[The story below from IndieWire describes three examples of how storytelling artists are using virtual reality to create body-centered presence experiences. For more on “Spaced Out” see coverage in /Film and CNET; for more on “Hypha” see VRScout; and for more on VR trends at Sundance 2020 see Forbes. –Matthew] [A still from “Spaced Out” by Pierre Friquet, an official selection of the New Frontier Exhibitions program at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute.] Sundance VR Programming Showcased Much More Than Movies in a Headset The potential for VR to immerse users in new bodily experiences…

[Last week Stephen Colbert, the host of The Late Show on CBS (in the US), used a clever iPad-based invention he calls the “Ask-O-Matic” to interview voters and a presidential candidate in advance of today’s Iowa caucuses; the funny 7:46 minute video segment is available via YouTube. But this technology isn’t new: Colbert introduced it on the September 20, 2012 episode of his previous TV program, The Colbert Report, when he interviewed documentarian Errol Morris. See a brief discussion on the New Territory Media blog and watch that earlier segment (start at 3:46) as well as the episode’s sign-off on…

[This post from Scientific American’s Voices blog makes a strong argument that creators of presence experiences need to work hard to make them accessible to all of us. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Getty Images] Virtual Reality Has an Accessibility Problem It’s been touted as an “empathy machine” that lets users see what it’s like to have a disability—but people with disabilities often can’t use it By Kaitlin Ugolik Phillips January 29, 2020 Virtual reality has come a long way since the 1960s-era Sensorama, which looked like a vintage arcade game and required the user to walk up and stick one’s head…