[As if the political systems around the world didn’t have enough to worry about, the US Democratic Party recently highlighted the dangers of deepfake videos by creating one and presenting it as if it were a live appearance by their leader. See the original CNN version of the story below for a 2:26 minute video – start at 0:51 for a brief excerpt of the deepfake video itself. –Matthew] The Democratic Party deepfaked its own chairman to highlight 2020 concerns By Donie O’Sullivan August 10, 2019 Las Vegas (CNN Business) – The Democratic National Committee wanted to demonstrate the potential…

[This review of an immersive installation that recreates the experience of a World War I battle describes an intense and emotional presence experience. See the original review in Patch for a different picture, a 1:03 minute trailer and a 7:37 minute ‘making of’ video. For more information see earlier coverage in Variety and Engadget and the War Remains website. –Matthew] Austin-Exclusive ‘War Remains’ Immersive Exhibit Packs A Wallop Dramatic narration by Dan Carlin of popular ‘Hardcore History’ podcast gives voice to emotionally powerful experience. By Tony Cantu, Patch Staff August 10, 2019 AUSTIN, TX — Unless you’ve experienced combat, you’ll…

[An August 9, 2019 report in MIT Technology Review begins, “Meet Barry: his sole purpose in life is to listen patiently, and then protest or sob a little as you fire him from an imaginary job in virtual reality. … He was created by Talespin, a company that offers virtual reality workplace training. Barry and other VR characters were developed to help teach people ‘soft’ management skills—such as how to let someone go without causing a scene. If you are too blunt with Barry, he’ll put his head in his hands; other missteps will cause him to shout and yell.”…

[USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering reports on an interdisciplinary project to use haptic-enabled VR to help Parkinson’s patients retain mobility and avoid falls. See the original story for three more images and the Overcome website for much more information, including a 1:49 minute trailer (also available via YouTube). –Matthew] [Image: This picture shows the experiment setup, which includes (1) a clinical treadmill with (2) body weight support for safety of player, (3) HTC VIVE headset, (4) controllers that are attached to the railings, and (5) the tracker along with the haptic feedback setup. See the original on the Overcome website…

[To really understand the advance in presence-evoking technology described in this short story from Stanford Engineering, watch and listen to the 0:29 second video demonstration in the original story (ideally while wearing headphones) and the two longer videos on the project‘s web page. –Matthew] A new algorithm enables more realistic sound effects in VR If a character in a virtual environment drops a plate, software can generate that sound at just the right time. July 30, 2019 By Tom Abate When we watch movies or play video games, the right sound effects can help make scenes more realistic: When a…

[The new device described in this story from the University of Houston is another step toward effective presence illusions in teleoperation and other human-machine interactions. See the original version for a different picture and a 1:11 minute video. For more information see the paper in Science Advances. –Matthew] [Image: Source: IEEE Spectrum] A Wearable Device So Thin and Soft You Won’t Even Notice It Device Also Can Serve as Robotic Skin, Relaying Information Back to the User By Jeannie Kever August 2, 2019 Wearable human-machine interfaces – devices that can collect and store important health information about the wearer, among…