Author: Matthew Lombard


  • Call: Third Workshop on Knowledge-aware and Conversational Recommender Systems (KaRS 2021)

    Call for Papers Third Workshop on Knowledge-aware and Conversational Recommender Systems (KaRS 2021) September 27th – October 1st, 2021 Amsterdam, the Netherlands https://kars-workshop.github.io/2021/ http://sisinflab.poliba.it/kars/2021/ Extended Submission deadline: August 12, 2021 SCOPE We are pleased to invite you to contribute to the Third Workshop on Knowledge-aware and Conversational Recommender Systems held in conjunction with the ACM International Conference on Recommender Systems (RecSys 2021) Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from September the 27th to October the 1st, 2021. In the last few years, a renewed interest of the research community on conversational recommender systems (CRSs) is emerging. This is probably due to the great…

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  • Lawn Mowing Simulator takes cutting the grass very seriously

    [This short, funny story from Kotaku reports on the upcoming release of a game that simulates mowing British lawns and in the process highlights the impressive evolution of similar simulations and the benefits of ‘thinking outside the box’ when choosing activities to reproduce in presence-evoking virtual environments. See the original story for a second picture and a 1:05 minute trailer (also available via YouTube); more images and another video are on the product’s Steam store page. –Matthew] [Image: A very exciting screenshot of Lawn Mower Simulator. Credit: Skyhook Games / Curve Digital] Lawn Mowing Simulator Takes Cutting The Grass Very…

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  • Call: EvoMUSART 2022 – 11th International Conference on AI in Music, Sound, Art and Design

    Call for Papers EvoMUSART 2022 – 11th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Music, Sound, Art and Design Part of the evo* event 20-22 April 2022 Venue: Somewhere On Earth! [according to WikiCFP] www.evostar.org/2022/evomusart/ Submission deadline: 1 November 2021 The 11th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Music, Sound, Art and Design (EvoMUSART) 2022 is a multidisciplinary conference that brings together researchers who are working on the application of Artificial Intelligence techniques in creative and artist fields. There is a growing interest in the application of Artificial Neural Networks, Evolutionary Computation, Swarm Intelligence, Cellular Automata, Alife, and other Artificial Intelligence…

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  • The ethics of a deepfake Anthony Bourdain voice

    [The use of artificial intelligence technology in a new documentary to create the illusion of the late Anthony Bourdain’s voice has raised a controversy with important implications regarding the ethics of presence. This story from The New Yorker provides the facts and explores the reasons some are upset – including their previous presence experiences in the form of parasocial relationships with Bourdain – and the evolving standards and techniques for disclosing illusions to audiences. –Matthew] [Image: The artificial voice may trouble people in large part because of the close connection they feel with Bourdain, shown here in 2011. Credit: Jose…

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  • Call: 2021 Australasian Simulation Congress (ASC)

    Call for Abstracts Australasian Simulation Congress (ASC) 2021 November 9th – 11th, 2021 University of Technology Sydney and Online http://www.simulationcongress.com/about/ Abstract submission deadline: July 30, 2021 (extended) The Simulation Australasia Board and 2021 Australasian Simulation Congress Organising Committee warmly invite you to join us at the 2021 Australasian Simulation Congress (ASC 2021). This year’s event will be hybrid, hosted both online and at the University of Technology Sydney from November 9th to 11th, 2021. ASC will be on line from 9th to 10th November with a live event hosted at UTS, Sydney on 11th November. We will be exploring the…

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  • VW, OhmniLabs create CHAMP telepresence robot to provide matchday access for young soccer fans

    [This short story from The News Wheel describes a new telepresence robot and its role in providing virtual access to U.S. soccer matches for children who otherwise can’t attend. See the original version for a second picture and a 0:47 minute video (also available on YouTube) and U.S. Soccer press releases here and here for more information. And see an OhmniLabs tweet for a photo of “Luna and CHAMP meeting with Megan Rapinoe at USWNT’s Send-Off Series game versus Mexico.” –Matthew] [Image: Luna Perrone got to meet Alex Morgan through the use of the CHAMP robot. Credit: Volkswagen] VW and…

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  • Call: ANIMATAS Symposium on “Human-Machine Interaction. Perception, Social Learning, Personalised Adaptation in Educational Settings”

    Call for Papers ANIMATAS Symposium on ‘Human-Machine Interaction. Perception, Social Learning, Personalised Adaptation in Educational Settings’ October 12-14, 2021 Virtual event Symposium Website: https://sites.google.com/view/animatas-symposium ANIMATAS Website: https://www.animatas.eu Submission Deadline: 16th of August 2021 OVERVIEW: As emerging technologies continue to grow in complexity and availability, the question of how to successfully integrate such technologies into our society is attracting growing research interest. Social robots, virtual agents, and (explainable) artificial intelligence models are increasingly being implemented in healthcare systems, in entertainment or retail, or in educational settings as a means to reduce burden on human workers and maximise user experience. Education is…

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  • Study examines how grandparents use video chat to connect with grandchildren during pandemic

    [The results so far aren’t particularly surprising and don’t explicitly involve presence, but the ambitious (inter-generational, cross-university, multi-method, longitudinal) study described in this story from Lafayette College, and especially in the linked now-published and free/accessible article in the journal Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies and other detailed reports, provide potentially valuable insights into ways that presence via video chat helps, and can best help, alleviate perceived isolation in family members.  –Matthew] [Image: The young daughter of Prof. Lauren Myers reacts to her grandparents during a video chat.] Video Chat Supports Family Connections By Shannon Sigafoos July 13, 2021 Throughout the…

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  • Call: “Life and Death Moral Dilemmas in VR” Study

    Call for Participants “Life and Death Moral Dilemmas in VR” Study The Virginia Philosophy Reality Lab (VPRL) at Old Dominion University is asking for participants in a research study on moral decision-making in virtual reality settings. Prospective participants must be 18+ years of age and have access to an Oculus headset. Participants will fill out a brief informed consent form and questionnaire before downloading the virtual reality experience that tests responses to virtual life-and-death scenarios. To participate in the study, please visit our website and follow the instructions: http://www.vprl.org/VPRL_Life_Death_Dilemmas.html Please consider sharing this link with non-philosopher students and colleagues, as…

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  • Virtual waterfalls and environmental immersion as pain relief during cystoscopies

    [A new study adds to the evidence for the potential of VR and presence to reduce perceived pain during medical procedures, in this case using a less interactive stimulus that’s designed for older adult patients who are laying down. All of the press coverage so far, including this story from News-Medical.Net, is based on a press release which unfortunately doesn’t include an image of the stimulus. For a related development see the new open access publication “Efficacy of Smartphone Active and Passive Virtual Reality Distraction vs Standard Care on Burn Pain Among Pediatric Patients” in JAMA Network Open. –Matthew] [Image:…

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  • Call: The manifold senses of presence – Hybrid workshop

    Call for Abstracts Workshop: The manifold senses of presence Heidelberg, Germany and Online October 19, 2021 Submission deadline: July 28, 2021 At the latest since our everyday life was and partly still is dominated by social distance, it has become clear what role the phenomenon of “presence” plays for our lifeworld. Strictly speaking, it is the increasing lack of presence that has become conspicuous and that can be attributed not only to the special circumstances of the pandemic, but also to an increasing medialization, virtualization and acceleration of the lifeworld. Yet, what actually characterizes presence is not so easy to…

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  • Scintillating Starburst illustrates perceptual illusions

    [Most people most of the time don’t think about the fact that they’re experiencing the world only through their senses and perceptual processing systems rather than directly (what some have called first order mediation), but naturally occurring and especially human-created optical illusions (a form of technology defined broadly) can be powerful reminders and represent compelling (tele)presence illusions. The post below from the Pascal’s Pensées, or Pascal’s Thoughts, blog (“Contemplations from the trenches of Neuroscience, Psychology, Metaphysics and Life”) introduces an effective example. See the original version of the post for larger images and a detailed technical report about the illusion.…

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