[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 from a Google research paper gives you a stripped-down idea of what I was looking at while sitting in front of the screen. There are a lot of sensors. Credit: Google]

A meeting in Google’s 3D chat booth felt like real life science fiction

Project Starline is the real deal.… read more. “Starline update: A meeting in Google’s 3D chat booth felt like real life science fiction”

[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 VR avatar is a far cry from last year’s “thousands of people” goal.

By Kyle Orland
October 12, 2022

Last year, former Oculus CTO (and current Meta “executive advisor”) John Carmack threw down the gauntlet for Meta’s near-term metaverse plans.… read more. “John Carmack offers refreshingly honest assessments and advice about virtual reality”

[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 coverage of that from Tech Crunch.  –Matthew]

[Image: Source: Vice]

Meta’s new AI can turn text prompts into videos

It’s a breakthrough in generative AI that raises some tough ethical questions.

By Melissa Heikkilä
September 29, 2022

Meta has today unveiled an AI system that generates short videos based on text prompts.… read more. “Meta’s new AI can turn text prompts into videos, but raises ethical questions”

[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, to Anticipate Your Every Need

The cutesy robot doesn’t do much now, but the company says it’s a step toward machines that understand your habits.

By Will Knight
September 28, 2022

Jeff Bezos has wanted a home robot for a long time.… read more. “Amazon wants its home robot, Astro, to anticipate your every need”

[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

What happens when simulation theory becomes more than a fascinating thought experiment?

By Stephen Johnson
March 2, 2021

Are you living in a computer simulation?

If you’ve spent enough time online, you’ve probably encountered this question. Maybe it was in one of the countless articles on simulation theory.… read more. “Insights from director of ‘A Glitch in the Matrix’ documentary”