International Society
for Presence Research

Month: February 2018

  • Call: EDUCAUSE project exploring “3D technologies” in higher ed learning environments

    Published:

    Friday February 9, 2018 Greetings, For a future online event, the ELI [EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative] is very interested in exploring the teaching and learning community’s work with what one might call “3D technologies,” that is virtual, augmented, immersive, and mixed reality technologies (aka the “Rs”).  We could also toss in voice-activated technology, such as Alexa, multidimensional printing, and advanced visualization environments. For this exploration, our main interest is along these lines: how they are being actively used in the curriculum at your institution; how they are being integrated into your learning space designs and projects; how you are evaluating their…

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  • Imverse’s groundbreaking mixed reality renders you inside VR

    Published:

    [As this story from TechCrunch notes, even the early version of Imverse’s new software that lets users see themselves and other people and objects inside virtual environments can evoke a strong sense of presence – in fact the author says it “unlocks a new level of presence, which every VR experience and gadget aspires to”). See the original story for more photos and the author’s 0:41 minute narrated demo video of the company’s mixed reality engine from Sundance 2018. –Matthew] Imverse’s groundbreaking mixed reality renders you inside VR Posted Jan 30, 2018 by Josh Constine What if you could look…

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  • Call: PAD 2018 – ‘Personification Across Disciplines’

    Published:

    Call for Papers PAD 2018 ‘Personification Across Disciplines’ An interdisciplinary conference at Durham University, September 17 – 19, 2018 https://padonline.org/ Confirmed Keynotes: H. PORTER ABBOTT (Narratology, University of California Santa Barbara) GUILLAUME DUMAS (Cognitive Neuroscience, Institut Pasteur) NEV JONES (Psychology and Mental Health, University of South Florida) TANYA LUHRMANN (Anthropology, Stanford University) MARJORIE TAYLOR (Developmental Psychology, University of Oregon) Extended deadline for abstracts: February 23, 2018 Humans have a flair for attributing intentions, traits, agency, emotions and mental states to beings or things – either real or imagined. Whether anthropomorphising natural or abstract shapes, playing with imaginary companions, (re) constructing…

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  • Farmer and police in standoff with stuffed tiger

    Published:

    [This amusing story from The Scottish Sun is an unusual example of medium-as-social-actor presence. See the original for more pictures, and a follow-up story (with the lead “CAT ASTROPHE”) for more reactions including to a Facebook post by the police division. –Matthew] SCAREDY CATS Frantic Peterhead farmer Bruce Grubb and gun cops cower from tiger for an hour — only to discover it is a cuddly toy Bruce had invited pals round for a housewarming after moving into the farm three weeks ago when the drama unfolded By Stuart Patterson Updated: 6th February 2018 Armed cops were called to tackle…

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  • Call: Games and Learning Alliance conference (GALA 2018)

    Published:

    Call for Papers Games and Learning Alliance conference (GALA 2018) 5-7 December 2018 Palermo, Italy https://conf.seriousgamessociety.org/ Paper submission deadline: June 29, 2018 The Games and Learning Alliance conference (GALA 2018) is an international conference dedicated to the science and application of serious games. The conference aims at bringing together researchers, developers, practitioners and stakeholders. The goal is to share the state of the art of research and market, analysing the most significant trends and discussing visions on the future of serious games. The conference also includes an exhibition, where developers can showcase their latest products. The conference is organized by…

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  • Concentrated presence: Inside the world’s weirdest theme park

    Published:

    [Most presence experiences occur as a result of using one or a few technologies at one or a few places, but some amusement, and especially theme, parks offer many different presence experiences all in the same place (a few cities, or at least large areas of cities, do this too – e.g., Las Vegas and replica cities). This story from the Independent captures some of the sensations of visitors to these odd but compelling places, in this case the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Japan. See the original story for more photos, and the park’s website for more information.…

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  • Call: ACM Symposium on Spatial User Interaction (SUI) 2018

    Published:

    Call for Papers: ACM Symposium on Spatial User Interaction (SUI 2018) Berlin, 13-14 October 2018 https://sui.acm.org Paper deadline: 30 June 2018 We invite you to participate in the ACM Symposium on Spatial User Interaction 2018 (SUI). SUI will be held on 13-14 October 2018, co-located with the ACM User Interface Software and Technology Symposium (UIST) in Berlin, Germany. We seek original, unpublished papers documenting original research contributions, practice and experience, or novel applications, from all areas of spatial user interaction. User interface evaluations are strongly encouraged for every publication in this venue. Specific topics of interest include: Spatial interaction techniques…

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  • Robots learn to move like humans using virtual reality

    Published:

    [This short story from Forbes describes the clever use of tele-operation via VR to help artificially intelligent robots learn how to move like humans. The original story includes a 1:29 minute video, and for more information see the short interview with Peter Abbeel in Supply Chain Management Review and the November 2017 New York Times story it links to. –Matthew] [Image: Robot performs human movements using VR. Photo Credit: Berkeley Robot Learning Lab.] Robots Learn To Move Like Humans Using Virtual Reality February 1, 2018 Andréa Morris, Contributor – I cover S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math). The historic…

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  • Call: AI-2018 – SGAI International Conference on Innovative Techniques and Applications of Artificial Intelligence

    Published:

    CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS AI-2018: 38th SGAI International Conference on Innovative Techniques and Applications of Artificial Intelligence Cambridge, UK, December 11th-13th 2018 http://www.bcs-sgai.org/ai2018/ Organised by BCS SGAI: The British Computer Society Specialist Group on Artificial Intelligence (a EurAi Member Society). The leading series of UK-based international conferences on Artificial Intelligence and one of the longest running AI conference series in Europe. Deadline for Paper/Poster Submission: Friday 6th July 2018 AI-2018 is the thirty-eighth SGAI International Conference on Innovative Techniques and Applications of Artificial Intelligence. The scope of the conference comprises the whole range of AI technologies and application areas. AI-2018 reviews…

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  • Robot Erica is set to become a TV news anchor in Japan

    Published:

    [Can a robot evoke medium-as-social-actor presence and effectively fill the role of TV news anchor? The original version of this story from the Daily Mail includes more pictures and two videos. For more details see a 14:21 minute video from The Guardian via YouTube. More information and a video about the weather robot Xiaoice is available from The Washington Post and Engadget covered the earlier robot news anchors Kodomoroid and Otonaroid. –Matthew] Erica, the creepy robot that is so life-like she appears to ‘have a soul’, will replace a Japanese TV news anchor in April Roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro says she…

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  • Call: Livestream: How can VR transform the museum visitor experience?

    Published:

    Live Stream: HOW CAN VR TRANSFORM THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE? Thursday 8th Feb 10:30-11:30 CT / 16:30-17:30 GMT https://preloaded.com/can-vr-transform-visitor-experience/ Join Tate’s Hilary Knight (Head of Digital Content) and Preloaded’s Phil Stuart (Creative Director) and Hattie Foster (Head of Strategy) to discuss the potential for VR in museums, and how it can be used to enhance a visit and transform museum engagement. There is no doubt that the thoughtful and appropriate use of VR has the potential to revolutionise the museum experience. But in such an innovative and fast-changing space, there can also be plenty of obstacles. In this Livestream, we’ll take…

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  • Simulating physical sensations is a growing frontier in VR tech

    Published:

    [This story from The Register provides a nice overview of the many efforts to incorporate haptic sensation in virtual reality (and thereby increase presence for users); the original story includes videos for four of the technologies. –Matthew] We won’t need to go outside if these haptic tricksters have their way Simulating physical sensations is a growing frontier in VR tech By David Matthews 26 Jan 2018 Haptic controllers are being touted as the next frontier in virtual reality. Having spent years obsessing over headset pixel counts, the VR industry is now playing with exoskeletal gloves, ultrasound waves and even electric…

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