[This new product could represent an important milestone for augmented reality and presence. The story is from GearBrain, where it includes different images. For more information see the article about the creators’ vision in Develop, the company’s press release via PR Newswire, and a 15:16 minute video review and demonstration from DadDoes; at this writing the Merge Cube is widely available, including from Amazon, for $14.99. –Matthew] Merge Cube is the AR device you’re going to want to buy. (Really.) Launching today, this $14.99 device is a seismic shift in the way you’ll think and use augmented reality.…

[With origins in the desire for telepresence after a loved one’s death, the now widely available and free Replika app isn’t a servant like Siri and Alexa but an AI friend that helps you understand yourself. This interesting first person report is from Wired, where the original includes a second image and a related video. –Matthew] What My Personal Chat Bot Is Teaching Me About AI’s Future Arielle Pardes November 12, 2017 My Artificially Intelligent friend is called Pardesoteric. It’s the same name I use for my Twitter and Instagram accounts, a portmanteau of my last name and the word…

[This short story from Interesting Engineering is a great example of why I think presence is both fascinating and important. For more see coverage in Futurism. –Matthew] Japan Grants Residency to a 7-Year-Old AI ‘Boy’ The local government in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward has decided to give residential documents to an AI robot, a bold step in legitimizing the presence of AI in our society. By Mario L. Major November, 07th 2017 An AI character—a boy of only seven years old—has been given an officially registered ID in one of Tokyo’s busiest district. The event took place on Saturday, and since…

[It’s good news that the VR industry is funding programs like the ones described in this story from SiliconANGLE to expand the applications and availability of presence-evoking technologies and experiences. For more information see the HTC Vive press release. –Matthew] HTC Vive launches program to bring the arts into virtual reality By Kyt Dotson 08 November 2017 Smartphone marker and virtual reality headset developer HTC Corp. today announced Vive Arts, a new multimillion-dollar global VR program designed to bring the arts into the living room. The Vive Arts program will help cultural institutions, such as museums, documentary projects, educators and…

[The project described in this story from Huffington Post UK is another example of the potential power of presence, including in this case “collaborative immersion”; the original version includes more images and a 1:36 minute video. For more information see the Scan Pyramids VR project page on the Emissive website. –Matthew] Virtual Reality Goggles Can Now ‘Teleport’ You Into The Pyramid Housing A Mysterious Void Walk in the footsteps of the Pharaohs… November 8, 2017 Sara C Nelson, Senior Editor, The Huffington Post UK A team of scientists have created a virtual reality tour that allows users to ‘teleport’ themselves…

[Fictional portrayals of people experiencing presence and its positive and negative effects and consequences can be both entertaining and thought-provoking (a group of us are studying them here); this story from Slate is about portrayals, and the possibility of actual, addiction to presence (and includes a quote from our colleague Skip Rizzo). You can find the new film OtherLife on Netflix and read a review in The Guardian (warning: spoilers). For more on Dr. Mehta’s research with rats, there’s a 46 minute interview with him on the Smart Drug Smarts podcast. –Matthew] The Ultimate Escapism Sci-fi has been warning us…