[I doubt any technology on the horizon will be able to fully replicate the experience of eating pumpkin pie with whipped cream or other traditional Thanksgiving dishes, but this story from IEEE Spectrum describes a new device that improves on earlier attempts to enhance presence by adding taste and smell to sight, sound and touch sensations while in virtual and mixed reality environments. See the original version of the story for a second image; see Ars Technica for additional details and a 57-second video; and see November 2013 and March 2017 posts from ISPR Presence News for more information about…

[Researchers from Stanford University and Google DeepMind have demonstrated a new, efficient technique requiring only a two-hour data-gathering interview to replicate the personality of a human being as an AI agent. The story below from MIT Technology Review provides details, including the predictable positive and potentially negative applications of the medium-as-social-actor presence the agents would likely evoke. Coverage in The Register highlights the latter this way: “Why bother? Well, there’s some interest in AI models that behave like specific people, whether that involves repeating things the person said or a more generalized simulacrum that provides responses which seem to be…

[Without using the term itself, this feature article from IBC describes how faster, AI-enabled 6G will enable richer, more compelling presence experiences. See the original version for four more images. –Matthew] 6G: media should plan for the internet-of-senses Developers believe 6G will usher in photo-realistic holographic communication complemented by multisensory extensions – and experiments are already happening today. By Adrian PenningtonNovember 20, 2024 Imagine watching artists 280 miles apart perform and interact in real time in a shared digital environment. Or how about feeling a crunching on-field tackle in your living room or being immersed in a live holographic broadcast…

[A new study in the journal Criminal Behavior and Mental Health provides evidence that presence evoked during virtual reality simulations can increase police officers’ sympathy and empathy with characters in mental health crises, suggesting an important positive impact on their real-life interactions in the community. This story is from Florida Atlantic University; in a report in Maryland Today, the second author of the journal article says, “As technology gets better, VR might further maximize immersion and sense of involvement, which could strengthen empathy and improve police-community interactions.” –Matthew] VR Could be a Gamechanger in Police-Civilian Crisis Encounters By Gisele GaloustianNovember…

[A new “surreal” demonstration of the potential of artificial intelligence may portend future personalized presence experiences generated in real-time in games, on other entertainment platforms, and beyond. The IFL Science report below provides the details (see the original version for two videos), and it’s followed by excerpts from coverage in Wired and MIT Technology Review. –Matthew] [Image: The game has been described as “kinda creepy”. Credit: Alainara/Shutterstock] The World’s First AI-Generated Game Is Playable By Anyone Online, And It Is Surreal The AI was forced to watch millions of hours of Minecraft footage, like a parent of any 8-year-old. By…

[The second of two posts today about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is about a project designed to use presence-evoking technology to treat the condition. The post is from Louisiana State University (LSU), where the original includes four more images and a 1:42 minute video (also available on YouTube). For more about presence and ADHD, see the October 2011 ISPR Presence News post “VR tool facilitates diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder and Hyperactivity.” –Matthew] [Image: Associate professor of computer science David Shepherd with Ph.D. students Fatemeh Jamalinabijan, left, and Matheus Costa.] The Future of ADHD Treatment? LSU’s VR Research Aims…

[In the first of two posts today about presence and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the author provides a first-person account of a mixed reality experience titled Impulse: Playing with Reality that simulates the condition. This is an abridged version of the original story from The Telegraph, which includes three more images and three looping videos. For more information, visit the Impulse website. –Matthew] [Image: Miranda experienced stress and panic while trying Impulse, a virtual reality game that shows what it’s like to have ADHD. Credit: Heathcliff O’Malley] I wore a headset that simulates ADHD – see what I saw…