[A November 12, 2018 story on NBC10 in Philadelphia about La Salle University’s success using the simulation program Kognito to help faculty, staff and students identify and help people who are at risk for suicide led me to the May 2018 story below from CNET with more information about Kognito and other uses of its presence-evoking simulations. See also a 5:53 minute video report from February 2018 from Fox5 in New York via YouTube. –Matthew]

[Image: Interactive role-play simulations are helping health care professionals build empathy and practice communication skills. Source: Kognito.]

Virtual humans could improve conversations at the doctor’s office

Game-like simulations are training health care professionals to be more empathetic and to tackle conversations on tough topics like mental health.

By Abrar Al-Heeti
May 3, 2018

You sit down to talk with your doctor, but you sense he’s in a rush to get to the next patient.… read more. “Kognito uses conversations with virtual humans to prevent suicides on campus, increase empathy in doctor’s office”

[The new Furhat robot addresses the Uncanny Valley and diversity challenges involved in creating medium-as-social-actor presence. The story is from ZDNet, where it includes a 1:02 minute video. There’s also a press release on the company’s website and a collection of videos on YouTube. –Matthew]

Robots have a diversity problem. This Swedish startup could change that

Furhat Robotics is seeking to revolutionize social robotics by moving away from a one-face-fits-all approach.

By Greg Nichols
November 13, 2018

Swedish startup Furhat Robotics, which makes a tabletop social robot that’s a bit like an in-your-face Alexa, unveiled its latest generation social robot last week. The key feature of the robot is an expressive face that’s designed to leapfrog across the Uncanny Valley and foster genuine communication with users.

Furhat’s secret sauce is a rear projection unit inside the robot’s neck that displays a lifelike animated face on an anthropomorphic mask.… read more. “Furhat addresses Uncanny Valley and diversity challenges in social robotics”

[Two stories on advertising and virtual reality: First, Adweek describes a new Facebook ad campaign for the Oculus Go (Variety also notes the emphasis on media consumption rather than games) and the importance of engagement by current users vs. the number of headsets sold; the story includes four of the ads, which are also available on YouTube (1, 2, 3, 4). Then, 360i reports on the first programmatic advertising (targeted, algorithm-based placements) inside virtual reality experiences, in this case to promote the second season of National Geographic’s television series Mars. See The Drum for more coverage. –Matthew]

[Image: The rapper Wiz Khalifa stars in a new Oculus Go ad about VR entertainment. Credit: Facebook]

Watch Wiz Khalifa, Leslie Jones and Jonah Hill Experience Virtual Reality in New Oculus Ad

It’s all about entertainment

By Marty Swant
November 13, 2018

Oculus has a new star-studded 60-second spot that aims to highlight how virtual reality entertainment—not just gaming—could be appealing to the masses.… read more. “New advertising for and inside virtual reality”

[I know from personal experience the potential value of a new program at the University of Pennsylvania that uses virtual reality and presence to reduce stress in hospital waiting rooms. This story from The Daily Pennsylvanian describes the program and plans for expanding it. –Matthew]

[Image: Credit: Fern Nibauer-Cohen]

Virtual reality program lets cancer patients at Penn Med watch the sunrise from their waiting room

By Katharine Shao
November 11, 2018

Few people look forward to spending time in a hospital waiting room. There is typically bright, fluorescent lighting, a selection of sterile furniture and, if you’re lucky, a smattering of old magazines to thumb through while you wait for your turn.

Penn Medicine wants to turn that experience on its head by transporting patients to an alternate world. With the Radiation Oncology Department’s new virtual reality program, patients can spend their waiting time looking at the sunrise from the edge of a dock instead of staring at an empty wall.… read more. “VR program lets cancer patients at Penn Med watch the sunrise from their waiting room”

[Presence-evoking technology is impacting the delivery of news, raising important ethical questions. This story is from Mashable, where it includes a 0:31 minute video of an “AI anchor”; for more information and a longer video, see coverage in The Verge. –Matthew]

[Image: Source: Press From]

China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency debuts ‘AI anchor’ to read the news

By Matt Binder
November 8, 2018

The state-run press agency in China, Xinhua, will now deliver news using “AI anchors” made of digital composites that use synthesized voices to “read” the news.

These anchors look realistic, but are actually digital composites that are rendered using actual footage of human anchors reading the news. The AI anchors are able to “read” any text fed into the artificial intelligence using synthetic voices that are created through the use of composite audio recorded from the real-life anchors.… read more. “China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency debuts ‘AI anchor’ to read the news”