[The latest artificial intelligence-chatbot, ChatGPT, is impressing experts and the public but also raising serious concerns, as reported in the story below from The New York Times (where the original includes examples of chat transcripts). Coverage from Slate characterizes the progress ChatGPT represents this way: “[W]e’ve come a long way from the early days of the chatbot hype wave. Not long ago, Facebook promised these bots would be its next big platform, Microsoft pitched them as fun companions, and others raced to claim credit for leading the revolution. But these chatbots were so bad that people stopped using them.…

[This Washington Post story describes a partnership between Storyfile and Proto, two companies that create technologies to evoke presence (and which have been the subject of previous ISPR Presence News posts). The story says a new life-like hologram of Walmart founder Sam Walton at the company’s museum in Arkansas “hints at a new frontier, one in which long-dead icons mingle among us, head-spinningly erasing the line between not just virtual and real but present and past, dead and alive.” –Matthew] [Image: A hologram of Walmart founder Sam Walton holds court in front of a room in Bentonville, Ark., right before…

[A loathed and more recently loved virtual assistant built into an early version of Windows is now available on a holiday sweater (!), as reported by Mashable. –Matthew] Microsoft is selling an ugly holiday sweater featuring an OG Windows legend It’s only $75! By Alex Perry November 15, 2022 This’ll surely spice up your family’s holiday party. Ugly holiday sweaters feel like a decidedly early-2010’s trend, but that hasn’t stopped Microsoft from introducing one that’s actually pretty good. For the “low” price of $75 on the Xbox merchandise store, you can get a festive sweater depicting the OG Microsoft Office…

[This Gizmodo story is widely cited in coverage of a new tool developed by Disney Research that can more easily, quickly and economically create illusions that age and ‘de-age’ actors. Coverage from Nerdist provides this succinct summary: “Similar to the system used in The Irishman, which Netflix and ILM developed, this system doesn’t require an actor’s face to be covered in tracking dots. It also doesn’t require visual effects artists to spend weeks erasing (or adding) wrinkles in every frame. The video [in the original story and on YouTube] shows off the simple interface, where all you have to do…

[The United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) is an inter-agency institution that “respond[s] to the learning, training and knowledge management needs of UN staff and relevant partners.” Without using the term presence, this first-person blog post describes how and why the UNSSC has shifted from offering traditional to “more immersive and experiential learning” opportunities to their clients. Follow the links within and at the bottom of the post for more information. –Matthew] Driving sustainable development and climate action through virtual reality and interactive 360-degree videos By Paulyn Duman, Knowledge Management, Communications, and Reporting Officer at the United Nations System Staff…

[The post title is from ARTNews but the story below is from the Miami Herald, and it describes the latest version of an intriguing “presence and food” experience reported in a September 2019 ISPR Presence News post. The ARTNews story includes this: “’How do you visualize taste? What is the shape of spice? What is the color of flavor?’ [Creator Mattia] Casalegno said in an interview, describing his project. ‘I conceived Aerobanquets RMX as a total feast for the senses, a multi-sensory journey, a tool to reprogram all our perceptive expectations.’ … Casalegno first conceived of Aerobanquets in 2018 with the…

[This NBC News story describes how and why Morehouse College Professor Ovell Hamilton has created a unique course on Black history that will be taught next spring entirely via virtual reality, taking students to key places and events using 3D simulations and avatars designed to evoke spatial and social presence and enhance learning. See the original version of the story for five more images and a short video.  –Matthew] [Image: Students at Morehouse College are able to experience a virtual slave ship through virtual reality technology. Credit: Morehouse College] Morehouse College class will teach Black history in the metaverse Students…