ISPR Presence News returns Thursday September 21
ISPR Presence News is taking a short break while I participate in IBC2017 in Amsterdam. Publication will resume on Thursday September 21. In the meantime, if you’re interested in more presence-related news and fun stuff, please join our open/public/free ISPR Presence Community Facebook group.
–Matthew Lombard (managing editor)
[This story from Digital Trends is a realistic, and in the end hopeful, look at what it’ll take to turn browsing the web into a presence-evoking experience; the original version includes a second image and two videos. –Matthew]
VR Web Browsing Needs Revolution More Than Evolution
By Jon Martindale
September 9, 2017
Virtual reality has given us new ways to play games, and has the potential to bring us closer to loved ones around the world, but it’s yet nail down how to let us browse the internet properly. We’re still far from having a VR headset replace an entire desktop work machine, or be a better conduit to online video than your smartphone.
Books and movies from the early days of computing romanced us with the possibilities. Neuromancer, Johnny Mnemonic, and many of their techy-contemporaries imagined a future where the internet was something we moved through with physical motion and gestures.… read more. “VR web browsing needs revolution more than evolution”
CALL FOR PAPERS:
11th Annual International Conference on Computer Games Multimedia and Allied Technologies (CGAT 2018)
11th – 12th June 2018, Singapore
http://www.cgames.com.sg/index.html
Full Paper Submission Deadline: 8 January 2018
CONFERENCE THEME
For the past 10 years, the annual CGAT conference has served as a platform for researchers, scientists, IT developers and consultants to share their research, practice, and educational initiatives on Cloud Computing, Virtualization, Web Technologies and Internet Applications, Social Computing and Behavioral Modeling and Games and Mobile Communications with an international audience.
Visit the following link for the list of accepted papers which have been indexed by Scopus:
http://www.cgames.com.sg/PriorYearsPaper.html
CGAT 2018 will focus on the following 6 streams:
[Quantifying the health benefits of different activities in virtual environments could be valuable in promoting presence; the original version of this story from the San Francisco Chronicle includes two more images. –Matthew]
[Image: Aaron Stanton exercises using a virtual reality headset at San Francisco State University on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017. Photo: James Tensuan, Special to the Chronicle.]
S.F. State tests benefits of workouts in virtual reality games
By Nanette Asimov
September 5, 2017
You enter the boxing ring and face your opponent. He glares at you, his bulging pecs glistening under the arena lights. Pow! You nail him with a right hook to the jaw. He cross punches. You duck. You jab. He reels.
Sweat drips down your face. Your heart races as the crowd roars — only there is no crowd, and you’ve never actually left home or suffered a blow.… read more. “San Francisco State tests benefits of workouts in virtual reality games”
Call for Participation and Call for Posters
International Workshop on Human-Engaged Computing
Kochi University of Technology, Japan
November 10th, 2017
http://forum.chec.ren/
Poster submission deadline: September 30, 2017
Early registration deadline: October 10, 2017
The Center for Human-Engaged Computing (CHEC) has organized an international workshop on Human-Engaged Computing (HEC). The worship will be held at Kochi University of Technology in Japan on November 10th, 2017.
The aim of this workshop is to rethink the relationship between humans and computers with particular attention being paid to our future as human beings. Seven distinguished speakers from around the world and from several domains will give their different views on HEC and related topics. Consistent with HEC’s holistic approach, our speakers represent not only Human-Computer Interaction but also the humanities, engineering design, computer sciences and cognitive science.
INVITED SPEAKERS [see http://forum.chec.ren/ for abstracts]
Jeffrey Bardzell
Indiana University
After Design Thinking
Ann Light
University of Sussex
Framing Wonder: Digital Ways of Being at a Time of Rapid Change
Torkil Clemmensen
Copenhagen Business School
Theorizing about a Sociotechnical Approach to Human-Engaged Computing
Alan Borning
University of Washington
Applying value sensitive design to rethinking the relationship between humans and computers
Huatong Sun
UW Tacoma
Upholding global cultural diversity with a practice-oriented critical design approach
Effie Law
University of Leicester
Does gamification (dis)engage humans in technology-enhanced learning activities?… read more. “Call: International Workshop on Human-Engaged Computing”
[Another effort to use VR and presence to ease medical treatment; this story is from Forbes, where it includes a different image. –Matthew]
Virtual Reality Startup Uses The Psychology of Gaming To Do Battle With Cancer
Moira Vetter, Contributor
September 9, 2017
Virtual reality innovations are often believed to be speculative technologies that haven’t yet found practical applications. People think of gamers and hobbyists wearing a headset or goggles and peering into a synthetic reality.
But virtual reality isn’t so virtual anymore. One startup, OnComfort, has fixed its sights on one of the most daunting foes there is to fight—cancer.
Using virtual reality to win the battle with cancer
OnComfort founder Diane Jooris, had practical experience in mind/body therapies, including hypnosis, to alleviate the challenges of fighting cancer while at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.… read more. “Virtual reality startup uses the psychology of gaming to do battle with cancer”
Call for Abstracts
Budapest Workshop on Philosophy of Technology 2017
Theme of the Workshop:
Epistemology, Ontology and the Philosophy of Technology
Dates: 1-2 December 2017
Venue: 1132 Budapest, Victor Hugo 18-22, Room 5002.
http://budpt.eu/
Submission deadline: 2 October 2017
The first Budapest Workshop on the Philosophy of Technology will seek to explore epistemology and ontology in the Philosophy of Technology. Abstracts are welcome in the following areas:
… and in any other related topics.
The expected length of the abstract is about one page. The language of the workshop is English.
Deadline for abstract submission: 2 October 2017. 23:59 UTC.
Notification of acceptance/rejection: 18 October 2017. 23:59 UTC.
The workshop is free of any charges.
Enquiries and submissions should be sent to: info@budpt.eu… read more. “Call: Budapest Workshop on Philosophy of Technology 2017”
[Especially in light of recent and current natural disasters, this is an encouraging story from the University of Virginia; for more information on the How to change the world engineering podcast competition and to listen to Bethany Gordon’s 7:31 minute winning entry see coverage from the Royal Academy of Engineering. –Matthew]
[Image: UVA graduate engineering student Bethany Gordon’s idea to apply virtual reality technology to crisis situations recently won an international podcast contest. (Photo by Dan Addison, University Communications)]
Virtual Reality Can Make a Remote Crisis Real – And Spur Effective Responses
September 07, 2017
In Gyumri, Armenia, about 4,000 survivors of a 1988 earthquake that destroyed their city are still living in uninsulated shipping containers. Their improvised shelters are susceptible to flooding when it rains and, because of the moisture, infested with mold.
Engineers a half a world away can help solve these problems through virtual reality, according to Bethany Gordon, a first-year Ph.D.… read more. “Virtual reality can make a remote crisis real – and spur effective responses”
Call for Papers, Symposia and Posters
Technology, Mind & Society
April 5-7, 2018
Washington, DC
http://pages.apa.org/tms/
Sponsored by The American Psychological Association
In Cooperation with The Association for Computing Machinery, Special Interest Group for Computer-Human Interaction, and The Association For The Advancement Of Artificial Intelligence
Submission deadline: October 20, 2017
The American Psychological Association will hold an interdisciplinary conference on Technology, Mind, and Society in Washington, D.C., on April 5-7, 2018. Scientists, practitioners, policymakers, and students from around the world are invited to participate in the event.
The conference will provide a venue for reporting and assessing current efforts to understand and shape the interactions of human beings and technology, for identifying priorities for future work, and for promoting exchange and collaboration among participants. The conference will feature four keynote speakers: Cynthia Breazeal (MIT), Justine Cassell (Carnegie Mellon), Eric Horvitz (Microsoft Research), and Sandy Pentland (MIT).… read more. “Call: Technology, Mind & Society – APA Conference”
[This story from Slate’s Future Tense series provides a useful perspective on alternate meanings of the term virtual and their implications for how we perceive and realize the potential of VR and presence. –Matthew]
[Image: Perhaps to speak of virtual reality is to anticipate the disappearance of the world we know. Photo illustration by Natalie Matthews-Ramo. Photos by Thinkstock.]
Our Virtual Future
What philosophers say about the inevitability of VR.
By Jacob Brogan
September 1, 2017
A few months ago, I pulled on an Oculus Rift headset for the first time and stepped into a virtual reality meeting room. I was there to tape an early screen test for Conundrums, Slate’s new virtual reality talk show. My role was simple: I had been told that I was going to play the part of a famous comedic actor and that I just had to answer questions about his favorite sports teams.… read more. “Philosophers’ insights about meaning and power of virtual reality”