ISPR Presence News

Monthly Archives: April 2021

Call: “Socially-Informed AI for Healthcare: Understanding and Generating Multimodal Nonverbal Cues” ICMI 2021 workshop

Call for Papers

“Socially-Informed AI for Healthcare: Understanding and Generating Multimodal Nonverbal Cues”
A workshop at ICMI 2021, the 23rd ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction
Montreal, Canada
October 18-22 (specific date TBA)
https://social-ai-for-healthcare.github.io/

Paper submission deadline: June 18, 2021

Dear colleagues,

We are pleased to announce our workshop titled “Socially-Informed AI for Healthcare: Understanding and Generating Multimodal Nonverbal Cues” which takes place as part of the 23rd ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction 2021 in October 2021 in Montreal, Canada. For more information, please see https://social-ai-for-healthcare.github.io/.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Advances in the areas of face and gesture analysis, computational paralinguistics, multimodal interaction, and human-computer interaction have all played a major role in shaping research into assistive technologies over the last decade, resulting in a breadth of practical applications ranging from diagnosis and treatment tools to social companion technologies.… read more. “Call: “Socially-Informed AI for Healthcare: Understanding and Generating Multimodal Nonverbal Cues” ICMI 2021 workshop”

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Telepresence robots allow family members to ‘drop in’ on loved ones living with dementia

[As several posts here over the years illustrate, presence has been used in several ways to diagnose and treat dementia, but a new project described in this story from Research Manitoba is investigating the use of telepresence robots by family caregivers to stay connected with and support those with mild to moderate dementia. Though there are potential drawbacks such as relying too much on the technology, I especially like the title of the Winnipeg Free Press story about the project: “Bots offer warm (tele)presence where needed: Pilot project aims to help people with dementia.” –Matthew]

Robots Allow Family Members to ‘Drop in’ on Loved Ones Living with Dementia

By Brian Cole
March 5, 2021

A woman learns that her mother has just been diagnosed with mild to moderate dementia.

Naturally, she wants to do everything she can to support her mother’s decision to stay living at home on her own, at least for the foreseeable future.… read more. “Telepresence robots allow family members to ‘drop in’ on loved ones living with dementia”

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Call: (In)Tangible Heritage(s): A conference on design, culture and technology – past, present, and future

Call for Abstracts

CANTERBURY 2022
(IN)TANGIBLE HERITAGE(S):
A conference on design, culture and technology – past, present, and future
Canterbury, UK / Virtual
Organisers: University of Kent
Dates: 15-17 June 2022
https://architecturemps.com/canterbury-2022/

Deadline for abstract submissions (early): 01 July 2021

CONTEXT

The buildings, towns and cities we inhabit are physical entities created in the past, experienced in the present, and projected to inform the future. The same can be said of the artefacts we use daily: designed furniture in the home, the mobile devices in our hands, the vehicles we see on our streets. However, each of these places, buildings and products had, at their inception, social and cultural roles beyond their ‘object’ status. They continue to have them today. What we understand a designed object to be then, is a complex question of material and social import, and an intricate play of the tangible and intangible identities.… read more. “Call: (In)Tangible Heritage(s): A conference on design, culture and technology – past, present, and future”

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I acted like a reckless, immortal idiot in VR for a week – here’s what happened

[This entertaining first-person report from Laptop Magazine describes the author’s pursuit of adrenaline rushes in virtual reality; see the original story for seven more images. The author asks “Why isn’t there a bungee-jumping app?” While it’s not an app but see the SoraNews24 story “New virtual reality attraction allows thrill-seekers to bungee jump off Tokyo Tower.” –Matthew]

I acted like a reckless, immortal idiot in VR for a week — here’s what happened

I searched for the ultimate adrenaline rush via Oculus Quest 2

By Kimberly Gedeon
April 11, 2021

The pure chaos, lawlessness and anarchy of virtual reality (VR) makes it an attractive realm for daredevils at heart who are too chicken to “YOLO” in real life. “Who’s going to stop me?” becomes your motto as you realize there are no fines, prisons or authoritative figures to wag their judgy fingers at you.… read more. “I acted like a reckless, immortal idiot in VR for a week – here’s what happened”

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Call: “Intricacies of Child-Robot Interaction” issue of Multimodal Technologies and Interaction

Call for Papers

“Intricacies of Child-Robot Interaction”
Special issue [or book] to be published by the open-access journal Multimodal Technologies and Interaction
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/mti/special_issues/Child_Robot_Interaction

Submission deadline: September 1, 2021

Dear colleagues,

We invite contributions for a Special Issue on “Intricacies of Child-Robot Interaction”, to be published by the open-access journal Multimodal Technologies and Interaction.

ABOUT THE SPECIAL ISSUE:

In recent decades, there has been an upsurge in interest around the child-robot interaction (CRI). The possibilities of using social robots for educational or therapeutic purposes in schools, hospitals, and domestic settings have captured the attention of researchers, institutions, and stakeholders alike.

In recent years, however, voices have been raised that emphasizes the need for critical and ethical perspectives on the study and use of social robots for children. The trajectory of technological change is never straightforward. While the potentials for CRI are high, so are the stakes.… read more. “Call: “Intricacies of Child-Robot Interaction” issue of Multimodal Technologies and Interaction”

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This room-sized ‘hologram’ display generates enormous 3D images

[Although not photorealistic, the 3D display technology described in this story from Digital Trends produces what look like engaging presence illusions; see the original story for two more images and a 2:48 minute video (also available via YouTube). A story in Singularity Hub notes that “Dragon O has been used in a Lancome perfume launch, a game called Virus Killer, a nightclub in Berlin, and events in Shenzhen, Barcelona, and Munich.” See the LED Pulse website for much more information. –Matthew]

This room-sized ‘hologram’ display generates enormous 3D images

By Luke Dormehl
April 1, 2021

Picture a beaded string curtain, but one in which every bead is a tiny light, called a “voxel” or “LED neuron.” By switching these lights off and on in different combinations, the bead curtain becomes a kind of screen that’s able to display two-dimensional animations.… read more. “This room-sized ‘hologram’ display generates enormous 3D images”

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Call: “The Construction of the Robot in Language and Culture” issue of Technology and Language

Call for Contributions

The Construction of the Robot in Language and Culture
Theme issue of Technology and Language

Submission deadline: January 10, 2022

The second issue of Technology and Language has just appeared – and with it a new call for contributions. Individual papers and the whole issue are freely available at https://soctech.spbstu.ru/en/issue/2/. “In the Beginning was the Word: The Word as a Technical Artefact”  features contributions from Irina Belyaeva, Chandrima Christiansen, Christopher Coenen and Alexandra Kazakova, Thomas Froy, Tatiana Kazarina, Ulrike Ramming, Walker Trimble, Viktoria Vorotnikova and Sergey Karlin, and Joseph Wilson.

New Call for Contributions: The Construction of the Robot in Language and Culture, guest editor: CHENG Lin (deadline: January 10, 2022)

The word “robot” is a Czech invention. As the word traveled to English speaking areas and from there to other languages and cultures, did the robot on this journey become something else?… read more. “Call: “The Construction of the Robot in Language and Culture” issue of Technology and Language”

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Zoom’s Immersive View feature designed to evoke both spatial and social presence

[Because Zoom dominates the global market in remote meeting platforms (see a recent survey by EmailToolTester), it’s big news that the company has rolled out a new feature designed to make meetings feel more like they’re taking place in a familiar space than a grid of boxes. Engadget’s coverage starts this way:

“When a feature works, chances are others will co-opt it. Last year, Microsoft followed in Zoom’s footsteps by adding virtual backgrounds to its Teams app. As a testament to the feature’s popularity, Google did the same by bringing the option to Education users on Google Meet. With competition mounting, Zoom has introduced Snapchat-style filters and a virtual receptionist in order to keep evolving. But now it’s borrowing from its rivals with the launch of ‘Immersive View,’ a new type of virtual background that assembles video participants together in one scene.… read more. “Zoom’s Immersive View feature designed to evoke both spatial and social presence”

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Call: 3rd Zip-Scene Conference on Immersive Storytelling

Call for Paper and Panel Proposals

3rd Zip-Scene Conference on Immersive Storytelling
30 September – 2 October, 2021
Organized in Budapest, at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in partnership with ARDIN [see note below]
https://zip-scene.mome.hu

Deadline for submitting paper/panel proposals: May 15, 2021

NOTE: We aim to carry out this conference preferably as an offline event based in Budapest, should the circumstances of the current pandemic permit. The organizer reserves the right to make changes to the event program. When sending the abstract, please indicate whether you are planning to attend physically the event or you would prefer to present online.

Dear Colleagues,

We have an open #callforproposals for the 3rd Zip-Scene Conference on Immersive Storytelling (30 September – 2 October) organized in Budapest, at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in partnership with ARDIN. This year we are especially interested in interactive storytelling projects or analyses that deal with some aspects of speculative design and future forecasting.… read more. “Call: 3rd Zip-Scene Conference on Immersive Storytelling”

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How the aviation industry is using VR and AR (and presence)

[This blog post in AviationPros (by a company with vested interest) describes the many ways the aviation industry is using presence-evoking technologies to improve the safety and comfort of travelers. It’s been lightly edited to remove typos and add information for non-experts.  –Matthew]

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Solutions for the Aviation Industry

Virtual and Augmented reality has become a great asset for aviation companies to provide better service and train their staff in a more accurate way.

By Tecknotrove Systems
April 22, 2021

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technology is evolving at a rapid rate and it is proving to be a powerful game-changer from every aspect. As a result, many diverse industries are now readily experimenting with this immersive technology to streamline their operations, improve capabilities, and train staff in a better way.

Given the expensive nature of the aviation industry and the high cost of making mistakes, VR has now become a great asset for aviation companies to provide better service and train their staff in a more accurate way.… read more. “How the aviation industry is using VR and AR (and presence)”

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