[This is a long but extremely interesting first person account of what it’s like to use a (current) telepresence robot; the story is from Wired, where it features more pictures and two videos. I’m anxious to see how the experience will change as the technology evolves. -Matthew] [Image: Christie Hemm Klok/WIRED] My Life as a Robot Emily Dreyfuss September 8, 2015 I have been part robot since May. Instead of legs, I move on gyroscopically stabilized wheels. Instead of a face, I have an iPad screen. Instead of eyes, a camera with no peripheral vision. Instead of a mouth, a…

[The ultimate ‘virtual cliff’? It’d be interesting to compare responses to the VR promotion and the 3D IMAX film experience. This story is from Nuke the Fridge, where it includes another picture, the mentioned video and the official trailer; another video of a user’s experience is on YouTube and Sony’s press release is available from PR Newswire. –Matthew] THE WALK Virtual Reality Experience Will Blow Your Mind Louis Love September 7, 2015 The next movie by legendary film maker Robert Zemeckis, The Walk, is set to open in theaters on October 9. The film chronicles the real life events of…

[It’s seldom mentioned but the valuable psychology research in the story below, along with so many other projects that use VR, wouldn’t work if the technology didn’t evoke presence. The CBC has a new story on this work, including a 6:52 minute audio interview with the Dr. Morrongiello, but the story below from the Guelph Mercury provides a more detailed description of the Lab setup and how it’s being used. –Matthew] University of Guelph lab studies real kids as they cross virtual roads By Andrea Gordon Aug 28, 2014 GUELPH—The basement room in the psychology building at the University of…

[Ah, the steps we’ll take to create a sense of presence! This is from Mashable, where the story features many more images and the how-to video; for more coverage see CNN’s 1:12 minute report. –Matthew] Japan’s ‘Cardboard Theater’ uses your tablet to create a private movie house Adario Strange June 2, 2015 Japan is known for its quirky trends that don’t always make sense to the rest of us, but this latest one might be a winner: the Cardboard Theater. The set-up, designed to deliver a private, somewhat immersive movie-watching experience, consists of a large cardboard box and a tablet…

[‘Direct address,’ in which a mediated person or other social actor seems to look at and talk to the viewer, clearly can evoke a sense of presence; when it happens suddenly and unexpectedly it’s called ‘breaking the fourth wall’; the new 8:21 minute documentary described in this story from Design TAXI explains with lots of examples. While it notes the ways the technique breaks presence (though it doesn’t use that term), it also points (at 5:52) to how the technique increases ‘intimacy’ and ‘pulls us in.’ For an entertaining compilation of examples watch Press Play’s 8:38 minute video; for a…

[The projects described in this story from The Creators Project blog (which features more images) are among the most powerful and important applications of presence (and note the explicit and indirect references to presence responses here). –Matthew] An Ebola Survivor’s Story, Told in Virtual Reality By Kevin Holmes — Sep 1 2015 Think of VR filmmaking and you’ll probably conjure images of fantastical CG worlds where viewers get lost and escape reality. But the films of virtual reality production company Vrse.works challenge that notion. Released today is immersive documentary, Waves of Grace—the film follows ebola survivor Decontee Davis around West…