[There is very widespread coverage of this week’s unveiling of a new augmented reality headset from Apple; if you’re looking for a comprehensive and thoughtful reaction to what it all means, you might want to read an editorial by The Ghost Howls blog’s Skarredghost (Antony Vitillo), a long-time and expert observer of the XR world. Here’s the introduction (follow the link for the rest). –Matthew] Editorial: Apple Vision Pro is a mix of innovation, and year-2016 VR, for a hefty price. But… By SKARREDGHOST June 5, 2023 I just watched the full keynote of Apple at WWDC, where the company in…

[Here’s an interesting, and somewhat worrisome, story from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania about the status of social science research on presence-evoking technologies. Follow the links for more details. –Matthew] New Report Comprehensively Reviews the State of Extended Reality (XR) Research Published by the Annenberg School’s Virtual Reality ColLABorative, the report summarizes augmented, mixed, and virtual reality research in the social sciences. By Hailey Reissman May 30, 2023 Most of us interact with virtual technologies in our everyday lives, whether it’s scanning a QR code to see a restaurant menu, taking a selfie with a…

[In arguing that computers and AI are simply not capable of human consciousness, thought and intention, this essay from Psyche argues that the actual danger of emerging artificial intelligence technologies is acting on the (medium-as-social-actor presence) illusion that they are: “If one is disposed to fear this technology, one should do so not because it is becoming conscious, but because it never can. The algorithm can endow it with a kind of ‘liberty’ of operation that mimics human intentionality, even though there is no consciousness there – and hence no conscience – to which we could appeal if it ‘decided’…

[The author of this story from Wired provides a vivid and personal description of the experience provided by “Body of Mine,” a new project that uses virtual reality and presence to increase empathy with and support for people with gender dysphoria. See the project’s website for more information, including this from the “Vision” section: “LGBTQ+VR With the rise in attacks against transgender individuals and their rights, we believe that full immersion has the potential for not only powerful empathetic responses from non-queer people, but also profound support for those who are closeted or questioning. While a young trans girl in…

[The presence illusions we studied used to be simpler: Are you in the actual world or one created by virtual reality (or film, television, etc.)? Does that desktop computer seem to be just a technology or a social actor? Over the last few decades, the ways in which we misperceive the roles of technology in an experience have multiplied. With augmented, mixed and extended reality; telepresence robots; multi-platform virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa; smartphones; advances in CGI and VFX; audio and visual deepfakes; a wide variety of robots including Sophia and Ameca; digital humans; holograms; and now generative and…