[The philosophical debate about the possibility that we’re living in a fully convincing presence-inducing simulation is fascinating even if just as an example of how simulation has become the latest metaphor for how we (try to) understand the mysteries of our world and lives. But the last few paragraphs of this essay from The New York Times raise a disturbing, less abstract. and more practical implication that I think should serve as a key motivation for presence scholarship. For more insights on this topic see two other recent articles: “Does it matter if you’re in the matrix?” in Prospect Magazine,…

[A new documentary film that presents the stories of real people in the virtual environments of VRChat is getting positive reviews, including the one below from Engadget. See the original version for a second image and a 3:03 minute “Meet the Artist” video (also available on YouTube). The review in Little White Lies concludes with this: “Many have pondered in the physical world about the net results of Zuckerberg’s intent with his metaverse, and it’s inevitable the viewer will come away from an experience like this wondering the same. How exactly will we communicate in the future? Are long-distance exchanges…

[A clever use of technology from virtual reality and video games translates stereoscopic visual information into haptic input to let people who are visually impaired more fully perceive and interact with their environment. The story below from Interesting Engineering provides details. Coverage in Futurism adds this: “Zahn and Khan’s paper frequently use Microsoft’s Kinect, a motion-detection system that adds additional features to Xbox games, as a point of reference. Both are confident their camera and setup will be smaller, less conspicuous and cheaper to build than a Kinect. It’s an intriguing idea for people with low vision. Some rely on…

[Apologies for the pause in posts last week, which was due to the sudden ‘death’ of my home computer. This story from The New York Times provides a link-filled update on innovative uses of presence in theater; see the original version for three more images. –Matthew] [Image: Nubiya Brandon performing with the NuShape Orchestra in “All Kinds of Limbo.” Credit: .The National Theater] Augmented Reality Theater Takes a Bow. In Your Kitchen. The Immersive Storytelling Studio at the National Theater in London is using technology to bring a miniature musical to viewers’ homes. It’s one of several high-tech British projects…

[The CNET story below details the current views and predictions of Philip Rosedale, the founder of Second Life, regarding virtual reality and the metaverse. Fast Company’s story, “Second Life’s creator is back to build a ‘metaverse that doesn’t harm people,’“ includes these additional details and quotes: “Rosedale tells me he fears that the mistakes of Web 2.0—such as the surveillance-based advertising used by Meta/Facebook—will carry over into the web’s next paradigm. He says there are better ways to make money in the metaverse. ‘Second Life is a demonstration of a model that works,’ he says. ‘It makes lots of money…

[Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori and other experts comment on the application of the uncanny valley phenomenon in the shared virtual spaces of a metaverse in this story from The Mainichi. An introduction to the uncanny valley in a November 2021 story from Discover includes this passage that includes examples and refers to a new paper about different explanations for the phenomenon: “When we spoke by Zoom, [Karl] MacDorman, a world-renowned expert in human-computer interaction, showed me several robots that tend to drop into the uncanny valley but do not come close to being humanlike. One was less humanlike than R2D2, but…

[As this Fast Company story explains, an extended ad titled “Meet You Out There” is part of a brand campaign from the company behind Pokemon Go and other AR games to advance its vision of using technology to augment rather than replace the real world, bringing people together outside instead of in a potentially dystopian metaverse. See the original story for a different image and the 2:07 minute ad (also available on YouTube). –Matthew] The maker of Pokemon Go says the metaverse should take you outside Niantic, the augmented reality gaming company behind Pokemon Go, lays out its vision for…