International Society
for Presence Research

Author: Matthew Lombard

  • New virtual reality tool aims to reduce aviation crashes

    Published:

    [This story from NPR describes a new in-flight form of virtual reality training for pilots; the original story includes a 3-minute audio version, related links, and three more images, one of which has a caption that quotes pilot Jonathan Johnson saying “the VR technology was ‘like no other [training] flight I’ve flown’ and pilot Jerry Griffin saying ‘It doesn’t get any realer than that.’” –Matthew] [Image: The virtual reality system uses a clear plastic film strapped to the pilot’s helmet. Seen here, Jonathan Johnson’s view is obscured by “clouds.” What the pilot “sees” is controlled by an iPad. Credit: Russell…

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  • Call: Research toolkits for Immersive Promotion Design Ltd.

    Published:

    IMMERSIVE PROMOTION DESIGN LTD.: CALL FOR RESEARCH TOOLKITS Immersive Promotion Design Ltd. is a new marketing consultancy for the world of XR, supporting Virtual, Augmented & Mixed Reality creatives and businesses to better communicate with their audiences about the magic of immersive content. It builds on sector-development research funded by StoryFutures Academy and Bristol+Bath Creative R+D, and brings together expertise from the BBC VR Hub, Limina Immersive, StoryCentral, Raucous, Bath Spa University and beyond. Central to our approach to working with industry is that it is underpinned by research, and so we are now looking to further build our network…

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  • NICOBO, Panasonic’s new cat-like “weak robot,” is a purposely imperfect companion for these times

    Published:

    [The most widely-cited story about Panasonic’s new companion robot NICOBO, which is sure to evoke medium-as-social-actor presence, is from Gizmodo, where it begins with this: “In a time when even basic human interactions are discouraged for safety reasons, there’s an even greater demand for alternate sources of companionship. But if you’re not ready for the responsibilities of a dog or a cat, Panasonic has introduced yet another companion robot that dutifully pays attention to you through bouts of flatulence—just like a real pet.” Designboom’s coverage adds this: “In order to realize the ‘new form of happiness,’ we have focused on…

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  • Call: “Designing Interactions for the Ageing Populations” issue of Gerontechnology

    Published:

    Call for Papers: Special Issue of the Gerontechnology Journal: Designing Interactions for the Ageing Populations Special issue editors: Sayan Sarcar (University of Tsukuba), Cosmin Munteanu (University of Toronto Mississauga) We are open to receive submissions. However, papers submitted before mid-March will be considered for the first round of the review process. First-round notification to authors: Middle of April Revised and resubmitted version due (for the first round): End of May 2021 Special issue publication timeline: August-September 2021 This special issue advances the study and design of digital software interfaces, particularly mobile, wearable, IoT, or conversational for the aging population. The…

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  • HuggieBot 2.0: A soft and human-size robot that hugs users on request

    Published:

    [With the benefits of and need for hugs taking on new importance during the pandemic, this story from Tech Xplore is particularly interesting. It’s about a new and improved successor to the earlier hugging robot HuggieBot 1.0 and plans for a commercial version that will allow people to hug each other via the robot. See the original version of the story for a second image, and for more information see the new paper it mentions, a June 2018 ISPR Presence News post about the first iteration of HuggieBot, and Alexis Block’s website. –Matthew] HuggieBot 2.0: A soft and human-size robot…

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  • Call: “The Phenomenon of Interaction in Human-Machine Interaction” Online Workshop

    Published:

    Call for Participation ON HUMANS AND MACHINES HUMAN-MACHINE INTERACTIONS IN DIGITAL_CULTURES Annual conference of the research cluster digitale_kultur at the University of Hagen and the Emmy Noether Research Group (DFG): “The Phenomenon of Interaction in Human-Machine Interaction (MMI)” March 3-5, 2021 The conference will take place as an interactive online event https://on-humans-and-machines.fernuni-hagen.de/en/home/ Registrations accepted until March 1, 2021 The workshop looks at qualitative innovations of current human-machine interactions from an interdisciplinary perspective. Philosophical, cultural-, social- and educational approaches as well as perspectives of the technology developers are being discussed. The focus lies on the social and cultural implications of new…

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  • Astronomical presence illusion in Dubai baffles onlookers

    Published:

    [An interesting and apparently successful astronomical presence illusion is the subject of this short item from DesignTAXI, where the original includes two videos and an embedded tweet. Cosmopolitan Middle East has more images and the illusion merited coverage at Snopes, where there’s more information. –Matthew] [Image: Source: IBB Online] ‘Double Moon’ In Dubai Baffles Onlookers, Turns Out To Be A Stellar Stunt By Izza Sofia 17 February 2021 Residents in Dubai were surprised when they witnessed two moons appearing in the night skies last week. Snaps of the moons in the skies made their way online with many thinking the apocalypse…

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  • Call: StoryBits Conference

    Published:

    Call for Submissions StoryBits Conference An online event from Covilhã, Portugal April 21-22-23, 2021 http://labcom.ubi.pt/storybits/indexEN.php Submission deadlines: Communication for paper: March 07, 2021 Project, Thematic Table and Workshop: March 21, 2021 INTRODUCTION Digital media have fostered the emergence of multiple narrative formats and modes of representation, that mirror the new processes of mediation and remediation. The StoryBits conference, with a focus on this reality, is a natural continuum to former events, dedicated to the area of digital and interactive expressions of documentary, organized by the University of Beira Interior between 2016 and 2018, but broadens this thematic focus to include…

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  • Ethics of presence: Billionaires see VR as a way to avoid radical social change

    Published:

    [Presence scholars and technology enthusiasts have to remember the darker potential of presence, frequently portrayed in entertaining science fiction, to become an excuse to stop working to improve our nonmediated lives and world, and leave them in the control of people and organizations with selfish, economically driven agendas. This Wired story makes that possibility depressingly ‘real.’ –Matthew] Billionaires See VR as a Way to Avoid Radical Social Change Tech oligarchs are encouraging the creation of virtual worlds as a cheap way to avoid problems in the real one. By Matthew Gault February 15, 2021 The future of virtual reality is…

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  • Call: Spatial Cognition 2020/1

    Published:

    Call for Papers Spatial Cognition 2020/1 (SC 2020/1) University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia [or hybrid or all-online; see note below] August 2- 4, 2021 http://sc2020.lu.lv/ Submission deadline: March 15, 2021 NOTE: This conference was originally scheduled for August 2020. We now aim to hold it in August 2021. It will be a hybrid conference (with some talks in physical co-presence and some virtual), or entirely virtual if necessary. Renewed Call for Papers Spatial Cognition is concerned with the acquisition, development, representation, organization, and use of knowledge about spatial objects in real, virtual or hybrid environments and processed by human or…

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  • Shakespeare in your living room: How AR can transform teaching

    Published:

    [This story about the development and use of a new augmented reality application to enhance presence in online teaching and learning during pandemic lockdowns and beyond comes from THE (Times Higher Education). The original story includes related links, and for more information see the websites for ARstorydecks, particularly the lesson plans page; Royal Holloway’s master’s program in Immersive Storytelling; and the StoryFutures Academy Train the Trainer initiative. –Matthew] Shakespeare in your living room: How AR can transform teaching It won’t be long before we’re all looking to immersive technology to further students’ learning, says By Mary Matheson January 21, 2021…

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  • Call: CoG 2021 – 3rd IEEE Conference on Games

    Published:

    Call for Papers CoG 2021 – 3rd IEEE Conference on Games 17–20 August It University of Copenhagen https://ieee-cog.org Deadline for full papers: April 9th 2021 Games offer a limitless domain for computational creativity, design, technology, education, social sciences, and artificial intelligence. The annual IEEE Conference on Games (CoG) is a unique forum for cutting-edge research related to game technologies and design, covering scientific, technical, social, and human aspects of games. CoG was expressly launched to reflect the changing nature of games as technology and media; where concerns merge, overlap, and cross-pollinate. Beginning as an evolution of the Conference on Computational…

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