[A project and publication from University of York researchers focuses on how to design audio experiences in virtual reality to create more effective presence experiences. See the original version of the story for a 1:46 minute gameplay demonstration (also available on YouTube) and find more videos in the article’s supplementary material. –Matthew] [Image: Figure 3 from Constantin Popp et al., Creating Audio Object-Focused Acoustic Environments for Room-Scale Virtual Reality, Applied Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.3390/app12147306. Screenshot showing an area in Planet Xerilia. The collision-based system is implemented in the “water” droplets, here visible as randomly rotated white small squares, which fall…

[A new app for Quest headsets uses passthrough augmented reality as well as virtual reality, along with hand tracking, to teach people how to play the piano, as reported in this story from Classic FM. See the original version for the mentioned 9:29 minute video review (also available on YouTube) as well as a shorter demonstration video. For more details, see coverage from UploadVR. –Matthew] [Image: Source: UploadVR] Music in the Metaverse – learn to play the piano in this new augmented reality app This new VR game is the piano’s answer to Guitar Hero, but the controller is your…

[Here’s a fascinating story about new evidence demonstrating that virtual reality can evoke “self-transcendence” – a “sense of deep connectedness and ego attenuation” (which sounds like a rich form of social as well as spatial presence) that is also created by “LSD or psilocybin (the main psychoactive component of ‘magic’ mushrooms).” See the original story in MIT Technology Review for a 1:13 minute video (also available via Vimeo). –Matthew] [Image: Credit: MS TECH | SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY (CT/MRI IMAGE)] VR is as good as psychedelics at helping people reach transcendence On key metrics, a VR experience elicited a response indistinguishable…

[Presence scholars usually focus on illusions created by digital technologies, but physical tools and materials can be used to evoke presence too (as in paintings, drawings, and sculptures). Today’s post is about buildings designed and built or remodeled to create a presence illusion. The February 2022 story below from New York City’s Gothamist describes what appears to be “a pretty typical residential townhouse” in Brooklyn Heights but is actually a subway fan plant and emergency exit (the story also describes a videogame based on the unusual ‘house.’ A 2010 story from Curbed New York includes a familiar term in a…

[Without using the terms telepresence or teleoperation, this story from Stanford University includes vivid descriptions of the experience of remotely operating a new sophisticated underwater humanoid robot as it explores ocean depths. See the original story for two more images and two four-minute videos. –Matthew] [Image: OceanOneK with its boom camera in hand near a Beechcraft Baron F-GDPV aircraft that was 67 m down (over 200 ft). Credit: Frederic Osada/DRASSM/Stanford] Stanford’s OceanOneK connects human’s sight and touch to the deep sea The diving robot explored sunken planes, ships, and a submarine, and descended nearly 1 km. Special features of OceanOneK…

[Our colleague Andrea Stevenson Won is quoted in this story from Scientific American about a new study of how people come to perceive and control simulated extra limbs. The story says that “the results suggest participants felt like they had acquired whole new body parts—not just like they had extended their existing feet by adding a new tool [which] potentially opens up a world of virtual and real possibilities.” See the supplementary information at the end of the Scientific Reports article for a 1:36 minute video that demonstrates the experimental procedures. –Matthew] [Image: Figure 1c from the new study: “The…