[This story from MIT Technology Review describes a particularly powerful application of social presence, and illustrates how maximizing the level of perceptual realism should not always be the goal. Here are four key quotes from the story; see the original version for pictures of Claire and Ted Matte and Tom Nicel and his avatar: “’The lightbulb went off in my head—people feel like they’re really together in VR,’ [EvolVR founder] Jeremy [Nickel] says. That feeling of true presence, as if avatars were really sharing a room together, convinced him that a spiritual community could form among people wearing headsets.” “The…

[This CNET story provides an interesting first-person tour of the current (and likely future) options for providing haptic sensations that enhance presence experiences. See the original story for five more images and three videos.  –Matthew] [Image: Trying out HaptX haptic gloves in Las Vegas: These are considered the best, but they’re absolutely huge. Credit: Scott Stein/CNET] The Revelation I Got From Experiencing HaptX Is Wild I tested gloves and buzzing things in Las Vegas to see where the future points. By Scott Stein January 9, 2023 I put my hands out flat and loaded them into a pair of gloves…

[For more technical details about how it works, see coverage in Ars Technica, but this story from New Atlas captures some of the implications of the dizzying pace of progress in AI-generated images, videos and here voices, during these “interesting times.” See the original story for an embedded Tweet on the topic and visit Microsoft’s Vall-E website for many more details and to listen to examples. –Matthew] [Image: “A robot stealing a human’s voice, in the style of Picasso.” Generated by DALL-E] Microsoft’s new VALL-E AI can capture your voice in 3 seconds By Loz Blain January 10, 2023 Microsoft…

[Here’s an idea: Get rid of the headset and glasses all together. This first-person Mashable report from the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas explores some of the new options for high resolution 3D displays that can evoke presence without having to be worn on your head. See the original story for three different images and a 49 second video (also available on YouTube) about the Brelyon Fusion; the Brelyon press release is available from PR Newswire and there’s more information on the company’s website.  –Matthew] CES 2023: The future of Metaverse and VR depends on these glasses-free…

[The recent study described in this story from Psychology Today focuses on a type of presence phenomenon Matt Jones and I identified in a 2015 book chapter (and supplementary interactive online figure) as parapresence, a “perception that a person or entity is physically present in one’s environment when they are not, and could not logically be, present.” While it can be evoked using technology (e.g., complex magnetic fields), in this case technology is not involved. Aside from being fascinating, the parapresence in this story is a good reminder of how malleable our perceptions of reality can be. –Matthew] What It…

[As reported in this CNBC story, the ABBA Voyage concert experience that features 3D digital avatars of the music group performing in a dedicated arena in London has been a huge success and, despite some significant challenges, is expected to lead to more presence experiences that simulate live musical performances. See the original story for five more images and a 2:16 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: View of the ABBA Arena on May 26, 2022 in London, England. Credit: Dave J Hogan / Getty Images] ABBA’s successful avatar show in London offers a glimpse at a daring new direction for live…