ISPR Presence News

Monthly Archives: August 2021

Call: Workshops, Tutorials for MUM 2021, 20th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia

Call for Workshops and Tutorials

MUM 2021, 20th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia
December 5-8, 2021
Leuven, Belgium
https://www.mum-conf.org/2021/cfp-workshops/

Submission deadline: September 15, 2021 (AoE)

CALL FOR WORKSHOPS

The International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (MUM 2021) welcomes proposals for workshops. A MUM Workshop is a forum for attendees with shared interests to present, discuss, and develop new ideas around a specific theme or domain related to Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia. It is the perfect opportunity for putting the best minds in the field together to build new communities, to explore new ideas, and to develop emerging topics.

All workshops will take place on the Sunday before the conference, on the 5th of December. Because workshops are meant to encourage ideas exchange, we encourage proposals that go beyond being a mini-conference and that engage participants in hands-on activities and in discussion.… read more. “Call: Workshops, Tutorials for MUM 2021, 20th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia”

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Clubhouse embraces spatial audio for more lifelike conversations

[Short stories from The Verge and Reuters provide details on a new presence-enhancing feature in the Clubhouse audio chat app. See a February 2021 ISPR Presence News post for more about Clubhouse. –Matthew]

[Image: Source: Engadget. Credit: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

Clubhouse embraces spatial audio for more lifelike conversations

Speakers are distributed in 3D space just like the real world

By Thomas Ricker
August 30, 2021

Clubhouse began rolling out a iOS app update on Sunday that enables spatial audio support. The Android update is “coming soon,” according to the company. The feature works by introducing subtle spatial cues that position speakers on Clubhouse calls into three-dimensional space around your head, making the remote listening experience a better approximation of being in a room full of people. It works best with headphones, either Bluetooth or wired.

Clubhouse tweeted out a video allowing you to hear for yourself how it sounds.… read more. “Clubhouse embraces spatial audio for more lifelike conversations”

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Call: IET 2022: Intercultural Ethics and Technology Conference

Call for Abstracts

IET 2022: Intercultural Ethics and Technology Conference
January 27-28, 2022
Online
https://www.esdit.nl/conferences/IET2022/

Submission deadline: September 22, 2021

Dear all,

On January 27 and 28, 2022, there will be an international online conference on Intercultural Ethics, with a specific focus on the ethics of technology and intercultural philosophy. Our aim is to bring together the ethical approaches and frameworks from various cultural backgrounds and traditions, in order to organize an intercultural ethical dialogue, especially on (but not limited to) technology and its social and cultural implications.

The conference will be organized by the Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies research program: a 10-year program in which 5 universities collaborate to investigate how new and emerging technologies challenge our ethical frameworks and approaches (for more information: see www.esdit.nl). It will be hosted from the University of Twente, the Netherlands.… read more. “Call: IET 2022: Intercultural Ethics and Technology Conference”

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VR brings the past to life at Greensboro, NC’s Magnolia House

[The University of North Carolina Greensboro’s College of Arts and Sciences reports on an interdisciplinary project to reproduce the experience of walking through an historic building in the 1950s; see the original version of the story for five more images and a 3:25 minute video (also available via YouTube). –Matthew]

[Image: The UNCG team of designers and computer scientists watch as Melissa Knapp ’20 tours the historic hotel in virtual reality.]

Virtual Reality brings the past to life at Magnolia House

Story by Elizabeth Keri, College of Arts & Sciences
Photography by Martin W. Kane, University Communications
August 9, 2021

Combining design, history, and computer science, UNC Greensboro is bringing a piece of important local history to life.

Members of UNCG’s Interior Architecture and Computer Science departments recently teamed up to create a virtual reality (VR) tour of the historic Magnolia House as it would have appeared in the 1950s.… read more. “VR brings the past to life at Greensboro, NC’s Magnolia House”

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Call: “The Human Factor” for Yearbook of Technology Philosophy 2023

Call for Papers

Jahrbuch Technikphilosophie [Yearbook of Technology Philosophy] 2023
“The Human Factor”
https://groups.google.com/g/isr-hps-sts/c/lIPVL3Z_24E

Submission deadline: January 15, 2022
Optional topic proposals/outlines accepted until October 15, 2021

The perfection of technology makes “man” appear in a variety of different lights. According to many narratives, perfected technology (finally) sets humans free, thanks to services ideally suited to them.

But perfected technology also leads to something like an inverse anthropology: the more perfect, the more determined things ideally are or should be, the more noticeably the human factors, the degrees of freedom of human behavior, appear as a source of irritation. The individual human being is the irregular element: unpredictable, imperfect, he (or she) just “fits” badly: individuals press the wrong buttons, get tired in front of the screen, misuse tools, try out what happens when setting off an alarm, and run across busy streets without looking right or left.… read more. “Call: “The Human Factor” for Yearbook of Technology Philosophy 2023”

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‘Hyperrealism Sculpture’ exhibit in Brussels invites naked visitors

[This item from The Brussels Times reports on an unusual presence-evoking art exhibition; The Times says “The exhibition features 1970s works of ‘hyperrealism’ representing the human body with the aim, according to curators, of ‘offering a perfect illusion, giving the feeling of facing an exact replica of reality.’” For more pictures and videos see Tempora’s Instagram. –Matthew]

‘Hyperrealism Sculpture’ exhibit in Brussels invites naked visitors

21 August 2021

A special art exhibition in Brussels invites visitors to examine hyper-realistic sculptures focused on the human form while naked themselves.

Located at Tour & Taxis in the Belgian capital, the naturist-friendly exhibit opens on 30 August and has previously been presented at the Museum of Fine Arts in Bilbao (Spain), the Museum of Contemporary Art in Monterrey (Mexico), the National Gallery in Canberra (Australia), the Kunsthal in Rotterdam and at the Boverie Museum in Liège.… read more. “‘Hyperrealism Sculpture’ exhibit in Brussels invites naked visitors”

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Call: Gendering Robots: Ongoing (Re)Configurations of Gender in Robotics – IJSR special issue

Call for Papers

GENDERING ROBOTS: ONGOING (RE)CONFIGURATIONS OF GENDER IN ROBOTICS
Special issue of
International Journal of Social Robotics (IJSR)
https://www.springer.com/journal/12369/updates/19292566

Submission deadline: January 31st, 2022

Dear colleagues,

After the success of the GenR 2021 workshop at RO-MAN 2021 last week, I am pleased to announce that the homonym Special Issue “GENDERING ROBOTS: Ongoing (Re)configurations of Gender in Robotics” is now open for submissions on the International Journal of Social Robotics (IJSR)! The Special Issue opened on August 12th and will stay open until January 31st, 2022. All submitted papers will be reviewed as soon as they are received and the accepted papers will be published online first until the complete Special Issue is published. Please note that we welcome submissions from all disciplines addressing the topic of gender in robots and are open to submissions from Ethics, Social Sciences, Psychology, and Humanities, as well as more technical and traditional Social Robotics and HRI papers.… read more. “Call: Gendering Robots: Ongoing (Re)Configurations of Gender in Robotics – IJSR special issue”

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AI gave Val Kilmer his voice back. But critics worry the technology could be misused.

[This Washington Post story describes how a company created a voice deepfake for actor Val Kilmer after surgery for throat cancer and addresses some of the ethical and legal implications of the technology. For more information see coverage at Silicon Canals, an apparent press release at About Insider, and the Sonantic blog. –Matthew]

[Image: Actor Val Kilmer in Los Angeles on Sept. 7, 2012. Credit: Ryan Miller/Invision/AP]

AI gave Val Kilmer his voice back. But critics worry the technology could be misused.

British start-up Sonantic used old films of Hollywood actor to re-create his natural voice

By Dalvin Brown
August 18, 2021

“My voice as I knew it was taken away from me. People around me struggle to understand me when I’m talking,” said a voice, immediately recognizable as the actor Val Kilmer, in a video shared on YouTube last week.… read more. “AI gave Val Kilmer his voice back. But critics worry the technology could be misused.”

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Call: Perception Holo-SDK Desktop Augmented Reality Demo and Workshop (Free, Online)

Call for Participation

Desktop Augmented Reality Demo & Workshop (Free)
By Perception Holo-SDK
Wednesday, 15 September 2021
12:00 – 13:30 EDT
Online
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/desktop-augmented-reality-demo-workshop-tickets-168067262707

We would like to invite you to a demonstration and workshop on an exciting piece of new technology ‘Desktop Augmented Reality (AR)’ by Perception Holo-SDK.

ABOUT THE EVENT:

This session will demonstrate Desktop Augmented Reality (AR) technology and invite participants to reflect and evaluate the use of this technology in galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs). Developed by Perception Holo-SDK, desktop AR enables viewers to enjoy two-dimensional computer visuals in three-dimensions and so offers a more immersive experience of our computer’s digital environment. This offers an exciting opportunity for both digital and physical exhibitions and museums such as the Imperial War Museums and the Science Museum Group are set to develop new holographic experiences with Perception Holo-SDK.… read more. “Call: Perception Holo-SDK Desktop Augmented Reality Demo and Workshop (Free, Online)”

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Free Guy film’s philosophy: Could we just be lines of code in a grand simulation?

[In this piece from The Conversation a philosophy professor uses the new film “Free Guy” as a starting point to explain some of the concepts and implications of the ultimate form of presence, in which all of our experience is actually a simulation or illusion. See IMDb for two trailers and Variety for a (positive) review of the film, which is in theaters now and according to Collider will debut “on all major digital platforms on September 28 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on October 12.” Matt Jones and I are among those who have written about this intriguing topic. –Matthew]

Free Guy’s philosophy: could we just be lines of code in a grand simulation?

By Benjamin Curtis, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Ethics, Nottingham Trent University
August 20, 2021

Have you ever wondered if you’re just a character in some elaborate simulation?… read more. “Free Guy film’s philosophy: Could we just be lines of code in a grand simulation?”

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