[In addition to the scope of the adoption of VR and presence to train employees, note the comments about the non-technology obstacles to adoption identified near the end of this story from Discovery Magazine’s Lovesick Cyborg blog. The original story includes an additional image, and see Walmart’s blog post for more information, more images and 0:52 minute video. –Matthew]

[Image: Walmart plans for all of its training academies to incorporate virtual reality experiences by the end of 2017. Credit: STRIVR]

Largest US Employer Adopts Virtual Reality Training

By Jeremy Hsu
June 14, 2017

Virtual reality technology that has helped train NFL quarterbacks could also soon provide virtual training experiences for hundreds of thousands of Walmart associates. By the end of 2017, Walmart plans to roll out virtual reality training to the 140,000 associates who complete the retail giant’s training academy program each year.… read more. “Largest US employer Walmart adopts VR to train employees”

[This thoughtful piece by MT Technology Review writer Rachel Metz considers what it’ll take to make VR a successful platform for communication; the specific design choices will revolve around creating compelling spatial, social and self presence, and require a deep understanding of human nature (including its darker side). The original article includes an additional image. –Matthew]

[Image: Credit: David Brandon Geeting]

Virtual Reality’s Missing Element: Other People

VR can be the basis of a new communications industry if the technology becomes less insular and isolating.

by Rachel Metz
June 14, 2017

Unlike most people, I have a virtual-reality headset. I have exactly one friend who also has one. So most of the time I spend in VR, I’m all by myself. I can almost hear the digital tumbleweeds rolling by.

That’s a funny thing about this technology. Although it looks as if it must feel isolating to strap on a headset that shuts out the world around you, it could be great for socializing.… read more. “The challenges and potential of social virtual reality”

[The ScreenX technology described in this story from Los Angeles Magazine (which includes a different image) is another attempt to create a strong sense of presence for media consumers. See also the press release via PRWeb. –Matthew]

[Image: Source: Nerd Reactor]

This is The Only Theater in L.A. Where the Movie Expands Beyond the Screen

The new ScreenX technology has arrived at CGV Cinemas in Koreatown

June 12, 2017
Lisa Beebe

When I sat down at the CGV Cinemas in Koreatown (621 S. Western Ave.), I was sure I was in the wrong place. I was there to see a movie in the new ScreenX format, but the theater had a normal-sized screen. I couldn’t imagine how it would provide the promised 270-degree viewing area. (Yes, 270, as in way more than half of 360.) When the movie started, and nothing seemed special, l left to ask a cashier at the concession stand about the ScreenX technology.… read more. “ScreenX extends movie onto theater walls for a 270 degree panoramic experience”

[This news release from the University of Alabama at Birmingham describes an impressive effort to take presence outside the lab to educate children in a vital skill. The original version of the story includes a second image and a 1:11 minute video. A related story can be found in a September 2015 post in ISPR Presence News. –Matthew]

[Image: Students in a classroom in Changsha, China, test the Google Cardboard virtual reality training system.]

UAB Professor Uses Latest Virtual Reality Technology to Improve Access to Pedestrian Safety Education

Newswise (UAB News – University of Alabama at Birmingham Newsroom)
16-Mar-2017

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Pedestrian injuries are a leading cause of death in children in the United States and around the world.

The Birmingham-Hoover metropolitan area is ranked No. 13 by Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition in a 2016 report of cities where people walking are more likely to be killed by vehicles, with 150 pedestrian deaths reported.… read more. “Professor using mobile VR to improve access to pedestrian safety education”

[This story from The Guardian illustrates different ways presence technologies are being used in ‘high culture’ experiences; I think the use of 3D digital replicas of art works displayed in the reproduction of the historic Gothic home Strawberry Hill House is a compelling example of the blurring of authentic and artificial. The original story includes a second image. –Matthew]

[Image: 3D replicas of 18th century portraits will be hung in Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham, the home of Horace Walpole. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian]

Step inside Butterfly’s house in virtual reality opera night

Arts are embracing cutting-edge tech in Puccini production

Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent
Saturday 10 June 2017

Cutting-edge visual technology is pushing its way into the hallowed halls of culture this summer. New 3D replicas of missing artworks have been installed at the home of the 18th-century writer Horace Walpole, while Welsh National Opera is going a step further, creating a virtual reality performance.… read more. “Presence in the reproduction of high culture artifacts and experiences”