[This press release from Ohio State University describes a training program that uses virtual reality and presence to simulate the experience of first responders in a variety of disaster situations. See the original version for a 1:31 minute video and a link to more multi-media materials. The project’s web page provides more details and includes a 5:00 minute video. NBC4 in Columbus, Ohio has a 2:34 minute news report. And for even more information see a July 2021 Ohio State interview about the project. –Matthew] [Image: Paramedic Joshua Cooper participates in virtual reality mass casualty training at Delaware County EMS.…

[At a launch event for the Charlotta Bass Journalism and Justice Lab at the University of Southern California on February 8, 2023 the Lab’s founding director Professor Allissa Richardson, unveiled the Lab’s first virtual human, Lora King. Professor Richardson’s Facebook post after the event (which includes nine more images) is below and provides some of the details about the project and a link to a website where you can “talk” to Lora King. For more information, see coverage from USC’s Daily Trojan, USC News, and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. –Matthew] Today, Lora King and I debuted…

[This short story from rAVe [PUBS] based on a press release from Coventry University is an update on the innovative, international Immersive Telepresence in Theatre project. See the original story for a second image and visit the project’s website, and in particular its About page, for much more information. –Matthew] Coventry University’s Telepresence in Theatre with Virtual Performers is Heading to USA By Maggie McIntyre January 30, 2023 UK-based Coventry University’s Immersive Telepresence in Theatre project is crossing the pond for a special performance in Miami. Through the use of video conferencing software, the project enables actors and performing arts…

[In this story from Interesting Engineering a group of researchers provide a fascinating and accessible explanation of how they’re exploring technologies that would allow people to “use their bodies normally” to control additional limbs. They say it’s early days for this research in “third level human augmentation,” but to the extent that the control over these limbs becomes intuitive, i.e., with the user failing to fully acknowledge the role of the technology in the experience, the research suggests the possibility of a powerful form of presence. See the original version of the story for three more images and links to…

[The conversational artificial intelligence of OpenAI’s ChatGPT is said to be accelerating the timeline for developing the ability for people to create a virtual representation of themself that can interact with family, friends and descendants after they die. The second-to-last paragraph in this report from Motherboard also points out other uses of the integration of AI and VR worlds. See the original story for a second image. –Matthew] [Image: Somnium Space’s Artur Sychov talks to an AI-powered virtual robot that is powered in part by ChatGPT] Founder: You’ll Soon Be Able to Talk to Your Dead Mom In the Metaverse…

[Researchers in The University of Chicago’s Department of Computer Science conducted an interesting study with implications for the design of our electronic devices and the medium-as-social-actor presence experiences they evoke. This UChicago CS News story describes the project and includes two different pictures and a 3:26 minute video (also available on YouTube). –Matthew] UChicago CS Researchers Create Living Smartwatch to Explore Human-Device Relations December 12, 2022 In a paper for UIST 2022, PhD student Jasmine Lu and Assistant Professor of Computer Science Pedro Lopes built a smartwatch that runs on slime mold and requires feeding to function. Devices such as…