[This story from Brink describes an innovative use of virtual reality and presence to observe experienced offenders as they commit burglaries to better understand and thereby prevent future real-world crimes. For more information, see the Virtual Burglary Project on ResearchGate. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Semantic Scholar] Virtual Reality to Observe Crimes As They Unfold. Here’s How September 5, 2019 Claire Nee, Director of International Centre for Research in Forensic Psychology Ordinary citizens worry a lot about community safety. In particular, surveys and research suggest that residential burglary is one of the most feared crimes internationally. Until recently, when trying to understand…

[A new 5:50 minute film features Hanson Robotics robot Sophia interacting with actress Evan Rachel Wood, who plays robot Dolores in HBO’s Westworld. I’ll refrain from playing reviewer, but stay tuned for after-the-credits feature “Questioning Reality with Evan and Sophia.” CNET’s coverage includes this: “SophiaWorld manages to plunge us through almost as many layers of existence as an actual Westworld episode. It’s the perfect way to pass the time while waiting for season 3 to arrive in 2020. Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality? After you watch SophiaWorld, the answer will be yes.” The story below is…

[It’s not hard to imagine that near-future refined technologies that evoke greater presence among users will create more frequent and more severe versions of the problems discussed in this Refinery29 story. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Eylul Aslan] “I Worried To The Point Of Obsession” – How Virtual Beauty Apps Prey On Insecurities Anna Behrmann 3 September 2019 I can change my lipstick from bright pink to intense red in a fraction of a second. I can try on a ‘Vegas’ look from a virtual makeup artist complete with false lashes, four different shades of perfectly blended eyeshadow, heavily defined eyebrows and…

[The telepresence robot described in this story from Tom’s Hardware is designed to mimic human interaction for parents and children. The original story includes two more pictures and some of the robot’s technical specifications; see the Indiegogo page for much more information. –Matthew] Hug Your Kid When You’re Out of Town With the Cushybot One Telepresence Robot by Brittany Vincent August 27, 2019 For children with long-distance parents, things can get a little lonely. Home robotics company Cushybots wants to change this with a new telepresence robot, the Cushybot One, launching today on Indiegogo. The Cushybot One is an adorable…

[Several types of presence feature prominently in the ‘mega themes’ identified in this story from Forbes. As usual, the potential roles of presence represent both promise and peril. –Matthew] The Twelve Mega Themes That Will Drive Our Future World Sarwant Singh, Contributor August 28, 2019 The blurring of the human-machine divide, the ability to immerse ourselves in new augmented/virtual/mixed reality worlds, the prospect of being able to recycle everything in our homes, the joys of having an intelligent assistant take over our chores at home and work, the dilemma over the double-edged sword that is data, the thrill of having…

[This VentureBeat story uses vivid examples to explain the potential of mixed reality and presence to enhance the psychological impact and the financial health of journalism. –Matthew] [Image: The New York Times in augmented reality] Journalism needs help — and mixed reality is coming to the rescue Kenny Kline August 26, 2019 Traditional print journalism is dying, fast. According to statistics published by Pew Research, hundreds of daily newspapers have been scratched off the national roster since the 1970s, and about a third of the United States’ largest papers have suffered layoffs since 2017. The industry is struggling to stay…