[This short BBC News story captures some of the both positive and negative consequences of the rapidly improving ability of artificial intelligence to mimic humans and thereby evoke medium-as-social-actor presence. Efforts to train voice-based AI on more complete and representative voice samples for dialects spoken by people in particular regions and cultures can lead to more effective human-machine communication and a greater sense of inclusion and recognition for the users, along with the preservation of endangered languages. On the other hand, using AI to remove specific accents can prevent “accent discrimination” but further threaten the survival of regional dialects. And…

[Most people dislike advertisements (e.g., see results from a 2023 UK survey) and many of us try to avoid encountering them, especially as they’ve become more common and arguably intrusive and thus more likely to ‘break’ presence during our media experiences. Although there are still limited options for linear TV, streaming, games and virtual reality, we can use widely available free ad blocker software for the web, or we can pay to avoid ads. But as Interesting Engineering notes, “You can pay for YouTube Premium to avoid watching ads during your sacred food-with-YouTube ritual, or pay for Spotify to not…

[As described in this story from The Debrief, researchers have developed a new type of skin for robots that has strong potential to enhance human-robot interactions, including (though it doesn’t use the term), medium-as-social-actor presence. Although this story doesn’t mention it, the researchers are from both Cambridge University and University College London (UCL’s news coverage is titled, “Improved electronic skin gives robots the human touch”). For more information, see coverage in Live Science as well as a webpage on lead author David Hardman’s website that has additional links, including to a 2:27 minute video on YouTube. –Matthew] Robots that “Feel”:…

[It’s early days, but this story from Government Technology describes a potentially life-saving approach to training firefighters and other disaster first responders using presence-evoking augmented reality and artificial intelligence. See the original version of the story (or YouTube) for the mentioned 4:16 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: A man practices extinguishing a fire through AI-augmented training. Credit: George Mason University] Could Augmented Reality Paired With AI Save First Responder Lives? Training poses deadly risks for firefighters. Researchers are experimenting with new augmented and virtual reality technologies to allow first responders to learn life-saving skills without risking their own. By Nikki DavidsonJuly…

[CNN provides this cautiously optimistic link-filled assessment about the long-expected mainstreaming of presence-evoking virtual, augmented and mixed reality technologies for entertainment. See the original version of this story for four more images. –Matthew] [Image: A woman plays a video game with the Oculus Rift VR headset at a video arcade dedicated to virtual reality in Paris, France on December 5, 2016. Credit: Benoit Tessier/Reuters] Tech promised virtual reality would revolutionize entertainment. That moment might finally be closer than we think. By Liam Reilly, CNNJuly 12, 2025 Virtual reality was supposed to transform entertainment. At least, that was the expectation roughly…

[This story from Virginia Tech describes how a professor teaching a computer science course there is using a Global Learning Course Grant to take her students to Egyptian (and soon other) heritage sites via virtual reality and then build databases for real-world clients to use as they work to preserve endangered monuments at those sites. See the original version of the story for six more images and the five mentioned videos. –Matthew] [Image: Students in Sally Hamouda’s database course were able to “tour” endangered Egyptian monuments from their Blacksburg classroom by using virtual reality headsets, purchased through a Global Education…