International Society
for Presence Research

Author: Matthew Lombard

  • Call: Social Experiences of Film, Film Experiences of Sociality – New Approaches in Film-Philosophy

    Published:

    Call for conference papers Social Experiences of Film | Film Experiences of Sociality New Approaches in Film-Philosophy 14-15 June 2018, New Europe College Institute for Advanced Study (Bucharest) Keynote speakers: Julian Hanich (Univ. of Groningen, The Netherlands) Author of The Audience Effect: On the Collective Cinema Experience (Edinburgh UP, 2017) Rupert Read (Univ. of East Anglia, United Kingdom) Author of Film as Freedom: Ecology and Enlightenment in Cinema (Routledge, forthcoming) Extended deadline for abstract submission: 1 April 2018 Attempts at theorizing film have long stressed the potential of this medium to generate new forms of intersubjectivity and of sociality. In…

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  • New $10 million Avatar XPrize is for building remote-controlled humanoid robots

    Published:

    [A major competition has been launched to accomplish a “grand challenge” for presence, as reported in this story from Fast Company. For more information see an interview with the XPrize founder in Fortune, and of course the website for the Avatar XPrize. –Matthew] The Latest XPrize Is For Building Remote-Controlled Humanoid Robots From caring for distant parents to entering burning buildings, there are lots of ways that people might use robot avatars to be in places they can’t go themselves. The XPrize Foundation is offering $8 million if someone can build one by 2021. By Ben Schiller March 12, 2018…

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  • Call: Philosophy of Photography for journal Laocoonte

    Published:

    Call for Papers: Philosophy of Photography Panorama section of Laocoonte Laocoonte invites paper submissions on the philosophy of photography for its monographic Panorama section of volume 5, 2018. Papers may be written in Spanish, English, or Portuguese. The deadline for submissions is April 30, 2018. Laocoonte is the journal of the Spanish Society for Aesthetics and Art Theory (Sociedad Española de Estética y Teoría de las Artes, SEyTA): Laocoonte: https://ojs.uv.es/index.php/LAOCOONTE SEyTA: http://www.seyta.org Since its inception photography has motivated numerous reflexions about the nature of images and about their artistic modes of production. Photography has engaged thinkers both as a medium…

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  • Google light field camera, app provide glimpse of truly immersive and lifelike VR

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    [Light field cameras aren’t new (see The Verge) but Google may be the company that brings them affordably to VR. This story is from MIT Technology Review, where the original includes more images. For more information see the Google blog post by Paul Debevec. –Matthew] VR is still a novelty, but Google’s light-field technology could make it serious art A new VR app lets you explore worlds with surprising depth and detail. by Rachel Metz March 14, 2018 I recently got a private tour of a NASA space shuttle’s cockpit, a quirky mosaic-covered LA home, and a peaceful chapel with…

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  • Call: Virtual Futures Salon: Robot Sex – with John Danaher

    Published:

    [For more on the new book, see Amazon. –Matthew] Virtual Futures Salon: Robot Sex – with John Danaher Monday 19 March 2018 06:30 PM – 09:00 PM LIBRARY London, 112 St. Martin’s Lane, London, WC2N 4BD Register to Attend Virtual Futures presents lecturer John Danaher, in conversation with Dr. Kate Devlin, on his new co-edited book, ‘Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications’ (The MIT Press, 2018). Sexbots are coming. Given the pace of technological advances, it is inevitable that realistic robots specifically designed for people’s sexual gratification will be developed in the not-too-distant future. Despite popular culture’s fascination with the…

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  • Virtual reality horror ride could help train actual railway workers

    Published:

    [In most cases organizations use a presence-evoking technology for a single purpose, for example for entertaining consumers or for training employees; this story from The Asahi Shimbun describes an interesting case in which the same technology is used for both. The original version of the story includes a second image. –Matthew] [Image: Wearing VR headsets, riders prepare for a horror-filled ride at the Toshimaen amusement park in Tokyo. Credit: Odaka Chiba] Virtual reality horror ride could help train actual railway workers By Odaka Chiba/ Staff Writer March 11, 2018 The Seibu Group has devised two virtual-reality (VR) projects with entirely…

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  • After creepy laughing episodes, should Alexa be a computer or a person?

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    [A recent series of reports of Amazon’s Alexa spontaneously laughing has raised questions about whether machines should be designed to emulate humans. This story from Popular Science argues yes. A counter view can be found in “Alexa’s Creepy Laughter Is A Bigger Problem Than Amazon Admits” in Co.Design: “Alexa’s recent case of the ‘Ha Ha Has’ underlines the uncanny valley between Amazon’s Alexa and any real human. It’s why Star Trek poked at the inabilities of the logic-based aliens known as Spock and Data to understand humor. Humor is an insanely complicated topic considered intrinsic to human evolution. It’s why…

    Read more: After creepy laughing episodes, should Alexa be a computer or a person?

  • Call: Realities360: AR – VR – Simulations for Learning

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    Realities360 AR – VR – Simulations for Learning June 26-28, 2018 San Jose, California http://bit.ly/2Fj3OXB Sponsored by The eLearning Guild Register By March 23 For $200 Off! “Easily the best conference that I’ve been to in terms of an actual mix of practical discussions and big-picture discussion.” –Randy Van Wagnen, Washtenaw Community College Realities360 forges a path unlike any other conference, providing you with a hands-on opportunity to explore the potential of augmented reality, virtual reality, and simulations for learning. Join the community that’s shaping the possibilities these technologies present for our work in training and development. LET’S CREATE THE…

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  • European museums get adventurous with virtual reality

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    [Museums are still figuring out how to best utilize, and fund, virtual reality and the presence experiences it creates, but are impressed with its wide appeal. The director of HTC’s VIVE Arts “says VR will soon be just as important to a museum as its website.” This story is from The New York Times – see the original for several more images. –Matthew] [Image: A staff member at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris demonstrating a new permanent virtual reality installation about evolution. Credit: Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times] European Museums Get Adventurous With Virtual Reality By…

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  • Call: Long(Er)-Term Design Thinking, an NSF Sponsored Workshop

    Published:

    Call for Papers LONG(ER)-TERM DESIGN THINKING NSF-Sponsored Workshop 29-31 May 2018 Seattle, WA Rolling submission deadline for 1-2 page position papers; we will begin to review papers on March 10 Design thinking and approaches to problems that are long(er) term – on the order of 20, 50, or 100 years — have a distinct cast. With this workshop, we seek to enable a conversation at the intersection of long(er) timeframes and the role of design thinking and practice. Increasingly, researchers and designers of technology are investigating both individual and societal problems that require a long(er)-term design thinking approach to grapple…

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  • Fidelity Investments firm is using VR and presence to teach employees to empathize with customers

    Published:

    [Investment firm Fidelity has replaced classroom sessions in which trainees are told to empathize with customers with experiences using virtual reality that help make them more empathetic. This story about a positive use of presence is from The Observer. –Matthew] [Image: Jason Cooper, director of multimedia for Horizon Productions in Durham holds a pair of virtual reality goggles. N&O file photo] Fidelity is teaching employees compassion with virtual reality By Max Diamond March 07, 2018 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA – Phone associates at Fidelity Investments no longer just sit in a classroom and listen to an instructor for training, instead they…

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  • Call: IEEE Games, Entertainment, & Media (GEM) 2018

    Published:

    Call for Papers, Special Sessions, Tutorials and Industry Contributions IEEE Games, Entertainment, & Media (GEM) 2018 National University of Ireland Galway, August 15th –  17th http://sites.ieee.org/ieeegem/calls-for-papers/ Submission deadlines: 31st March 2018 Continuing the grand tradition & broadening the scope of the IEEE International Games Innovation Conference (IGIC, 2009-2013) and IEEE Games Entertainment & Media (GEM, 2014- 2016) we introduce IEEE GEM 2018 located in the Alice Perry Engineering Building, National University of Ireland Galway, August 15th –  17th. INTRODUCTION The Games, Entertainment and Media (GEM) Conference began in London 2009, and moved to venues in the US and Canada until 2016.…

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