International Society
for Presence Research

Author: Matthew Lombard

  • Call: Ethics Oversight and Committees for AI: Towards a Future Research Agenda – University of Oxford workshop

    Published:

    Call for Participation Ethics Oversight and Committees for AI: Towards a Future Research Agenda A Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities (WEH) workshop Friday, May 10, 2019, 10am to 6pm Big Data Institute, University of Oxford https://www.weh.ox.ac.uk/upcoming-events/workshop-ethics-oversight-and-committees-for-ai-towards-a-future-research-agenda Participation deadline: May 5, 2019 Ethox and the Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities are based at the Big Data Institute, University of Oxford, Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery, Old Road Campus, Oxford OX3 7FZ. This workshop will take place in the BDI, Level 1 Ax Meeting Room. ABSTRACT Increasingly, concerns are being raised about the lack of ethics…

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  • AR will spark the next big tech platform – Call it mirrorworld

    Published:

    [This recent Wired story from the magazine’s founding editor is a thoughtful and thought-provoking perspective on the evolution of technology that explains how and why presence illusions will increasingly occur via augmented reality, creating both important benefits and potential costs. The original version of the story is extremely long so it’s abridged here, but see the original for more information and detail. –Matthew] AR Will Spark the Next Big Tech Platform—Call it Mirrorworld Kevin Kelly February 12, 2019 EVERY DECEMBER, ADAM Savage—star of the TV show MythBusters—releases a video reviewing his “favorite things” from the previous year. In 2018, one…

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  • Call: Transdisciplinary AI 2019

    Published:

    CALL FOR PAPERS AND PROPOSALS Transdisciplinary AI 2019 (TransAI 2019) September 25-27, 2019 Laguna Hills, California http://www.TransAI.org Submission deadline: July 1, 2019 Artificial Intelligence (AI) is concerned with computing technologies that allow machines to see, hear, talk, think, learn, and solve problems even above the level of human beings. On the one hand it allows data to be analyzed by real-time models that enable unprecedented levels of accuracy and efficiency. On the other hand it enables domain specific problem solving and knowledge discovery that cannot be easily done by humans. Transdisciplinary AI 2019 (TransAI 2019), technically sponsored by the IEEE…

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  • Virtual reality and presence being used to stop bullying

    Published:

    [An increasingly important positive application of presence-evoking technology is described in this story from Irish Tech News; a related 2:43 minute video story from BBC’s Newsbeat, “Virtual reality to stop bullying: Tech tested in schools,” features interviews with the creators and young users of a new app created by the Open University “to get children to think about prejudiced attitudes towards people from different backgrounds.” –Matthew] Zeeko Develops Novel Virtual Reality Training Lesson for Primary School Children to Address Issue of Bullying Irish Tech News February 5, 2019 Zeeko, an Irish EdTech company, in its 2018 Trend Report, which involved…

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  • Call: The International Conference of Experience Design, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (XD2019GoldCoast)

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    Call for Papers The International Conference of Experience Design, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (XD2019GoldCoast) 14 – 16 August 2019 Gold Coast, Australia https://www.griffith.edu.au/centre-design-innovation/XD2019GoldCoast Submission deadline: April 19, 2019 The International Conference of Experience Design, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (XD2019GoldCoast) will be hosted by the Griffith Centre for Design and Innovation Research (CDAIR) at Griffiths Gold Coast campus. The three-day conference brings together an international community of scholars and practitioners around the 2019 theme of “Exploring and Enhancing Experience” in relation to design, innovation and entrepreneurship in: Architecture | Artificial Intelligence | Brand | Business | Communication | Computing | Data Science |…

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  • The sky as canvas: Japan company to create on-demand artificial meteor showers

    Published:

    [I missed this BBC story from January about efforts to create presence illusions in space (!). See the original version for four different images, and see the ALE 1:17 minute concept video in coverage from Science Alert, which also notes that “the trend of sending frivolous objects to space seems to be gaining traction in a worrying way. A year ago it was a mirrored “disco” ball, launched quietly from New Zealand to orbit Earth for a few months. Another artist sent a giant shiny thing called the Orbital Reflector into space in December. China wants an artificial moon to…

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  • Call: Playable Cities: The Internet of Play in Urban Environments (at IoP 2019)

    Published:

    Call for Workshop Papers + Keynote 4th International Workshop PLAYABLE CITIES: THE INTERNET OF PLAY IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS https://sites.google.com/view/playablecities2019/home This workshop will be held as part of the 5th IEEE International Conference on the Internet of People (IoP 2019; http://www.smart-world.org/2019/iop/), August 19-23, 2019, Leicester, UK. Paper submission deadline: 26th April 2019 BACKGROUND Following the success of the first (Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2016), the second (Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, 2017), and the third (Braga, Portugal, 2018) workshops on Playable Cities we are pleased to announce the 4th Playable Cities Workshop to be held on 19th August 2019 as part of the 5th…

    Read more: Call: Playable Cities: The Internet of Play in Urban Environments (at IoP 2019)

  • Are we living in a simulation? This MIT scientist says it’s more likely than not

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    [Aside from being a provocative and intriguing idea, the Simulation Hypothesis represents the ultimate example of presence, and the latest analogy for the nature of the universe (following a watch or clock, a steam engine, and others). This interview with Rizwan Virk about his new book on the subject is from Digital Trends (where it includes 4 other images); see his zenentrepreneur blog for more information. Variety also has a story on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of “The Matrix” that presents Virk’s list of “The Top 5 Virtual/Simulated Characters and How They Foretold the Future.” –Matthew] Are we…

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  • Call: Workshop: Image, Imagination and Virtual Reality at University of Antwerp

    Published:

    Workshop: Image, Imagination and Virtual Reality University of Antwerp, Center for European Philosophy Friday 3rd of May, City Campus, room D 014 https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/research-groups/center-for-european-philosophy/activities/expert-seminar-image-virtuality/ CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION Virtual and augmented reality technologies are rapidly becoming part of our daily lives. While VR technologies let their users enter into and interact with virtual worlds, be it renderings of real, far off places or fictional ones, AR technologies brings virtual objects into the real world, allowing people to chase after Pokémon in real-life cities. But how to describe and explain our experiences of virtual objects and environments? Is our experience of the virtual a…

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  • Doctor creates virtual reality simulation to save newborn babies’ lives

    Published:

    [Here’s another very positive application of presence. The story is from Seattle Children’s, where the original includes more images; note the link at the end to a 2:32 minute demonstration video. –Matthew] Doctor Creates Virtual Reality Simulation to Save Babies’ Lives April 1, 2019 Lindsay Kurs Wanting to do something different to address the alarmingly high number of newborn deaths in low income countries, Dr. Rachel Umoren, a neonatologist at Seattle Children’s, turned to virtual reality (VR). As mobile phone-based VR programs became increasingly accessible, Umoren thought the emerging technology could offer a better way to equip health care providers…

    Read more: Doctor creates virtual reality simulation to save newborn babies’ lives

  • Call: Brain correlates for Human-Virtual Agent Interaction – IVA 2019 Workshop

    Published:

    Workshop at IVA 2019 Brain correlates for Human-Virtual Agent Interaction At ACM International Conference of Virtual Agents, https://iva2019.sciencesconf.org July 2nd 2019 Paris-6 University, Paris, France Submission deadline: 8th May Keywords: cerebral activities in human-human and human-machine interaction, neurophysiological data, brain-computer interfaces, virtual agents. OVERVIEW There is a longstanding tradition of research on the relationships between language, cognition and the human brain. Until recently, however, investigations in this domain were limited to studying language production or comprehension in talkers individually exposed to highly controlled linguistic material. Over the last few years, major advances have been simultaneously accomplished in language sciences, computer…

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  • Healium helps you de-stress in VR/AR using your brain and heart rate

    Published:

    [A biometric meditation tool that uses VR/AR and presence to reduce anxiety and stress is receiving a lot of attention. See the original version of this VR Fitness Insider story for a 4:11 minute video and a second image. Coverage in Haptic.al cites studies in Frontiers in Psychology and the Journal of Neuroregulation that “showed Healium reduced moderate anxiety and increased feelings of positivity in as little as four minutes.” And a story in Startland profiles company founder and CEO Sarah Hill and what led her to develop Healium; it also notes that “StoryUP has partnered with 28 airlines —…

    Read more: Healium helps you de-stress in VR/AR using your brain and heart rate

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