[To me a great value of the presence concept is that it raises thought-provoking questions about our lives and even the nature of existence. Regardless of your views about the validity of “simulation theory” (the idea that we’re likely living in a computer simulation), it illustrates the power of simulation and presence as a metaphor for our technology-dominated era. While thinking about how we’d change our perceptions and behavior should we discover that we and/or our world are simulations is intriguing (see Jones, Lombard and Jasak, 2011), this column from The New York Times warns against conducting formal tests. –Matthew]…

[This ZDNet story describes successful heart surgeries performed via robot from 20 miles away, a milestone accomplishment in telemedicine and telesurgery. For more information see the press release via Business Wire and the article in The Lancet’s EClinicalMedicine; for more on the positive impact of telemedicine see “In the coalfields, telemedicine provides antidote to doctor shortages, poor health” in The Roanoke Times. –Matthew] [Image: Figure 1C from the EClinicalMedicine article shows the surgeon controlling the remotely located Corindus robot.] First long-distance heart surgery performed via robot In a feat of networking, engineering, and medicine, a doctor performed a heart procedure…

[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…