[Andrew Thaler’s DIY headset lets users experience and navigate the world at least in part as a dolphin would. This short story is from The Verge; Dr. Thaler’s post in Southern Fried Science has much more information and NowThis Future has a 1:53 minute video summary. –Matthew] The DolphinView headset lets you ‘see’ like your favorite sea creature But you’ll have to build it yourself By Angela Chen July 24, 2018 The good news: a headset exists that helps you “see” like a dolphin. The bad news: you’ll have to build this “DolphinView” headset yourself. The other good news: it’s…

[In most presence experiences technology creates the illusion of reality, while inverse presence experiences produce the illusion that reality is mediated by technology (see “When ‘real’ seems mediated: Inverse presence”). Recent art installations by German duo Quintessenz provide a vivid example, as described in this short story from Fast Company about the 2017 work Paradis Perdus. The original story includes more images and a 0:33 minute video; for more details and photos see the Quintessenz website. And for coverage of the duo’s latest work see This is Colossal. –Matthew] This beautiful art installation looks like Photoshop. It’s not.…

[This personal story from VentureBeat is a reminder that despite the current limitations of technology, presence experiences have great potential to improve individual lives. See the original version for a second image. –Matthew] How I discovered the therapeutic power of VR — by accident David Waltenbaugh July 26, 2018 Ask anyone that has experienced a true, high-production virtual reality experience and nearly all can remember our “first time.” The immersive nature of the technology tends to evoke such a visceral response that it often remains with us long after our dive into the virtual realm. Most people I’ve spoken with…

[The press release below from davidbowie.com previews new AR- and VR-based versions of the “David Bowie Is” touring exhibit. They’ll follow several other applications of technology to create presence experiences related to Bowie, including the “Augmented Reality: David Bowie in Three Dimensions” feature by The New York Times, a “2.5-minute train journey through the world of David Bowie” from NS and the Groninger Museum, the “Heroes” dance sequence for 360-degree Gear VR and Microsoft HoloLens from Sundance 2017, and a VR version of the Bowie musical “Lazarus” (see more material by searching for “Bowie” on the V&A Museum website. –Matthew] David…

[As a cyclist with poor vision even with corrective glasses, I’m particularly interested in this post about using presence to reduce accidents by increasing driver-cyclist empathy. A report in Australia’s Nyngan Observer about how the government there is using VR to reduce accidents with quad bikes on farms led me to the short story below from Campaign that describes a Ford program that uses VR to give motorists the experience of bicyclists and vice versa. For much more information including videos, see Ford’s Share the Road website and the Ford Europe blog. For a recent published study on this topic,…

[This story from Hyperallergic explores current dating sims, “a sub-genre of video games which center around the user forming and maintaining romantic relationships with digital partners through the use of VR/AR and (for now) rudimentary AI” and considers some of their positive and negative implications. Designers and scholars need to consider the implications since the (presence-evoking) technologies are evolving quickly. Note that the author plans a follow-up report on gender roles and sexual preferences in the sims. The original version of the story below includes four additional images. –Matthew] [Image: Screenshot of the game VR Kanogo. Credit: The author for…