[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…

[Virtual reality and the transcontinental spatial and social presence it enables played a key role in making possible the recent separation of three-year-old conjoined twins, as reported in this story from Futurism. You can watch a three minute interview withs surgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani from BBC News on  YouTube (the role of VR is discussed at the end), and for more on the use of the “digital twin” concept in medicine see the February 2022 Screenshot story, “New project creates digital clones of human brains to help treat neurological disorders.” –Matthew] [Image: Source: BBC News] Surgeons Use VR Headsets…

[This CNN story makes clear that users, in this case in South Korea, are often unsure about the status of or actually perceive virtual influencers as real rather than digital humans, raising significant ethical issues regarding their potential influence (see the original story for several more pictures). An article produced by the Chinese company Baidu and published in MIT Technology Review describes some of the ways in which digital humans are becoming more sophisticated and taking on more roles in our lives. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Sidus Studio X] Forever young, beautiful and scandal-free: The rise of South Korea’s virtual influencers…

[The new Gorilla Trek Virtual Reality Experience from Immotion is designed to use presence to engage, entertain, inform, build empathy and encourage conservation. The story below from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel provides details and describes audience member responses. Coverage from OnMilwaukee (with the headline of this post) adds this indirect reference to presence from Immotion Group Commercial Director Rod Findley: “People come out of Gorilla Trek and they really feel they have been transported to a different world.” The attraction is now also available at the Pittsburgh Zoo (follow the link for a description and a vivid 30 second trailer…