International Society
for Presence Research

Author: Matthew Lombard

  • People view major pop art show in person and via telepresence robot

    Published:

    [Reuters reports on a new pop art show that allows viewers to be present via robot. See the original story for a 1:36 minute video, coverage in CGTN for a different 1:56 minute video, and Gulf News for 12 more pictures (including one with a Pepper robot welcoming visitors). Tatler adds this interesting detail about the artist: “‘I became an artist when I became a lobster,’ was something artist Philip Colbert – variously described as ‘the Crown Prince of pop art’ and ‘the godson of Andy Warhol’ – once said.” For more on the use of telepresence robots to view…

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  • Call: Digital Worlds: A Virtual Workshop

    Published:

    Call for Papers Digital Worlds: A Virtual Workshop The Center for Collaboration and Ethics at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley April 10 & 11, 2021 Online Abstract submissions deadline: January 15, 2021 The Center for Collaboration and Ethics at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley invites submissions for a virtual workshop to be conducted remotely on April 10 & 11, 2021. We seek papers that interrogate the way modern digital technology enhances, hampers, or alters our experience of our lived worlds. The distinction between “being on the internet” and “being in the real world” is eroding.  People…

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  • Japanese inventors create robot girlfriend hand for lonely people to hold and walk with

    Published:

    [The quest to evoke medium-as-social-actor presence continues with a new robot hand that lets users feel like they’re walking while holding hands with their girlfriend. The story is from SoraNews24, where it includes two different pictures and a one-minute video (also available via YouTube); follow the links at the end for more information (in Japanese). –Matthew] [Image: Source: Tech Times] Japanese inventors create robot girlfriend hand for lonely people to hold and walk with [Video] By Casey Baseel November 3, 2020 A ton of thought went into the clever device, which actually has some heartwarming goals. Few things in life…

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  • Call: “Horizon of Mixed Reality” issue of International Journal of Digital Art History (DAHJ)

    Published:

    Call for Papers The International Journal of Digital Art History (DAHJ) Special issue: Horizon of Mixed Reality https://dahj.org/cfp/6 Submissions accepted on rolling basis; publication in first quarter of 2021 The International Journal of Digital Art History (DAHJ) responds to cutting edge scholarship concerning extended reality technologies. Today, mixed reality is poised to be just as transformative as analog film and photography, which radically reorganized many domains of modern life (including communication, science, politics, and art). This potential has become increasingly apparent in the face of our current global pandemic, wherein virtual landscapes have begun to serve as critical contact zones…

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  • New report puts spotlight on presence in the workplace of 2030

    Published:

    [Here’s a short summary of a new Ericsson report on the future of presence-evoking technologies in the workplace; follow the link at the end to read the full 16-page, graphics-filled report. –Matthew] New report puts spotlight on the future workplace of 2030 The latest Ericsson IndustryLab report, The Dematerialized Office, brings insights about the sentiments of white-collar employees and their expectations for their future workplace. October 28, 2020 Before the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in early 2020, the idea of working and socializing from home was mainly a theoretical proposition. But less than a year later, that reality is suddenly the…

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  • Call: Social Robots: The Social Potential of a New Communicative Agent (Free online conference)

    Published:

    Call for Participation Social Robots: The Social Potential of a New Communicative Agent Free Online Conference – Organized as part of UAI’s Social Media Conference 2020 Tuesday 17th November, 9 AM EDT / 10 AM Chile / 14 PM CET To receive the Zoom link: https://lnkd.in/et3wNu7 Digital emergent technologies -from social media, apps and artificial intelligence- bring up new possibilities for communication. At the same time, they question paradigms and concepts which make us rethink our forms of imagining and inhabiting the world. Social robots and artificial intelligence emerge as new communicative agents, which open up new possibilities and challenges…

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  • Can virtual reality games lead to violent behavior?

    Published:

    [This short story from ARPost argues for more research on the negative effects of experiencing violence in virtual reality, especially as the technology becomes more effective at evoking presence. For more on this topic, see: ‘Real’ violence: Coming to grips with the ethics of virtual reality brutality (The Guardian, June 2019) Empathy and nausea: Virtual reality and Jordan Wolfson’s Real Violence (Journal of Visual Culture, April 2020) Death and violence ‘too intense’ in VR, developers admit (Wired, October 2015) Violent video games in virtual reality: Re-evaluating the impact and rating of interactive experiences (CHI PLAY ’18 Proceedings) Virtual reality will…

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  • Call: Enabling Technologies for Next Generation Telehealthcare issue of IEEE JBHI

    Published:

    Call for Papers IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics Impact Factor (2019): 5.223 Special Issue on Enabling Technologies for Next Generation Telehealthcare https://www.embs.org/enabling-technologies-for-next-generation-telehealthcare/ Deadline for Submission: 31 December 2020 Nowadays, all over the world, the number of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) investments in health and well-being is rapidly increasing. In this context, there is a growing interest about telehealthcare that allows the provisioning of various kinds of health-related services and applications over the Internet. The main benefits of telehealthcare are: it reduces the risk of infection because patients can make use of remote healthcare services directly in their…

    Read more: Call: Enabling Technologies for Next Generation Telehealthcare issue of IEEE JBHI

  • Coronavirus: Is virtual reality tourism about to take off?

    Published:

    [This story from BBC News describes how virtual tourism is emerging as an important solution to the challenges created by travel restrictions during the pandemic as well as its value in easing our return to travel when the pandemic ends. See the original version of the story for seven more pictures. –Matthew] [Image: Microsoft Hololens VR glasses can show potential visitors six of Germany’s most famous castles. Credit: Microsoft/German National Tourist Board (GNTB)] Coronavirus: Is virtual reality tourism about to take off? Bernd Debusmann – Business reporter October 30, 2020 For many people, a trip to Germany’s fairytale-like Neuschwanstein castle,…

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  • Call: 15th European Conference on Game Based Learning (ECGBL 2021)

    Published:

    Call for Papers 15th European Conference on Game Based Learning (ECGBL 2021) The University of Brighton, UK and online 23 – 24th September 2021 http://www.academic-conferences.org/conferences/ecgbl/ecgbl-call-for-papers/ Abstract submission deadline: 03 March 2021 NOTE: After a successful Virtual conference for ECGBL 2020 we are hoping to be able to meet in person for a physical event in Brighton, UK in September 2021. We know however that the events of this year have had a longer lasting impact on participants’ ability and willingness to travel for events. Therefore we are planning for ECGBL 2021 to be a “hybrid” conference, meaning that there will…

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  • Streaming online: Bot Battle to determine which embodied chatbot seems most human

    Published:

    [As this BBC News story says, watching the streaming Bot Battle between Pandorabots’ Kuki and Facebook’s Blenderbot, running continuously through November 3, demonstrates the limitations of current AI, but we’ll likely look back on it as an early-days version of an even more ubiquitous and successful presence-evoking technology. See the original story for four more images and related links, watch the battle and read the press release on the Pandorabots website, and see a related CNN story from August 2020 titled “Robot friends: Why people talk to chatbots in times of trouble.” –Matthew] Robot Bores: AI-powered awkward first date By Jane…

    Read more: Streaming online: Bot Battle to determine which embodied chatbot seems most human

  • Call: UK Government Telexistence funding competition

    Published:

    [From the GOV.UK website; follow the link at the bottom for much more information. –Matthew] DASA launches search for telexistence technology Funding available to develop capabilities to operate in hazardous environments without physically being present From: Defence and Security Accelerator and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory The deadline for proposals is Thursday 19 November 2020 The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is looking to develop and demonstrate innovative technology or novel solutions that would give military personnel, emergency services, or humanitarian workers the capability to operate in hazardous environments without physically being present. On behalf of the Defence Science and…

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