[This thoughtful, link-filled essay from Forbes considers the complicated swirl of issues surrounding the use and effects of virtual influencers and fictional digital characters more generally. See the original version for four more images. –Matthew] [Image: She’s in on it. Credit: Lil Miquela via Instagram] The Problematic Fakery Of Lil Miquela Explained—An Exploration Of Virtual Influencers and Realness Matt Klein, Contributor, “Studying culture and the interplay of our technology and psychology” November 17, 2020 Just as robots replaced the factory workers, and the drive-through workers were outsourced to India, those employed to yacht the world, drink fat-burning smoothies and just…

[The press release below from Toyohashi University of Technology via EurekAlert! describes an interesting new study of human behavior while sharing control of an avatar. The original version includes a second image and a 32 second video; the full paper is available from iScience and includes a 1:40 minute version of the same video. –Matthew] [Image: Movements of two participants were averaged into a shared avatar. The participants observed the shard avatar in a head-mounted display as their own body. When they reached for a target using the avatar’s hand, the avatar’s movement was observed as straighter and less jerky…

[An NSF funded interdisciplinary project is using presence to help people better understand the impacts of climate change by simulating the experience of walking through a forest at different points in time. See the original story from Penn State University for two short videos (also available from YouTube here and here). Science Times adds this: “Aside from forests, which are Earth’s natural carbon sinks, the model can also be used to create other global-warming related events such as bushfires, floods, droughts, melting glaciers, and loss of biodiversity. Another goal would be to communicate how the Earth has evolved not only…

[Cornell University reports on a new method of adding haptics to presence experiences, both in virtual and augmented reality and for teleoperated robots. See the original story for a second picture and a one-minute video (also available via YouTube). For a different approach to haptics involving “wrist-worn hammers” by Microsoft Research see a recent story from Gizmodo. –Matthew] [Image: Cornell researchers in the Organic Robotics Lab designed a 3D-printed glove lined with stretchable fiber-optic sensors that use light to detect a range of deformations in real time.] Stretchable sensor gives robots and VR a human touch By David Nutt November…

[The project described in this story from the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern California is designed to evoke presence and accomplish timely broader goals; note especially the last four paragraphs. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Courtesy of Sabina Zonno] Virtual reality takes users back to a 15th-century community of religious women USC Dornsife’s Sabina Zonno and Lynn Dodd receive a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to develop an immersive experience around a Renaissance-era manuscript. By Meredith McGroarty November 10, 2020 When you first pick up the 15th-century book of hours, it may feel heavy.…

[Much of this report from VRScout uses text from media artist Elyne Legarnisson to describe her award-winning work (un)Balanced, which apparently produces a very vivid and thought-provoking presence experience. The original story includes several more pictures and a 2:02 minute “teaser” video; for more about the artist and this work you can watch the 2020 Lumen XR Award Programme at the Lumen Prize website (go to 22:13 for a description of the award and 24:43 for the presentation). There’s even more information including a 4:47 minute “making of” video and many more images on Elyne Legarnisson’s website and a detailed…