[The TV Guide review below of a new Amazon Prime Video series based on William Gibson’s novel The Peripheral and brought to the screen by the producers of HBO’s Westworld avoids major spoilers and makes clear that the series portrays, and addresses issues related to, advanced forms of presence. Not all the reviews are as positive (see The Hollywood Reporter and especially The Verge, but the program’s IMDb entry at this writing has an 8.3/10 rating). For more information and insights about the series see Wired’s interview with the producers. GeekWire’s coverage notes that series creator/producer/writer Scott B.…

[Initial evidence that the presence evoked by singing in virtual reality may have positive effects on health and wellbeing is discussed in this story from the University of York. In addition to the links within it, see a 15:49 minute talk by Professor Helena Daffern on YouTube. –Matthew Could virtual reality singing have mental health benefits? October 20, 2022 Researchers have created a virtual reality choir to understand whether virtual singing could have the same health and wellbeing benefits as group singing in real life. The team test the virtual reality singing experience in care homes. When in-person group singing…

[The short story below from ABC27 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and the press release from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections that follows describe an innovative use of presence-evoking virtual reality. –Matthew] [Image: Source: FOX 56] Virtual reality brings incarcerated Pa. parents closer to their kids By: Bryan Munoz Posted: October 17, 2022 / Updated: October 18, 2022 (WHTM) — The Department of Corrections is teaming up with Pittsburgh nonprofit Amachi for a one-a-kind initiative. “It’s an incredible opportunity for kids and parents to reconnect especially after a long period of no visitation,” said Anna Hollis, executive director for Amachi. It involves…

[This Motherboard story doesn’t use the term and isn’t about any traditional type of presence, but it describes a presence phenomenon in which humans overlook the key role of artificial intelligence technology in their mediated experience. See the original version for a Twitter post and link to an extended conversation, and Futurism’s March 2020 story “This Grad Student Used a Neural Network to Write His Papers.”  –Matthew] Students Are Using AI to Write Their Papers, Because Of Course They Are Essays written by AI language tools like OpenAI’s Playground are often hard to tell apart from text written by humans.…

[We haven’t heard much about Google’s Project Starline for a while, but this first-person report from The Verge indicates that Google is gradually expanding access to, and pursuing use cases for, the “next generation 3D video chat booth.” In addition to describing the impressive illusions it evokes, the author makes this key observation about both Starline and Meta’s virtual and mixed reality efforts: “I found it striking that two of the biggest tech companies in the world are trying to improve virtual presence.” See the original story for more images and the 1:51 minute “heartwarming” video. –Matthew] [Image: This image…

[Amid the incessant hype about virtual reality and the metaverse, honest assessments and advice from an expert can be both refreshing and valuable. John Carmack illustrates this in the Ars Technica story below; the original version features additional sidebars and Carmack’s hour-long unscripted talk at Meta Connect 2022 (which is also available on YouTube). For related assessments, and some historical context, see “What happened to the virtual reality gaming revolution?,“ also from Ars Technica, and “Virtual reality will now ruin ‘The Office’” from Cracked. –Matthew Carmack: “There’s a bunch that I’m grumpy about” in virtual reality Lonely lecture as a…