[Chatbots are increasingly capable of passing the Turing Test, with users not able to distinguish them from humans, but I find it particularly interesting that even when users are aware that they’re conversing with an AI they don’t care and still treat it as they would a human. This story is from Nautilus, where it includes other images. According to The Daily Dot, “There’s no English counterpart for Xiaoice yet, but if you speak Mandarin, you can test her out on this website.” –Matthew] Your Next New Best Friend Might Be a Robot Meet Xiaoice. She’s empathic, caring, and always…

[Here’s yet another way we’re trying to increase presence in our mediated experiences; this one is interesting in part because it works with both TV sets and VR headsets. The story is from Engadget, where it includes more images and a 3:53 minute video. –Matthew] Immersit’s crazy 4D motion sofa kit hits Kickstarter Turn your couch into a bucking bronco for around $750. Steve Dent February 11, 2016 Immersit thinks that your gaming, virtual reality or home cinema experience could be a little more dynamic. To fix that, it just launched its Immersit 4D motion sim for your sofa on…

[This simple and elegant presence-evoking installation could be a model for one way to help users move between nonmediated and mediated realities; the original version of the story from Fast Company features a 1:21 minute video and more images. –Matthew] This Magical Door Lets You Explore The Virtual World Without Putting On A Headset There’s a chasm between our physical and virtual worlds. This captivating installation offers one way to bridge them. Mark Wilson February 10, 2016 It should feel like a cliché. Doors, a project by interactive studio The Ortiz, is something we’ve seen 1,000 times before: a portal…

[This is a thoughtful, example-filled, theory-building discussion of the essential elements of storytelling in VR, all with a focus on the user’s experience (including explicitly the experience of presence – see the third paragraph). It’s from Road to VR, where it includes the 29:39 minute podcast, another image and both mentioned videos. Several typos have been corrected. –Matthew] The Four Different Types of Stories in VR Voices of VR Podcast – Episode #293 By Kent Bye – Feb 4, 2016 For the past year, Devon Dolan has been trying to make sense of the interactive storytelling landscape that’s possible within…

[Robots are among many technologies that can evoke a sense of presence, a misperception of experience mediated by technology, in which the medium itself seems to be a living social actor. This story from IEEE Spectrum considers the possibility that as robots become more human-like in both appearance and behavior we’ll resist them as threats to our uniqueness (akin to anthropocentrism and computers). See the original story for an additional image featuring Geminoid DK with his doppelganger creator and the mentioned 2:56 minute video. –Matthew] Study: Nobody Wants Social Robots That Look Like Humans Because They Threaten Our Identity By…

[Without using the terms, this story from NPR clearly describes the experience of presence in the context of teleoperation. Go to the original version for the 3:43 minute audio interview, a 1:06 minute video, and more images. For more on what it’s like to pilot these drones, see coverage in Ars Technica; for more on the nascent sport, see the story in Quartz. –Matthew] [Image: UmmaGawd (Tommy Tibajia), a pilot in the Drone Racing League, flies his quadcopter in an abandoned power plant in New York. Credit: The Drone Racing League.] A Video Game IRL: Drone Racing League Aims To…