[Discomfort, especially over long periods of use, is a substantial cause of reduced presence for users of virtual reality head-mounted displays. This abridged version of a story from PC Tablet reports on one user’s “do it yourself” technique for improving comfort for the already customized fit of the Bigscreen Beyond headset. An entry about this in Hackaday adds this observation: “We’ve seen a variety of DIY approaches to VR hardware, from nearly scratch-built headsets to lens experiments, and one thing that’s clear is that better comfort is always an improvement. With newer iPhones able to do 3D scanning and 1:1…

[This column from Android Central provides a vivid first-person description of a game that uses mixed reality to create a compelling presence experience. See the original version for six more images (one animated), and follow the link at the end below for a 1:28 minute trailer for Creature’s Starship Home game. –Matthew] I just had my first mixed-reality ‘wow’ moment on the Quest 3 Starship Home turns your living room into a spaceship. By Nicholas Sutrich, Android Central Senior Content ProducerSeptember 26, 2024 Until today, I was firmly convinced that mixed reality would only ever be a good “add-on” feature…

[This opinion piece from IEEE Spectrum, based on the authors’ new book Fantasies of Virtual Reality, is a reminder that presence doesn’t depend just on the perceptual realism, or even just the form, of the mediated experience. It argues that the lack of widespread adoption of gaming in virtual reality, and of the medium itself, is due to a focus on photo-realistic, fast-paced, violent, complex and difficult “hardcore” games. See the original version for four more images and a video. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: IEEE Spectrum; Original photos: Getty Images; eyevine/Redux Pictures; iStock] Where VR Gaming Took a Wrong Turn A…

[Researchers have advanced our understanding of how to effectively produce phantom sensations – i.e., illusions of being touched in the absence of actual physical contact – with possible applications in various presence contexts including virtual reality. The details from a University of Malaga press release (via EurekAlert!) and a study published in Displays are summarized in this story from The Debrief. The press release includes more images and a 39 second video (also available on YouTube). –Matthew] [Image: The setup for the researcher’s experiment in a screenshot from YouTube. Credit: University of Malaga] Artificial “Phantom Sensations” Without Physical Contact Could…

[This story from Healio describes current efforts to use presence-evoking virtual reality to help relieve the hot flashes that women experience during menopause. Though not mentioned here, the Mayo Clinic notes that “other potential causes include medication side effects, problems with your thyroid, certain cancers and side effects of cancer treatment.” –Matthew] [Image: Announcement of Dr. Brennan Spiegel’s presentation at the 2024 Meeting of The Menopause Society. Source: The Menopause Society on X] ‘The mind is medicine’: How virtual reality can cool bothersome hot flashes By Regina SchafferFact checked by Richard SmithSeptember 18, 2024 CHICAGO — For menopausal women experiencing…

[As the specific computing operations of artificial intelligence become less accessible even to its creators, and the interface with it becomes more conversational, and its output is presented via more human-sounding voice simulations, unexpected responses are being perceived as increasingly eerie indications of possible sentience – in other words, the technology is evoking medium-as-social-actor presence. This short summary of some recent examples from Futurism illustrates the phenomenon; follow the various links for additional vivid examples. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Getty Images] It Turns Out ChatGPT’s Voice Mode Can Scream, and It’s an Upsetting Sound This is beyond uncanny. By Noor Al-SibaiSeptember…