[Smartphone companies including Oppo are working to successfully hide the forward-facing (“selfie” camera) behind the display screen, with the latest advances reported in this story from Engadget. Beyond the aesthetic and immersive effect of having the image occupy the entire screen, the advances hold the prospect of solving the eye-contact problem in video collaboration, enabling users to look directly at each other. See the original version of the story for more images including the sample photo mentioned. –Matthew] Oppo’s latest under-screen camera may finally be capable of good photos The company’s third-gen camera setup benefits from some AI trickery and…

[In this story from Forbes, a retail industry expert argues that ambitious, and even less ambitious, virtual experiences not available in the home will engage consumers and draw them back to ‘real world’ retail venues after the pandemic. For more details see an interview with the CEO of Sandbox VR in VentureBeat. –Matthew] [Image: A boy reacts while wearing virtual reality (VR) glasses in a roller coaster simulator. Credit: Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)] Want To Bring People Back To The Real World? Provide A Virtual One By Greg Maloney (“I write on the confluence of shopping centers, ecommerce &…

[An industry expert asks why voice assistants haven’t become more popular and used for more significant tasks, and provides two key answers, in this short commentary from MediaPost. See also “A Siri-ous guide to the world of voice assistants: AI virtual assistants explained for 2021” from UneeQ. –Matthew] [Image: Source: “This is how people are using voice assistants during Coronavirus” in Voice] COMMENTARY Where Are All The Voice Assistants? By Cory Treffiletti, Featured Contributor July 28, 2021 A few years back I was involved in helping launch and build a voice assistant business. I loved it. The company was Voicea,…

[Many aspects of presence phenomena, including the sense of freedom and exploration many creator-users fear will be lost as corporations take over as they did the early versions of the internet, are explored in this interesting story from Input; see the original story for more images, tweets and videos. –Matthew] ANTHROPOMORPHISM How furries are making virtual reality actually worth visiting The community is at the vanguard of VR — from world design to teledildonic orgies. Matt Baume July 27, 2021 Here I am, standing in the basement of a sprawling house full of stolen merchandise in Louisville, Kentucky, and I…

[This short story from Wallpaper, and supplementary excerpts from V Magazine that follow, describe a new coffee table book that uses augmented reality integration with vivid images to create a sense of presence as transportation (though that term isn’t used). See the original stories for more images from the book; the authors’ Instagram for more samples of their work; and the publishers’ page for the book to read the “journey”-themed description, see dynamic illustrations of the “experiential” effect and order a copy (for $120). –Matthew] Go on a dream holiday with this virtual reality book Kiss & Fly is a…

[Here’s a good primer on the past, present and possible futures of immersive, presence-evoking technology. The original version from Big Think includes an additional image and two videos. –Matthew] [Image: Man using VR device seen with glitch effect. Credit: nuclear_lily via Adobe Stock] Immersive technology will revolutionize everything from theme parks to daily life Virtual reality continues to blur the line between the physical and the digital, and it will change our lives forever. By Stephen Johnson 22 July, 2021 Immersive technology aims to overlay a digital layer of experience atop everyday reality, changing how we interact with everything from…