[The WindowSwap project lets users visit a website and “voyeuristically travel by looking out of somebody else’s window for a while.” This story from Smithsonian Magazine, where the original version includes seven more example images, also highlights other virtual travel experiences available online. The Kottke.org blog post “Let’s Go for a Stroll Outside” covers, and provides video examples of, another. –Matthew]

[Image: The view from WindowSwap user Ula’s window in Doha, Qatar. Credit: Courtesy of Sonali Ranjit and Vaishnav Balasubramaniam / Coded by Maryam Touimi Benjelloun)]

This Website Highlights Views Outside Windows Across The World

The WindowSwap project provides a virtual travel opportunity for those sheltering in place amid the COVID-19 pandemic

By Claire Bugos
July 16, 2020

With travel restrictions still in place, many would-be tourists are seeking out safe, socially distant options for getting a much-needed change of scenery.… read more. “WindowSwap provides virtual travel for those sheltering in place amid the pandemic”

[Lucas Rizzotto recorded his life in first-person 3D for all of 2019 and created a VR interface that allows him to re-experience any part of it. The short description below is from PetaPixel, where the story includes his 28:11 minute video (also available via YouTube) and some interesting quotes taken from it. For information on an award-winning and thought-provoking earlier social VR project by the artist-inventor, “Where Thoughts Go,” see coverage in VRScout. –Matthew]

This Guy Wore a Face Camera for a Year and Built a VR Time Machine

By Michael Zhang
July 11, 2020

San Francisco-based inventor Lucas Rizzotto spent all of 2019 wearing cameras on his face. He then built a virtual reality time machine that lets him relive any memory from the year by simply punching in a date and time.

Rizzotto shows how the project was done in the 28-minute video above, which exaggerates some aspects of the project for comedic/dramatic effect (and warning: there’s some strong language).… read more. “Dedicated artist-inventor wore a face camera for a year and built a VR time machine”

[A new company is using virtual reality and the presence it evokes to give people in the workplace first-person experiences to help them understand and counter “bias, inequity, and incivility.” This story is from IEEE Spectrum, where it includes a second image. For more information see the company’s website and for related stories see these previous ISPR Presence News posts:

• Presence for good: “Traveling While Black” VR documentary creates impactful experience
• Presence for good: Changing your race in virtual reality
• U. of Illinois students crowdfunding VR films to increase understanding about police-minority relations
• Can VR and presence help stop sexual harassment in the workplace?

–Matthew]

[Image: Using virtual reality, a company called Live in Their World allows users to experience workplace scenarios in which bias, inequity, and incivility arise. Credit: Live in Their World]

A Virtual Reality Bias Simulator

New company aims to create better workplaces by putting employees in others’ shoes

By Charles Q.… read more. “Bias simulator: New company uses VR to address bias and incivility in the workplace”

[This is a thoughtful survey of some fascinating and important issues and questions raised by incorporating artificial intelligence in human-like machines, creating medium-as-social-actor presence. It’s from USC Dornsife and draws on the expertise of researchers affiliated with the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; see the original version for a second image. –Matthew]

[Image: Credit: Mathieu Persan]

Do Humans Dream of Androids Dreaming?

From the species that brought you the moon landing and the hot dog eating contest, artificial intelligence is here to change the world.

By Stephen Koenig
July 7, 2020

The first question many people ask about artificial intelligence (AI) is, “Will it be good or bad?”

The answer is … yes.

Canadian company BlueDot used AI technology to detect the novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, just hours after the first cases were diagnosed.… read more. “How increasingly sophisticated AI will change our responses to human-like machines”

[The pandemic has accelerated the use of presence-evoking technologies in many contexts including psychological therapy, the subject of this story from The New York Times (where the original includes a second image). Even with the current limitations of presence via videoconferencing covered here, wider use of remote therapy is said to be likely to continue after the pandemic. The potential of emerging media such as virtual and augmented reality (as well as artificial intelligence) is not considered in the story but seems likely to even further enhance the effectiveness and success of teletherapy. –Matthew]

[Image: Credit: Kim Ryu]

Teletherapy, Popular in the Pandemic, May Outlast It

Some therapists find that remote therapy is so convenient to their patients that they will continue with it.

By Jeff Wilser
July 9, 2020

The 10-year-old girl was afraid that her American Girl dolls — buried in the bedroom closet — would come alive and attack her.… read more. “Teletherapy, popular in the pandemic, may outlast it”