[Local TV stations in the US including NBC-Dallas-Fort Worth, WINK, WISH and WFMZ recently aired the same news report (with their own anchors’ introduction) based on a promising application of presence being explored by researchers at the University of Central Florida, as described in more detail in the UCF Today story below. –Matthew] [Image: A UCF RESTORES team member conducts a simulated therapy session designed to help a patient overcome PTSD resulting from their stay in intensive care] Innovative VR Therapy Helps Patients Overcome PTSD Caused by Hospital Stays Assistant Professor of Nursing Brian Peach is leading the study, which…

[A group of researchers at Ohio State University are using machine learning analyses of old maps to create VR-viewable 3D models of neighborhoods as they existed decades ago. This story is from Ohio State News and an earlier report (at the link in the editor’s note at the end) includes this quote from Professor Harvey Miller: “Our ultimate goal would be to come up with 3D visualizations that are realistic enough to give people a visceral feeling of what those neighborhoods were like… We see this as a crossover between science and humanities.” –Matthew] [Image: A 3D model of the…

[Others have used marketing campaigns, in some cases including presence-evoking technologies like VR, to bring audience members into the world (or ‘universe’) of a film or TV series, but as the Sound & Vision story below explains, Netflix has created a particularly clever cross-media campaign that brings audiences into the dystopian reality portrayed in “Joan is Awful,” the first episode of the latest season of Black Mirror. A story in LADbible describes how some audience members have had their name and picture used in real-world billboards for the campaign; and a story in DesignTAXI that includes more pictures of the…

[What psychological, ethical and other differences are there between pornographic images or videos that feature fictional rather than real people? This story from Rolling Stone raises lots of thought-provoking questions about the use of presence-evoking technologies in the context of sexuality. Despite the certainty expressed here regarding sexual deepfake videos featuring real people, see also the Wired essay “Deepfake porn reveals a ‘pervert’s dilemma’: What’s the moral difference between indulging in a sexual fantasy about someone and watching a deepfake of them?” –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Photo illustration uses photograph by Svetlana Fedoseeva/Adobe Stock] They’re Selling Nudes of Imaginary Women on…

[This MIT Technology Review story describes new evidence for another positive application of presence, the use of a virtual forest setting to produce some of the same benefits as does spending time in an actual forest. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Lukáš Hejtmánek] “Forest bathing” might work in virtual reality too Could electronic forests elicit the same physiological responses as real ones? By Charlie Metcalfe June 26, 2023 The Japanese concept of “forest bathing,” or shinrin-­yoku (森林浴), has long been acclaimed for its supposed health benefits. Hundreds of scientific studies suggest that it can improve mental health and cognitive performance, reduce blood…

[The Glass Room, which began as a touring exhibition and is now an online “public intervention that provides an interactive, fun, and challenging experience, bringing to life the most pressing challenges facing people and the tech industry today,” features a four-minute video about deepfakes and how they can create alternate versions of different aspects of each of us (including versions that remain after we die). The video could be a useful resource for those who teach students about presence. The text below accompanies the video. See also the Deepfake Lab website, where “researchers take you behind the scenes to reveal…