[In addition to the wonderful picture below, this opinion piece from Metro UK highlights a variety of intriguing issues and phenomena related to medium-as-social-actor presence. –Matthew] [Image: Zoltan’s daughter with her robot partner on their ‘wedding’ day. Credit: Zoltan Istvan] Should I have let my daughter marry our robot? Zoltan Istvan, Transhumanist, speaker, entrepreneur and author July 24, 2019 I pride myself on being open-minded. I am a transhumanist, and our culture pushes us to use science and technology to always want to be more than we are. My friends do everything from injecting themselves with self-created genetic treatments to…

[In the story below Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reports on the use of AI speakers, and the medium-as-social-actor presence they evoke, to relieve the loneliness of seniors; see the original for a second image. Forbes recently reported on a related project in the UK: “Looking to address the challenges of elderly loneliness, Accenture has developed a solution that uses conversational AI to let people capture memorable stories for future generations while providing companionship. Powered by Google Voice Assistant, Memory Lane initiates conversations by asking someone who is lonely to tell their life story. This is then turned into a physical…

[The creators of Nukemap VR “hope to take [the limited] public comprehension [of nuclear weapons] to the next level by enabling people to immerse themselves in a realistic first-person experience].” This well written report on what it’s like to use the simulation and the background of the project is from Business Insider, where it includes 5 more pictures and a 0:42 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: Nukemap VR simulates a nuclear bomb explosion in New York City to educate people about atomic weapons. Credit: Christopher Manzione; Reinventing Civil Defense/Stevens Institute of Technology] I just nuked Manhattan in a realistic new VR…

[This CNBC story describes a new set of presence experiences offered by Apple stores in six cities; see the original version for more pictures. For more information see the Apple press release and a 0:55 minute video via YouTube. –Matthew] Apple took us on a surreal walk through San Francisco, looking at digital art on an iPhone August 13, 2019 Kif Leswing San Francisco looks different through an iPhone XS Max — it’s still a city, but now there are floating balls of fabric, speech bubbles, and words popping out from the trees and buildings. For more than two hours…

[As if the political systems around the world didn’t have enough to worry about, the US Democratic Party recently highlighted the dangers of deepfake videos by creating one and presenting it as if it were a live appearance by their leader. See the original CNN version of the story below for a 2:26 minute video – start at 0:51 for a brief excerpt of the deepfake video itself. –Matthew] The Democratic Party deepfaked its own chairman to highlight 2020 concerns By Donie O’Sullivan August 10, 2019 Las Vegas (CNN Business) – The Democratic National Committee wanted to demonstrate the potential…

[This review of an immersive installation that recreates the experience of a World War I battle describes an intense and emotional presence experience. See the original review in Patch for a different picture, a 1:03 minute trailer and a 7:37 minute ‘making of’ video. For more information see earlier coverage in Variety and Engadget and the War Remains website. –Matthew] Austin-Exclusive ‘War Remains’ Immersive Exhibit Packs A Wallop Dramatic narration by Dan Carlin of popular ‘Hardcore History’ podcast gives voice to emotionally powerful experience. By Tony Cantu, Patch Staff August 10, 2019 AUSTIN, TX — Unless you’ve experienced combat, you’ll…