[This MIT Technology Review story describes new evidence for another positive application of presence, the use of a virtual forest setting to produce some of the same benefits as does spending time in an actual forest. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Lukáš Hejtmánek] “Forest bathing” might work in virtual reality too Could electronic forests elicit the same physiological responses as real ones? By Charlie Metcalfe June 26, 2023 The Japanese concept of “forest bathing,” or shinrin-­yoku (森林浴), has long been acclaimed for its supposed health benefits. Hundreds of scientific studies suggest that it can improve mental health and cognitive performance, reduce blood…

[The Glass Room, which began as a touring exhibition and is now an online “public intervention that provides an interactive, fun, and challenging experience, bringing to life the most pressing challenges facing people and the tech industry today,” features a four-minute video about deepfakes and how they can create alternate versions of different aspects of each of us (including versions that remain after we die). The video could be a useful resource for those who teach students about presence. The text below accompanies the video. See also the Deepfake Lab website, where “researchers take you behind the scenes to reveal…

[A new and improved tool from Meta called Voicebox AI that generates and modifies human-sounding voices could help those with vocal cord damage speak, produce natural sounding translations across many languages, make non-player gaming characters (NPCs) and digital assistants more convincing, and allow us to listen to written messages in the voice of the sender. Unfortunately, it also has significant potential for abuse (e.g., in deepfake scams). The story below from Engadget provides some of the details and for more information see the Meta AI blog (and go to the bottom for links to the research paper and additional demos).…

[Vice’s Motherboard reports on recent cases in which people used AI and other technologies to create “clones” of real people, in one prominent case their girlfriend and another themself. This seems likely to be an increasingly common phenomenon and raises lots of presence-related questions, some of which are explored in a new essay in The Conversation titled “AI clones made from user data pose uncanny risks”; here’s how that essay begins: “Imagine, if you will, a digital doppelgänger. A clone that looks, talks and behaves just like you, created from the depths of artificial intelligence, reflecting your every mannerism with…

[Below are some presence-related parts of a Wired interview with Charlie Brooker, the creator and writer of Black Mirror, the “darkly funny, scarily prescient, and hugely popular Netflix anthology series.” For more of his recent comments as the sixth season of the series launches, see interviews in Dazed, Esquire and Empire. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Michael Wharley/Netflix] Black Mirror’s Charlie Brooker Wants to Break the Content Machine After years of exploring society’s dark absurdities, the sixth season of Netflix’s wildly popular sci-fi show looks at its own reflection. By Amit Katwala June 14, 2023 [snip] WIRED: It’s been four years since…

[Not an endorsement, but this looks relevant and interesting…  –Matthew] New season of Kaspersky’s Webby awarded podcast explores the past and future of digital technologies And women leading the way in IT Press Release June 11, 2023 https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/companies-news/new-season-of-kasperskys-webby-awarded-podcast-explores-the-past-and-future-of-digital-technologies-i4f4mjgq Progress led by technology means following the latest innovations without pausing, but due to the frantic pace one can stop learning from technology’s past. Kaspersky’s Fast Forward audio series examines trends shaping technology from the perspective of the recent past and explores women’s leadership in IT. It features guests from around the world working at the forefront of our newest technologies. Fast…

[This link-filled story from Dealerscope describes a series of hardware and software innovations that are helping to improve the experience of presence in video collaboration. As the author says in the concluding summary, the “deep dive into video conferencing innovations past, current and future includes an all-seeing birdlike device, three-dimensional avatars, an expressive multi-screened humanoid head, and the holography that’s starting to peek over the not-too-distant horizon.” See the original version for four different images. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Owl Labs] How AI and Robotics Are Driving Next-Gen Collaboration By  Scott Tharler June 14, 2023 Depending on the generation in which…