[The evolution of artificial intelligence systems that generate images, and now videos, from text prompts, has been particularly rapid this year. As the qualifiers in this story from MIT Technology Review (and others) suggests, it’ll still be a while before a member of the public can generate complete, complex and convincing audiovisual renderings of imagined objects, people and events, but the prospects are both intriguing and concerning. The original MIT Technology Review story includes three example videos, and for more on Meta’s system see coverage in The Verge. Google has already answered Meta’s work with its own Imagin system– see…

[Wired reports on Amazon’s improvements in, and longer term plans for, its home robot Astro, which include evolutions in form (limbs?) and function (elder care? companionship?) likely to generate a variety of medium-as-social-actor presence responses. Key quotes: “the company firmly believes domestic robots will one day become widespread. And they described how such devices offer a powerful way for Amazon to fulfill its main objective—anticipating customers’ every want and need.” and “’This is the beginning.’ Don’t expect Astro to evolve into something wildly more capable overnight—or Amazon to give up on the project.” –Matthew Amazon Wants Its Home Robot, Astro,…

[This insightful Big Think interview with the director of the documentary “A Glitch in the Matrix,” about the ultimate form of presence and its meanings and implications, isn’t new, but examples of people interpreting events as examples of the phenomenon continue to appear in the news, as noted in the new Yahoo! story, “TikToker convinced she finds ‘glitch in the matrix’ when unpacking after her move: ‘Your timelines merged’”; see the original Big Think story for different images and the documentary’s trailer (also available on YouTube). –Matthew ‘A Glitch in the Matrix’ documentary explores the dark side of simulation theory…

[Will there be a new, viable option for presence-evoking video conferencing that falls between relatively simple, non-immersive products like Zoom and advanced, cumbersome immersive systems like virtual reality? This Fast Company story describes one possibility. The original version of the story includes a second image and a short video. See the TMRW Foundation’s website for more information and videos, and watch Cevat Yerli describe his vision in a YouTube video from the World Government Summit 2022. –Matthew] This new service gives Zoom-style video calls a 3D video game twist Room gets your coworkers out of the grid and into a…

[This brief story from Upworthy describes the extensive efforts of marine biologist Erika Woolsey to use presence-evoking technology, including what the non-profit institution she founded identifies as Shared, Synchronized, Immersive Reality Experiences (SSIRE), to build public understanding, empathy and action regarding the Earth’s oceans and ocean life. See the original version of the story for six different vivid images and two videos, and see the Hydrous website for much more information. –Matthew] [Image: Manta Ray Eden: “This first iteration of our shared, synchronized, immersive reality experiences brought audience members at National Geographic’s virtual reality theater under the waters of Palau…

[This inspiring story from the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering is a reminder that presence experiences can and should be made available to everyone. See the original version for a 1:31 minute video (also available on YouTube). –Matthew] Haylee Mota Can Only See Light and Shadows. Yet She Sees So Much More. USC Viterbi sophomore reimagines telepresence robots for the visually impaired By Omar Lewis September 29, 2022 Haylee Mota remembers the moment well. She was a curious and inquisitive 7-year-old in awe of the spaceships, rockets and fighter jets at the National Air and Space Museum…