call: Joint Conference on Serious Games 2017 (JCSG 2017)”

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Sotheby’s reimagines Surrealism through Virtual Reality

[In an apparent first, an auction house is using VR to provide an immersive experience with virtual versions of art works before a sale. This interview from Sotheby’s, where it includes a 3:16 minute demonstration video and more images, never mentions presence explicitly but the phenomenon is obviously central to the discussion (note that the “watch video here” links may require sign in). –Matthew]

[Image: A visitor to the exhibition tries out the virtual reality headset (photo: Ian Gavan)]

Reimagining Surrealism Through Virtual Reality

By Sotheby’s | 22 Feb 2017

Visitors to the Surrealist Art Evening sale exhibition at New Bond Street, which is on view until 1 March, will be able to ‘step inside’ some of the auction highlights thanks to an innovative Virtual Reality experience. Sotheby’s teamed up with FGreat Studio to create the immersive film which features works by the likes of Dalí and Magritte.… read more. “Sotheby’s reimagines Surrealism through Virtual Reality”

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Call: Human Aspects in Adaptive and Personalized Interactive Environments (UMAP 2017 Workshop)

ACM UMAP Workshop – HAAPIE 2017 – FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS

The 2nd International Workshop on Human Aspects in Adaptive and Personalized Interactive Environments, in conjunction with the 25th ACM Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation and Personalization (ACM UMAP 2017), Bratislava, Slovakia, 9-12 July 2017

Full details are available online: http://haapie.cs.ucy.ac.cy

IMPORTANT DATES

Submission deadline: 20 April 2017
Notification: 20 May 2017
Camera-ready: 28 May 2017

MOTIVATION & GOALS

State-of-the-art approaches in adaptation and personalization research consider user models that mostly maintain information regarding the “traditional” user characteristics (i.e., experience, knowledge, interests, context), and related contextual or technology aspects (i.e., displays, connectivity, processing power). While modeling these factors has shown significant improvements and benefits to the end-users in terms of usability and user experience, still the needs of today’s epoch signify the further engagement into research that will produce more holistic human-centered practices.… read more. “Call: Human Aspects in Adaptive and Personalized Interactive Environments (UMAP 2017 Workshop)”

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Explore NASA’s TRAPPIST-1d exoplanet discovery in glorious 360-degree VR

[NASA’s release yesterday of a 360 degree VR panorama so that we can all experience what it would be like to be on a newly discovered planet demonstrates the recognition of the value of presence. The story below is from Wired UK, where it includes the 1:23 minute interactive video and two different images. More media recreations related to the discovery are available from NASA. –Matthew]

Explore Nasa’s TRAPPIST-1d exoplanet discovery in glorious 360-degree VR

The 360-degree Nasa VR panorama animates the surface of a newly detected planet, TRAPPIST-1d

By Victoria Woollaston
Thursday 23 February 2017

Last night, Nasa revealed it had spotted seven Earth-like exoplanets orbiting around the nearby TRAPPIST-1 star, 40 light years away.

The planets in the extrasolar system are all comparable to our planet in their size, mass, and densities, and at least three are in the so-called habitable zone meaning there could be water on their respective surfaces.… read more. “Explore NASA’s TRAPPIST-1d exoplanet discovery in glorious 360-degree VR”

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Call: Playable Cities: The City As A Digital Playground (at INTETAIN 2017)

Call for Workshop Papers

2nd International Workshop
Playable Cities: The City As A Digital Playground

This workshop will be held as part of the INTETAIN 2017 conference, June 20–22, 2017, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal: http://www.intetain.org/2017/show/home

Paper Submission deadline: 1 April 2017

PLAYABLE CITIES

What is a playable city? “A Playable City is a city where people, hospitality and openness are key, enabling its residents and visitors to reconfigure and rewrite its services, places and stories.” This notion of ‘making cities playable’ was introduced some years ago in Bristol (UK). Originally it was meant to distinguish smart cities from playable cities, where smartness is identified with intelligent and efficient city management. This is contrasted with playfulness that can become part of an urban environment through the use of new and advanced information and communication technology. A playable city requires the smart technology that is integrated in a smart city environment.… read more. “Call: Playable Cities: The City As A Digital Playground (at INTETAIN 2017)”

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Soar or swim by using VR underwater

[Here’s a first-person report on an interesting approach to increasing presence with VR; the story is from MIT Technology Review, where it includes an additional image. –Matthew]

Using Virtual Reality Underwater Is Weird (but Fun)

Sure, you can soar or swim in VR. Just put on a headset and jump in a pool.

by Rachel Metz
February 20, 2017

No matter how well virtual reality mimics the sights and sounds of flying, floating, or swimming, it’s impossible to feel that you’re really doing those things when your feet are planted firmly on solid ground. So Stephen Greenwood and Allan Evans are making a VR headset that you can wear underwater.

Greenwood, director of creative development at Discovery Digital Networks, and Evans, cofounder of headset maker Avegant, started working on it in December after talking about what it would be like to combine an isolation tank—where you float in a dark, silent room, alone—with virtual reality.… read more. “Soar or swim by using VR underwater”

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