[Amazon’s new VR Kiosks in 10 malls in India are getting positive reviews, including in this short story from VentureBeat; see the original story for a second image and a 1:34 minute video, and see coverage in India Today for more details. –Matthew] [Image: Amazon’s new VR store dispenses with the trappings of a shop in favor of fun — a city full of products to explore in themed rooms. Credit: Amazon.] Watch Amazon’s VR kiosks transform the future of shopping Jeremy Horwitz July 12, 2018 Earlier this week, Amazon announced that it has opened virtual reality kiosks in 10 shopping…

[This story from JSTOR Daily describes how a recently published study expands our understanding of how the brain interprets, and can be led to misinterpret, the physical world. Aside from being interesting on their own, the story notes near the end how the conclusions have implications for the design of virtual environments. The original version of the story includes a different image; the press release mentioned is available from the Association for Psychological Science. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Association for Psychological Science] How Ventriloquism Tricks the Brain New research shows our brains place more weight on vision than hearing in identifying the…

[Can virtual reality and presence help prepare members of the public to treat someone in an overdose emergency? WESA-FM, Pittsburgh’s NPR News Station, reports on a collaborative effort led by the University of Pittsburgh; a 2:44 minute video of the simulation is available on YouTube and more simulations are on WyzLink’s YouTube channel. For comparison, see Ohio University’s April 2018 coverage of an acted out and video recorded simulation; the story includes a link at the end to videos and detailed information. –Matthew] [Image: Screenshot from “Opioid Rescue” a virtual reality simulation that teaches people to administer naloxone during an overdose…

[A new paper reviews the varied uses of presence-evoking technologies in cardiology; this story from Healthcare Analytics News provides a summary and links to the (free) article in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). For related stories see the ISPR Presence News posts “Virtual reality reveals the human heart in three dimensions“ and “Tufts Medical Center to use VR to let patients preview experience.” –Matthew] [Image: Mixed reality cardiac electrophysiology workflow graphic from Silva et al. article] How Extended Reality Is Changing Cardiology C. Gourarie July 09, 2018 Doctors can now manipulate holographic hearts and see our…

[Virtual and mixed reality and the presence they evoke are being used to help people explore and train for career opportunities in new, more effective and cost-efficient ways, as reported in this story from E-learning Inside News. –Matthew] Mixed Reality Workplace Training in Norway By Cait Etherington July 05, 2018 In the past, mixed reality, which combines both virtual reality and real-life contexts, has primarily been used to train workers in fields where simulations have long been a key element of training (e.g., the training of pilots). But can mixed reality also be used to train workers in other contexts?…

[This short story from CinemaBlend explains, and includes a 2:05 minute video clip of Steven Spielberg explaining, how the director used virtual reality to bring the virtual reality described in the novel Ready Player One to life in his recent film. Here’s a quote from the clip, which explains the screenshot below: “My avatar had a virtual camera and so if I pressed a button I could either start a video recorder and do actual shots by walking through the virtual set or I could do frame grabs.” I agree with the author’s endorsement: A group of us here at…