[Without using the term, this story from Unite.ai examines (and provides links to other stories about) a range of potential causes and potential effects of our medium-as-social-actor presence responses to different types of robots. –Matthew]

Emotional Attachment to Robots: Why Does It Happen, and Does It Matter?

By Zac Amos
November 17, 2022

Humans have been designing robots for a long time, and with advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), they will eventually exceed expectations with their abilities. Though humans desire them for their practical uses, such as deliveries or industry, experiments prove people get attached much like they would a family pet.

How could people get emotionally attached to metal, and is it part of human nature? The insight from these queries will reveal a great deal about how individuals will interact with robots as they become more knowledgeable and capable of complex tasks and thoughts.… read more. “Emotional attachment to robots: Why does it happen, and does it matter?”

[Here’s a bit of interesting presence history from My Modern Met; see the original story for three videos and three more images, and follow the many links for more information and examples. –Matthew]

[Image: Circa 1830 French Peepshow Toy of the Tuileries via Etsy; see these and more views at TypePunchMatrix]

Paper Peepshows: How People Experienced “Virtual Reality” in the 19th Century

By Madyson DeJausserand
November 10, 2022

Today, virtual reality technology involves putting on some sort of headset that can transform the world around you, from creating an immersive experience out of the Mona Lisa to seeing wilderness from the perspective of wildlife animals. But did you know there were similar experiences in the 19th century that could transport you across the world? A popular Reddit post has recently introduced many to the inventive art form that kept audiences entertained for centuries, known as paper peepshows.… read more. “Paper peepshows: How people experienced “virtual reality” in the 19th century”

[This short DesignTAXI story describes a new human-sized stuffed Teddy Bear created and marketed to evoke medium-as-social-actor presence. See the Loving Bear Puffy website for more information, many pictures, and testimonials including this one: “The first few days I felt a bit strange until I got used to his presence because he seems like a real person, but now I can’t imagine walking in and him not being home.” –Matthew]

[Image: Source: Loving Bear Puffy website]

Man-Sized Teddy Bear Is The Hunky Companion That Lets You Cuddle All Day Long

By Mikelle Leow
November 14, 2022

How often do you seek emotional support and a listening ear, without having your other half “fix” your problems for you? Well, forget the apps, because the companion for you might be here.

Loving Bear Puffy is like that dream partner who’s warm, supportive, snuggly, offers a sense of security, and is, erm, completely bearable.… read more. “Man-sized teddy bear is the hunky companion that lets you cuddle all day long”

[As this story from VentureBeat reports, companies like Hour One and Synthesia are creating hundreds of thousands of “authorized deepfake” videos for thousands of businesses, which means encounters and interactions with digital “people” will become increasingly common.  –Matthew]

[Image: Source: GRIT Daily]

Why authorized deepfakes are becoming big for business

By Sharon Goldman
November 9, 2022

Natalie Monbiot, head of strategy at synthetic media company Hour One, dislikes the word “deepfakes.”

“Deepfake implies unauthorized use of synthetic media and generative artificial intelligence — we are authorized from the get-go,” she told VentureBeat.

She described the Tel Aviv- and New York-based Hour One as an AI company that has also “built a legal and ethical framework for how to engage with real people to generate their likeness in digital form.”

Authorized versus unauthorized. It’s an important delineation in an era when deepfakes, or synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else’s likeness, has gotten a boatload of bad press — not surprisingly, given deepfakes’ longstanding connection to revenge porn and fake news.… read more. “Why authorized deepfakes are becoming big for business”

[Mashable reports on how MSNBC’s real-time graphics team developed technology that let them be the “first to seamlessly transition from real life space into a digital one on live television” during coverage of the recent U.S. midterm elections. Note especially the comments at the end about planned future uses of the technology. See the original story for several other pictures and a 1:56 minute video “sample of the Capitol illusion in action.”  –Matthew]

[Image: Screenshot from video in Mashable story]

How MSNBC used tech from ‘The Mandalorian’ to bring election night to life

Inside the beating, bustling, high-tech heart of 30 Rock.

By Elizabeth de Luna
November 11, 2022

It’s 6:55 on November 8th and on the 3rd floor of 30 Rockefeller Center, just beyond a silent sea of empty desks, is the beating heart of election night in America.… read more. “How MSNBC used Unreal Engine and projection tech to bring election night to life”