[This first-person report on research conducted by Microsoft and the California Institute of Technology on haptic illusions and how to use them to create presence illusions is from Scientific American’s Observations blog, where it includes more images, a 1:14 minute video, and author bios. –Matthew]

If (Virtual) Reality Feels Almost Right, It’s Exactly Wrong

How adding touch to VR can lead to an “uncanny valley” of sensations—and what we can do about it

By Mar Gonzalez-Franco, Christopher C Berger and Ken Hinckley
April 19, 2018

We can all remember the crisply beveled edges of our cheery-yellow No. 2 pencil, the cool, smooth feel of a chalk-powdered blackboard, the gritty red bricks of the schoolhouse walls. Surely that all wasn’t just an illusion?

No, of course not.

But—as it turns out—it kind of is.

The sense of touch (and indeed, all of our senses) is more or less illusory because no sensation stands alone.… read more. “The Uncanny Valley of haptics”

[This story from SoraNews24 describes an unusual example of presence; see the original version for more images and seven videos. For more information see the Leo Palace 21 website. –Matthew]

Japanese company makes virtual shadow boyfriends to help protect women who live alone

Silhouettes of karate fighters, bodybuilders, and domestically dedicated dudes make would-be criminals think you’ve got a live-in boyfriend.

Casey Baseel
March 31, 2018

Not only is Tokyo Japan’s largest city in terms of population, it’s also where you’ll find, by far, the most educational, economic, and artistic opportunities. Because of that, many young people head to Tokyo when they move out of their parents’ home, in order to be closer to their workplace or college.

Because most Japanese people don’t really like the idea of having a roommate, a lot of these young people end up living alone, including young women.… read more. “Japanese company makes virtual shadow boyfriends to help protect women who live alone”

[All kinds of interesting presence experiences are available in Tribeca Immersive programming at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. This overview is from The Villager, where the story includes more images. –Matthew]

[Image: The Tribeca Film Festival will have an early look at the recently announced “Shadow of the Tomb Raider” game. Image courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival]

Tangible and social: Virtual reality at Tribeca Immersive

April 18, 2018
By Charles Battersby

The stereotype of Virtual Reality (VR) is an isolated person sitting alone in a room, their head sealed within a helmet, master of a lonesome utopia. Early efforts at VR often met this cliché — but the “Tribeca Immersive” programming at the Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) aims to make virtual reality a more tangible and social experience. Tribeca Immersive includes a Virtual Arcade of VR experiences (Apr. 20-28), along with a festival of films shot in 360 degrees.… read more. “Tangible and social: Virtual reality at Tribeca Immersive”

[This interesting story reinforces the importance of medium-as-social-actor presence today and into the future. It’s from Politico and unlike a lot of the coverage of the issue isn’t sensationalized or simplistic; see the original version for more images. –Matthew]

Europe divided over robot ‘personhood’

In letter to Commission, 156 experts from 14 countries warn against adopting EU Parliament proposal.

By Janosch Delcker
April 11, 2018; Updated April 13, 2018

BERLIN — Think lawsuits involving humans are tricky? Try taking an intelligent robot to court.

While autonomous robots with humanlike, all-encompassing capabilities are still decades away, European lawmakers, legal experts and manufacturers are already locked in a high-stakes debate about their legal status: whether it’s these machines or human beings who should bear ultimate responsibility for their actions.

The battle goes back to a paragraph of text, buried deep in a European Parliament report from early 2017, which suggests that self-learning robots could be granted “electronic personalities.”… read more. “Medium-as-social-actor presence: Should robots be granted ‘personhood’?”

[The ambitious project described in this story from The Verge uses technology to preserve historical sites so that we’ll be able to experience them via presence in the future. The original story includes more pictures . –Matthew]

Google will help preserve endangered historical sites in virtual reality

Google is partnering with 3D laser-scanning nonprofit CyArk to build VR representations of world wonders

By Nick Statt
Apr 16, 2018

Google has partnered with 3D laser scanning nonprofit CyArk to help preserve historical sites around the world that are at risk of irreversible damage or total erasure due to human conflict and natural disasters. The joint effort, called the Open Heritage project, will use CyArk’s laser-scanning technology to capture all the relevant data at a historical site needed to re-create it virtually, so it can be preserved and explored online either on a computer, through a mobile device, or while wearing a virtual reality headset.… read more. “Google will help preserve endangered historical sites in virtual reality”