[Today’s story is about the use of the technology of modern sculpture to create a presence illusion, this one with an important message. The original story in Mashable includes more images and two videos; more information is available via the project’s website and press release, My Modern Met, as well as Open Culture, where the author writes that “nobody who visits Venice during the Biennale could fail to pause before Support, a work whose visual drama demands a reaction that temperature charts or data-filled studies can’t hope to provoke by themselves. And even apart from the issue at hand, as…

[Planetariums are too often overlooked as a media technology capable of creating several types of presence, including social presence. Our colleague Tom Kwasnitschka makes the case in this story from Nature. For complimentary evidence, see coverage by Creators (including videos) of the recent Obscura Digital presentation ‘Chrysalis,’ the largest projection inside a geodesic dome, at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Creators] Planetariums — not just for kids Planetariums are not just for education, or even astronomy: they could display all sorts of data, if only scientists thought to use them, says Tom Kwasnitschka. 25 April 2017 Most…

[The Whole Story Project is an example of what could become an important trend, using presence experiences that augment our current reality to advocate for and bring about changes in that reality. The story is from Digital Trends, where it includes a 1:15 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: Source: AdStasher] This Pokémon Go-style app lets you find virtual statues of historic women By Hillary Grigonis – May 3, 2017 Out of the 5,193 historic statues decorating street corners in the United States, only about 7.5 percent depict women, and excluding fictional characters, New York’s Central Park has zero ladies in bronze,…

[This story from ThinkProgress describes the origins and potential impacts of a VR documentary on a very serious topic, along with some of the design decisions used to shape the presence experiences of the viewer. For a first person report on the experience see coverage in Engadget, and for a report on other virtual and mixed reality experiences from Tribeca Immersive at the recent Tribeca Film Festival see coverage in CNET. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Engadget] Rape survivors’ stories told through virtual reality in new documentary Rape survivors, up close and personal. Jessica Goldstein, Culture Editor at ThinkProgress May 4, 2017…

[As this story from UA News notes, we’ll want future comparisons including with in-person sessions, but these results highlight the value of presence in a deeply emotional context. This sentence stands out: “In follow-up assessments, participants in the virtual reality group said they felt as if they were in a real room during the sessions, with real people who were going through similar experiences.” The original story includes three more images. –Matthew] Virtual Support Groups Help Grieving Spouses With Depression For older adults who can’t travel to attend a traditional grief support group, a virtual version may be the next…

[Omnipulse is another effort to not only add the sense of touch but increase the ‘haptic resolution’ of presence experiences; this story is from Road to VR, where it includes two short videos. –Matthew] This Pulsating ‘Haptic Skin’ is Somewhat Creepy, Mostly Awesome By Ben Lang May 9, 2017 Omnipulse is a new haptic technology out of Cornell’s Organic Robotics Lab which uses an array of embedded pneumatic actuators to create haptic feedback which feels quite ‘organic’ compared to the more ‘mechanical’ of many other haptic technologies out there. With the ability to form the flexible Omnipulse skin into arbitrary…