[This story from Wired describes how biochemists are using virtual reality and the sense of presence it creates to better understand and manipulate the structure of molecules and improve the process of discovering effective drugs. See the original story for a 1:29 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: C4X Discovery] Virtual reality is helping chemists discover new life-enhancing drugs What one thing do scientists really need to help them discover new life-saving drugs? Virtual reality By Phoebe Braithwaite 13 June 2018 Blue skies, streaked with clouds – an unending expanse of grid to stand on – and one massive molecule: in…

[This story from TechRadar demonstrates the increasingly common recognition of the central role of presence in the evolution of technology, includes observations about the use of fictional portrayals to promote presence technologies and experiences, and argues that shared presence experiences are and should remain superior to private ones. The original story includes an additional image; see the CES Asia 2018 website for more details about that recent event. –Matthew] Forget Ready Player One – the future of VR is a physical experience Time for a reality check By Cat Ellis June 14, 2018 CES Asia is a full-on experience. The…

[This story is about the use of virtual reality to preserve the experiences of people and places, “cultures and landscapes,” being lost to the rising sea. As with our use of photos and recordings, and perhaps soon more immersive technological artifacts, to preserve our personal and family memories, this is an extremely meaningful, valuable and important application of presence technologies. The story is from Hakai Magazine, where it includes a second image; follow the My visit with Billiot link to watch a video of the VR experience described in the story. –Matthew] [Image: Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, home of…

[This story from Robotics Business Review provides a status report on the challenges and potential of the telepresence robot market. See the original for several more pictures, links to 10 leading telepresence robot companies, and to sign up for the RBR Newsletter. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Ava Robotics] Telepresence Robots Attempt to Move Back Into the Spotlight High costs, end user difficulties, and poor audio/video have hampered the growth of telepresence robotics. Can new models and applications help grow the market beyond niche uses? June 13, 2018 Keith Shaw The public’s first exposure to telepresence robots likely came during a 2010…

[Experiment participants “felt understood by, trusted, and liked the presence of [a] robot significantly more after” hugging and being hugged by it; this interesting story about medium-as-social-actor presence from IEEE Spectrum’s Automaton blog includes an interview with the study’s lead author in which he suggests that in the future robots will have “emotional intelligence” and that we may send each other remote customized hugs via robot. See the original story for a second image and a 1:11 minute video, as well as a link at the end to sign up for the blog. –Matthew] The Importance of Teaching Robots to…

[Oculus and the Anne Frank House museum have debuted a new 25 minute virtual tour across space and time to the Secret Annex where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazi over seven decades ago. As this post from the Oculus Blog notes, “Hopefully it [will help] to encourage reflection on the dangers of anti-Semitism, racism, and discrimination and the importance of freedom, equal rights, and democracy.” See the original post for five images from the tour and a 0:57 minute video. –Matthew] Introducing ‘Anne Frank House VR,’ an Immersive Experience that Recreates Amsterdam’s Secret Annex and Preserves…