[‘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…

[This story about the Real Virtuality multiplayer VR system is from Wired, where it features two videos; coverage in Popular Science calls the torch pass featured in one of the videos (and the screenshot below) a possible “’first contact’ moment for virtual reality gaming–a small step but one that makes many things possible in the future. If it doesn’t seem impressive, consider all of the points of representation that are acting in this virtual reality scenario: the environment, the torch’s play on the lighting, and the other person in the game. They’re all rendered without delay. Humanity has essentially recreated,…

[VS Shades and other ModiFace apps that let users experiment with changing their appearance demonstrate the presence-evoking potential of augmented reality; this is from the PSFK blog, which features more images. –Matthew] Give Any Hair Color a Virtual Try With the VS Shades app, you can try on Vidal Sassoon Hair Colors without the commitment and potentially bad decisions Leo Lutero 14 august 2015 A new app will let consumers try on Vidal Sassoon Hair Colors before getting them in real life. Through a virtual try before buy, the VS Shades app [Android; IOS] illustrates how augmented reality can help…

[You can ‘be there’ on the red carpet as stars arrive for the MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday. This story is from Fast Company’s Co.Create, where it features more images and a video; the VMA website is here. –Matthew] MTV Rolls Out The VMA Red Carpet In Your House With 360-Degree Virtual Reality The star-studded pre-show may never be the same. By Lydia Dishman August 27, 2015 For some music fans, seeing a red carpet parade of celebrities and artists is almost as important as the awards show their favorites are there to attend. MTV’s long been offering dedicated…

[This story about an interesting approach to mixed reality being taken by a startup company doesn’t mention the key concept but the main page of Wild’s website prominently features the heading “Experience Presence”; the story is from MIT Technology Review. –Matthew] [Image: Startup Wild combines virtual reality with real objects. This composite shot shows the view from inside a Gear VR headset and in the real world.] When Virtual Reality Collides with Reality, It’s Surreal A Portland startup called Wild is combining virtual reality with elements of the physical world. By Rachel Metz on August 26, 2015 In 1962, cinematographer…