[This AppleInsider report about a newly revealed patent application doesn’t focus on the implications for presence, but the incorporation in Apple products of lenticular displays that create the illusion of three-dimensional objects certainly would enhance the presence experiences of a large group of consumers. See the original version of the story for a second image. –Matthew] Apple wants to bring Spatial Computing to regular monitors By William Gallagher April 4, 2024 Amplifying work and media it has developed for the Apple Vision Pro headset, Apple is developing technology so your MacBook Pro or desktop monitor can display 3D environments without…

[Here is another insightful essay from Mike Elgan in Computerworld. This one echoes classic social presence scholarship in arguing that we should base our decisions about which (if any) communication technologies to use on both the degree to which they evoke a sense of being physically together and the purpose and emotional tenor of the expected communication. Note especially the optimistic section below titled “Augmented or virtual meeting spaces?” –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Metamorworks / Getty Images] Kill meetings (before meetings kill your company) Meetings waste time, destroy solitary deep work and make a mockery of flex work and a globally…

[A new artificially intelligent robot is being used to teach school children in India, as reported is this story by New Indian Express. An excerpt from coverage in Interesting Engineering that follows provides optimistically framed context. The Times of India has a three minute video report (also available on YouTube). For a first-person report from the robot’s creator (and more pictures), see a story in Rediff.com (an excerpt about the origins of the robot’s name and responses to ‘her’ debut is also below). For more on the mentioned AI teacher Beatrice, see a story in Campus Technology. All of this…

[As this story from the University of Pittsburgh reports, Pharmacy students there are using an expanding variety of presence-evoking technologies to enhance learning, and a new dedicated Lab will open there this fall. In addition to the Anatomage Table pictured below, two images in the original version of the story feature the HoloLens 2 AR. –Matthew] [Image: James Coons watches his student explore life-sized cardiac and circulatory anatomy on an Anatomage Table. Credit: Lawrence Kobulinsky] Transforming Learning at Pitt Pharmacy with Augmented and Virtual Reality By Phoebe Ingraham Renda March 6, 2024 From Oculus gaming systems to Apple’s Vision Pro,…

[This essay from Medium makes the case for when designers should, and should not, give AI-powered digital humans the characteristics that will evoke medium-as-social-actor presence. See the original version for a second image. –Matthew] [Image: UneeQ’s Sophie is a flesh-and-bones digital human. Credit/Source: Digital Humans] Digital humans: Do we really need this? Anthropomorphic AI assistants promise the best interaction experience. But only because it’s technically possible to create digital humans and make them work online 24/7 doesn’t mean we should. By Ilja Naumenko, UX Collective April 2, 2024 The promise of human-like interaction with computers We need to admit that…

[This story from NorthJersey.com describes how a New Jersey school is using virtual reality and presence to prepare students with autism for the stress of preparing for a flight at an airport. See the original version for a 16-image photo gallery. –Matthew] [Image: Mar 27, 2024; Nutley, N.J., United States; The Phoenix Center is using VR to desensitize kids on the autism spectrum before they travel for spring break. Kaito M. uses the VR headset to simulate an experience at the airport. Credit: Anne-Marie Caruso-NorthJersey.com] How NJ school uses virtual reality to help kids with autism prepare for airport stress…