[A new study in the journal Criminal Behavior and Mental Health provides evidence that presence evoked during virtual reality simulations can increase police officers’ sympathy and empathy with characters in mental health crises, suggesting an important positive impact on their real-life interactions in the community. This story is from Florida Atlantic University; in a report in Maryland Today, the second author of the journal article says, “As technology gets better, VR might further maximize immersion and sense of involvement, which could strengthen empathy and improve police-community interactions.” –Matthew] VR Could be a Gamechanger in Police-Civilian Crisis Encounters By Gisele GaloustianNovember…

[A new “surreal” demonstration of the potential of artificial intelligence may portend future personalized presence experiences generated in real-time in games, on other entertainment platforms, and beyond. The IFL Science report below provides the details (see the original version for two videos), and it’s followed by excerpts from coverage in Wired and MIT Technology Review. –Matthew] [Image: The game has been described as “kinda creepy”. Credit: Alainara/Shutterstock] The World’s First AI-Generated Game Is Playable By Anyone Online, And It Is Surreal The AI was forced to watch millions of hours of Minecraft footage, like a parent of any 8-year-old. By…

[The second of two posts today about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is about a project designed to use presence-evoking technology to treat the condition. The post is from Louisiana State University (LSU), where the original includes four more images and a 1:42 minute video (also available on YouTube). For more about presence and ADHD, see the October 2011 ISPR Presence News post “VR tool facilitates diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder and Hyperactivity.” –Matthew] [Image: Associate professor of computer science David Shepherd with Ph.D. students Fatemeh Jamalinabijan, left, and Matheus Costa.] The Future of ADHD Treatment? LSU’s VR Research Aims…

[In the first of two posts today about presence and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the author provides a first-person account of a mixed reality experience titled Impulse: Playing with Reality that simulates the condition. This is an abridged version of the original story from The Telegraph, which includes three more images and three looping videos. For more information, visit the Impulse website. –Matthew] [Image: Miranda experienced stress and panic while trying Impulse, a virtual reality game that shows what it’s like to have ADHD. Credit: Heathcliff O’Malley] I wore a headset that simulates ADHD – see what I saw…

[An interdisciplinary team of professors and students at the University of Pennsylvania are developing an impressively useful, positive application of presence-evoking technology, as reported in this story from the Penn Medicine News blog. See the original version for more images. –Matthew] [Image: Peter Decherney (far left), professor of cinema and media studies in the School of Arts & Sciences, is the instructor of the undergraduate Virtual Reality Lab spring course. Credit: Courtesy of Penn Medicine News] Easing Patient Fears of Radiation Treatment, Via Virtual Reality By Daphne SashinOctober 24, 2024 For a patient facing radiation therapy for cancer, the process…

[A clever application of presence in the UK represents a small but satisfying victory in the fight against phone scammers. Futurism describes it as “the rare noble application of AI chatbots, which have more often been used to perpetrate scams than fight them — a clever reversal that just might help the vulnerable people, including flesh-and-blood grandmothers, on whom scammers tend to prey.” Some of the details are reported in the story below from Creative Boom, and more details are in the Virgin Media O2 and VCCP London press releases. Visit the original versions of any of these reports for…

[A new technique for enabling more natural and convenient (and thus presence-enhancing) touch interfaces in virtual reality is described in this story from New Atlas, based on a news release from Carnegie Mellon University. See the original story for a 30-second video demonstration (also available on YouTube). –Matthew] EgoTouch tech lets VR users’ palms serve as touchscreen interfaces By Ben CoxworthNovember 14, 2024 In the real world, you wouldn’t want to carry a handheld controller all the time, or have menus constantly popping up in front of your face – so why put up with those things in VR worlds?…