[As this story from Forbes notes, Hybri isn’t the first attempt to create compelling digital companions, and it assumes the upcoming Kickstarter campaign will be successful, but it’s an interesting example of a social presence technology and raises lots of ethical questions. For example, coverage in Beebom includes this: “[A] digital companion is not at all creepy, until it has the face of one of your loved ones who left you or even passed away. This feature makes Hybri one of the creepiest apps I have ever seen. … So, technically, you can use a picture of a person who is…

[To encourage more effective and compelling presence experiences it’s important to make the technology involved less apparent and intrusive. This story from Mashable describes new prototype technology developed by Facebook Research to do this for VR headsets. –Matthew] Facebook reveals the future of VR headsets, and it’s more ‘CSI Miami’ than ‘Tron’ By Amanda Yeo June 30, 2020 Immersing yourself in virtual reality can feel like a sci-fi fantasy come true, but bulky, cumbersome VR headsets almost make it more trouble than it’s worth. There have been various attempts to slim down VR headsets, such as Dlodlo’s lightweight V One…

[A milestone in presence history took place 50 years ago, on June 30, 2020, as described in this story from Fast Company; see the original for two more pictures and the two videos mentioned. –Matthew] Watch the first videoconference, which took place 50 years ago today The Zoom of its time, AT&T’s Picturephone II went live on June 30, 1970, in Pittsburgh June 30, 2020 By Harry Mccracken In 1964, AT&T unveiled its Picturephone—a telephone with video as well as audio—at the New York World’s Fair and at Disneyland. It was an iconic moment for personal technology. But when the…

[The use of a variety of technologies that evoke presence is changing the nature of both individual and collective memorialization, as described in this thought-provoking article from YaleGlobal by the editors of the new book Mass Violence and Memory in the Digital Age: Memorialization Unmoored. –Matthew] [Image: Global grieving; New technologies help museums and individual gather evidence and relay history – Holocaust survivor Sam Harris answered hundreds of questions to help create a hologram; global movement Together We Remember relies on social media to act against hate. Source: Ron Gould Studios/Illinois Holocaust Museum and Together We Remember)] Digital Memorialization for a Global…

[UploadVR reports on a new Google video technology that provides a more immersive and realistic presence experience than other systems and can be streamed using currently available internet connections. TechCrunch provides a description of its capabilities: “Google is showing off one of the most impressive efforts yet turning traditional photography and video into something more immersive: 3D video that lets the viewer change their perspective and even look around objects in frame. […] The effect of high-definition video and freedom of movement gives these light field videos a real sense of reality. Existing VR-enhanced video generally uses fairly ordinary stereoscopic…

[Several of the innovative design concepts in the new Ikea project described in this story from Fast Company involve presence. Follow the links for much more information and many images and videos. –Matthew] [Image: Source: designboom] Ikea imagines home life post-COVID-19, and it’s wild Ikea sees an opportunity to rethink the home By Mark Wilson June 25, 2020 If sheltering in place has taught us one thing, it’s that your home has to be more than a place to sleep. It’s where we live a lot of our lives—and even work and teach school—and so spending on indoor and outdoor…