[This story about the use of presence-evoking technologies to explore one’s gender identity comes from Dezeen, where the original includes three more images and the two short videos described in the story. More information is available on Marcel/a Baltarete’s RCA website. See also the February 2020 ISPR Presence News post “Using VR and presence to question and explore gender.” –Matthew]

[Image: Baltarete’s animation shows their avatar with a translucent body.]

Marcel/a Baltarete uses 3D animation as therapy for gender dysphoria

By Jennifer Hahn
12 November 2020

Royal College of Art graduate Marcel/a Baltarete has created a series of short animations depicting themselves as otherworldly beings to alleviate and interrogate their feelings of gender dysphoria.

Gender dysphoria describes the distress that can be experienced by people, whose biological sex and gender identity do not match – a feeling Baltarete describes as “grief, discomfort and inadequacy all at the same time”.… read more. ““Digital re-embodiment” as therapy for gender dysphoria”

[Both the creative and financial potential of virtual reality art are explored in this link-filled story from Forbes, where the original includes two more images and three videos; note especially the link to the Radiance VR website, where you can review “documentations of more than 160 VR art experiences by 150 artists from 30 countries.” –Matthew]

[Image: Bangkok, Thailand – 2020/11/05: People enjoying with VR headset in front of the Marina Abramovic’s artwork during the exhibition at The Parq Klong Toey. Bangkok Art Biennale (BAB) is a biannual art festival set in the capital of Thailand throughout the heart of Bangkok, in galleries, public spaces, temple, and iconic landmarks. Bangkok Art Biennale (BAB) was commenced from 29 October 2020 through to 31 January 2021. Credit: Photo by Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images]

Why First Virtual Reality Art Prize Is Perfect For 2020

Stephan Rabimov, Contributor – I write about emerging markets, fashion, arts, and culture.… read more. “Why first virtual reality art prize is perfect for 2020”

Watch the 1:04 minute demonstration video via the link in this short press release from Extend Robotics Ltd. via PR Newswire to see R:O:B:, a new teleoperated bartender robot that features “real-time, immersive and intuitive control using the latest VR technologies, highly realistic human-like dexterity and reachability to six degrees of freedom (DoF).” –Matthew]

[Image: Source: Extend Robotics on Twitter]

British firm, Extend Robotics Ltd., launches “R:O:B:” – a Virtual Reality-controlled ‘robotically optimised bartender’

Extend Robotics announces successful trial of VR remote-controlled robot with application in services, healthcare, utilities and energy

November 25, 2020

READING, England, Nov. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ —Extend Robotics Ltd., a UK-based innovator in general-purpose teleoperated robotics, announces the first successful trial of its virtual reality (VR) controlled cybernetic bartender, nicknamed “R:O:B:” (robotically optimised bartender). “R:O:B:” features a remarkable human-like dexterity and is fully capable of ‘virtually’ pulling a real pint!… read more. “Extend Robotics launches R:O:B:, a teleoperated “robotically optimised bartender””

[Using measures of physiological and behavioral responses to a series of experiences inside virtual reality, researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne (EPFL) have developed an objective measure that predicts people’s susceptibility to the damaging impacts of stress. This story from EPFL describes the project; the original version includes three different images and a 2:47 minute video (also available via YouTube). See the article in Nature Communications for more details. –Matthew]

[Image: Elevated alley VR scenario. Source: EPFL via Newswise]

Virtual reality helps measure vulnerability to stress

Behavioral scientists at EPFL have developed a virtual reality test that assesses a person’s vulnerability to stress while exploring immersive environments. The resulting model offers the field of stress research one of the first such tools that does not rely on subjective evaluations.

By Nik Papageorgiou, EPFL
November 23, 2020

We all react to stress in different ways.… read more. “Virtual reality and presence help measure vulnerability to stress”

[The Tribune report below describes an effect of the limitations in presence provided by video conferencing systems including Zoom. Coverage in health24 adds these details:

“Dr Benjamin Marcus, an author of another study that investigated self-observation, self-criticism and narcissism commented on the results of the study: ‘The Covid-19 pandemic has radically changed the frequency with which we are confronted with our own image. The shift to online work, learning, and even socialising has dramatically increased the time we have to observe ourselves.’

[…]

The phenomenon of Zoom Dysmorphia has been developing for a while. In an Allure article, which looked into plastic surgery during the pandemic, Jessica Weiser – a dermatologist in New York City – noted that people had started finding fault with their appearance on video even before the pandemic. ‘No one has ever really looked at themselves in this way – for this long, or this frequently – and I think that’s driving a lot of the demand,’ Jessica Weiser told Allure.”

The health24 story also refers to a 2018 Washington Post story about Snapchat Dysmorphia.… read more. “Zoom Dysmorphia: Virtual meetings linked to negative self-image, increase in plastic surgery demand”