[NASA and Google have launched a new presence experience; here’s a key quote from the NASA news release below: “More than anything, Access Mars offers a visceral impression of what it would be like to walk alongside [the rover] Curiosity, wandering through the lonely, red desert.” The original release includes more images and a 1:11 minute video; see related coverage at GeekWire. –Matthew] Take a Walk on Mars — in Your Own Living Room Oct. 19, 2017 When NASA scientists want to follow the path of the Curiosity rover on Mars, they can don a mixed-reality headset and virtually explore…

[This story from KQED highlights some of the challenges of establishing and telling stories with presence (even though it never uses the term). See the original version for 5 images and 3 videos. –Matthew] [Image: Lily Baldwin directing Amari Cheatom, Marni Wood on set of Through You, photo by Cameron Bertron. Source: San Francisco Dance Film Festival.] Is Virtual Reality the Future of Dance? By Carla Escoda October 16, 2017 Those who think virtual reality (VR) is solely the province of gamers, adventure-seekers, and simulation builders may be startled to see how dance-makers are employing the technology on screen. For…

[The new technology described in this story from PetaPixel represents another expansion of presence illusions in our lives (and toward traversing the uncanny valley) – note the predicted applications for Facebook near the end. To watch many examples of the technology in action see the Supplementary Materials page of the project’s website. –Matthew] This Tech Can Turn Portraits Into Photo-Realistic Videos of Facial Expressions Will Nicholls October 10, 2017 Researchers at Facebook and Tel Aviv University in Israel have teamed up to bring your selfies to “life.” Using a single still photo of a person’s face, their new technology is…

[Two interesting presence-related videos are highlighted in recent entries in Jason Kottke‘s excellent kottke.org blog. The details are below… –Matthew] Goodbye Uncanny Valley Oct 17, 2017 [Also see the comments posted with the video on Vimeo. –Matthew] For years, the idea of the uncanny valley has dominated computer graphics. Computers were powerful enough to produce real-ish looking people, places, or things but not quite powerful enough to make audiences believe they were actually real…to the point where they’re actually kind of creepy. In this excellent video essay, Alan Warburton argues that the uncanny valley is behind us and previews where…

[This story from Forbes describes how a technology created to evoke spatial presence is being used to train artificial intelligence and thereby make agents and robots more competent and able to more effectively evoke social and medium-as-social-actor presence. –Matthew] Virtual Reality is the Next Training Ground for Artificial Intelligence Simon Solotko , Contributor October 11, 2017 Virtual reality was imagined as a human simulation technology long before the most recent wave of innovation that brought us the Oculus RIFT and the wave of innovation that followed. Now, rendering high framerate graphics using multiple, stereoscopic points in virtual reality is matching…

[The Virtuali-Tee looks like a clever use of technology to evoke presence for education and enjoyment. The story below is from Wired, where it features a different image. See the Curiscope website for more information including a video, and the company’s blog for information about Operation Apex; the book “All About Virtual Reality” is available from Amazon UK (not the US site as of this writing). –Matthew] Take a peek inside your own body with this virtual reality app Curiscope’s Virtuali-Tee blends augmented and virtual reality to let people explore a human chest cavity through a T-shirt By Eleanor Peake…