ISPR Presence News

Monthly Archives: February 2021

Call: 3rd European Conference on the Impact of AI and Robotics (ECIAIR)

Call for Papers

3rd European Conference on the Impact of AI and Robotics (ECIAIR)
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL)
Lisboa, Portugal
18 – 19 November 2021
https://www.academic-conferences.org/conferences/eciair/eciair-call-for-papers/

Abstract submission deadline: 28 April 2021

NOTE: We are aware that the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 may affect your ability to attend an event in person, but we are integrating interactive virtual participation where attendance is not possible. We urge you to continue to submit your abstracts and papers in line with the published dates (extensions will be granted on request). For more details and regular updates please click here or contact info@academic-conferences.org

  • Academic Papers
  • Case Studies
  • Work in-Progress Papers
  • Round Table Discussion Proposals
  • PhD Papers
  • Posters
  • Non- Academic or Practitioner Contributions

The European Conference on the Impact of AI and Robotics (ECIAIR) aims to develop into a key forum where natural scientists, social scientists and practitioners come together to envision the future of society in the context of advanced AI and Robotics.… read more. “Call: 3rd European Conference on the Impact of AI and Robotics (ECIAIR)”

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One solution for keeping you motivated during workouts: A digitally enhanced reflection

[A Florida company’s technology designed to motivate exercise and other healthy behavior creates a real-time (presence-evoking) reflection of a person modified (e.g., based on their heart rate) so that they appear “with up to a 30 percent increase or reduction in weight or muscle mass.” Details are reported in this story from The Washington Post; visit the EnvisionBody website for more information including a one-minute video (an extended version of the video is available in an earlier press release via PR Newswire). A negative opinion about the effects of the technology can be found in Input Magazine. –Matthew]

[Image: EnvisionBody wants to infuse augmented-reality weight loss into the fitness industry. Credit: EnvisionBody]

One solution for keeping you motivated during workouts: A digitally enhanced reflection

Fla.-based start-up aims to launch software enabling users to exercise with digitally altered clone

By Dalvin Brown
January 9, 2021

Imagine burning calories on the latest, trendy stationary bike to tackle your New Year’s fitness resolutions.… read more. “One solution for keeping you motivated during workouts: A digitally enhanced reflection”

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Call: Virtual RO-MAN 2021, IEEE Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication

Call for Papers

VIRTUAL RO-MAN 2021 CONFERENCE
30th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication
University of British Columbia and University of Waterloo, Canada
August 8 – 12, 2021
https://ro-man2021.org/

Submission deadline for full papers: March 21, 2021

As we write this in the fall of 2020, the world is in the grip of a pandemic that shows no definitive sign of abating, although there are hopeful indications in many countries. This year’s RO-MAN conference that was meant to be held in Naples was held virtually, transformed by a resourceful organizing committee who responded quickly and expertly to bring our research community a great conference under very difficult and unprecedented circumstances.

We do not know what the summer of 2021 will bring in terms of global travel restrictions, local gathering norms, and personal desires to risk venturing from our respective bubbles.… read more. “Call: Virtual RO-MAN 2021, IEEE Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication”

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Mississippi State U. to use VR to help future growers navigate high risk agriculture enterprise

[This story from Mississippi State University is about an interesting new application of presence-evoking technology that helps students safely and quickly learn about processes that in the real world are both high-risk and slow. See the first link at the end for more information including two earlier articles (here and here) and a slide set. –Matthew]

[Image: Prototype of virtual greenhouse in development. Credit: Pulseworks, LLC]

MSU virtual reality initiative to help future growers navigate high risk ag enterprise

Contact: Vanessa Beeson
February 1, 2021

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Learning how to maneuver the high-risk aspects of the agriculture industry is taking on a new meaning for Mississippi State students through 3-D virtual reality and the university’s Future Growers Technology Initiative.

A one-of-a-kind simulated greenhouse, nearing completion and developed through the initiative’s cross-college collaboration efforts, not only will give future farmers a safer state-of-the-art tool, but will redefine the time it takes to analyze crop production.… read more. “Mississippi State U. to use VR to help future growers navigate high risk agriculture enterprise”

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Call: “Science MashUp 2021: XR – Society – Utopias” Symposium

Call for Abstracts

“Science MashUp 2021: XR – Society – Utopias” Symposium
15th “Long Night of Video Games”
Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK Leipzig)
Leipzig, Germany – “Probably as a virtual conference”
April 24, 2021

Submission deadline: February 20, 2021

In the context of the 15th “Long Night of Video Games” at Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK Leipzig), we call for submissions for the scientific symposium “Science MashUp 2021”. The “Science MashUp 2021: XR – Society – Utopias” will take place on Saturday, April 24, 2021, from 4 to 7 p.m. at HTWK Leipzig, probably as a virtual conference with screencasts and online interactions.

The conference format is a mashup of classical lectures of a maximum length of 10 minutes or a visualized contribution in the style of Pecha Kucha (20 images – 20 seconds in six minutes). Scientific contributions are welcome that highlight both current and potentially future utopian and dystopian developments in the fields of policy, society, culture, and the environment with current (or future) digitally augmented realities.… read more. “Call: “Science MashUp 2021: XR – Society – Utopias” Symposium”

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Hansen Robotics to mass produce Sophia and three other social robots

[As Newsweek reports, Hanson Robotics is set to produce thousands of Sophias and three other robot models starting this year; see the original story for three different pictures and a short video. For other interesting news about medium-as-social-actor presence with robots see a Yale University story about research by the Interactive Machines Group that explores how a robot can use eye gaze and humor to set photography subjects at ease and an earlier study of how a group of bystander robots with sad facial expressions can stop humans from abusing another robot. –Matthew]

[Image: Sophia in lab. Source: Reuters, where the story includes four more large images]

Sophia the Robot Makers Hansen Robotics to Mass Produce Thousands of Humanoid Machines

By Samantha Lock
January 25, 2021

The makers of Sophia the robot are set to mass produce thousands of humanoid machines starting this year.… read more. “Hansen Robotics to mass produce Sophia and three other social robots”

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Call: Designing Technologies to Support Workplace Learning issue of IEEE TLT

Call for Papers for a Special Issue of the
IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies
on
“DESIGNING TECHNOLOGIES TO SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL
AND WORKPLACE LEARNING FOR SITUATED PRACTICE”

Guest Editors:
Viktoria Pammer-Schindler, Graz University of Technology, Austria
Allison Littlejohn, University College London, U.K.
Tobias Ley, Tallinn University, Estonia
Joachim Kimmerle, IWM-KMRC Tuebingen, Germany
Mark J. W. Lee, Charles Sturt University, Australia

Email: tlt-workplacelearning@ieee.org

(PDF version of this CFP available at https://bit.ly/3iS8I1h)

Deadline for abstract submission (optional): April 15, 2021; full manuscripts due June 15

In an era of global, organizational, and technological change, all of which are transforming the world of work, professional and workplace learning are critical for both employability and organizational competitiveness. Such learning is therefore needed on a greater scale than ever before, and the only way to provide that scale is through the integration of technology and learning.… read more. “Call: Designing Technologies to Support Workplace Learning issue of IEEE TLT”

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Valve CEO says BCI tech will allow video games far beyond what human ‘meat peripherals’ can comprehend

[As Valve CEO Gabe Newell says in this story from New Zealand’s 1 News, some of the company’s ideas about brain-computer interfaces are “indistinguishable from science fiction,” and many of them involve the promise and peril of presence. See the original story for two more images and two videos including a 12:22 interview with the CEO. –Matthew]

[Image: Open BCI’s Galea BCI headset design. Credit: OpenBCI]

Gabe Newell says brain-computer interface tech will allow video games far beyond what human ‘meat peripherals’ can comprehend

The head of US gaming company Valve Corporation says a future is fast approaching where video games will use data from people’s brain signals to adjust the experience they get — and even a future where people’s minds can be adjusted by computers.

By Luke Appleby, 1 NEWS Digital Reporter
January 24, 2021

Gabe Newell spoke to 1 NEWS about the future of brain computer interfaces (BCIs) — an area he and other Valve staff have studied for several years now — and talked about how Valve is working to put BCIs to use in the gaming sector.… read more. “Valve CEO says BCI tech will allow video games far beyond what human ‘meat peripherals’ can comprehend”

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Sony files patent for tech that lets spectators influence VR user’s experience

[The technology described in a new patent filed by Sony would allow other people to not only watch but directly alter the real-time experience of a VR user. This widely cited story is from IGN, where it includes a 3 minute video. For a related development see a Comicbook story about a different Sony patent that involves “Placement of User Information in a Game Space.” –Matthew]

PlayStation Files Patent For Technology That Lets Spectators Mess With You in VR

“Spectators have given you a soup ladle.”

By Jordan Oloman
29 January 2021

PlayStation has filed a patent for technology that lets audience members participate in virtual reality content, making decisions for the active player. Or, you know, just messing with them.

The patent was filed in October of 2020 but was recently published. You can find the front page with a useful illustration of the technology in action on the US Patent and Trademark Office website.… read more. “Sony files patent for tech that lets spectators influence VR user’s experience”

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Preview and Call: The International Journal of Telepresence (IJT)

As many ISPR members and ISPR Presence News readers know, we’ve been working for a long time toward the creation of a new journal focused on presence, an open access journal with no publication charges that is open to a wide variety of interdisciplinary presence-related topics, research methods, and presentation formats. We’re not quite ready for an official roll-out but you can now visit the website of ISPR’s International Journal of Telepresence (IJT) at https://ijtelepresence.org. There you’ll find not only the detailed Call for Submissions (excerpted below) but two excellent initial published articles by our colleagues (direct links below). The journal site will be closely linked to the ISPR website and highlighted at the top of each ISPR Presence News post. We consider IJT your journal, so we welcome your feedback and suggestions as well as your involvement as author, reviewer and in any other role(s) in which you’d like to contribute.… read more. “Preview and Call: The International Journal of Telepresence (IJT)”

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