[Although the topic seems very far from, and ironic in the context of, the grim realities of war in the news, this very thoughtful essay from Boston Review uses speculative fiction and thought experiments to illustrate some of the many complex psychological and behavioral processes and ethical considerations involved as we (at least those with the resources) consider how we should use technologies that create “lifelike models of real people” that evoke medium-as-social-actor presence. –Matthew] [Image: A still from “Be Right Back,” a 2013 episode of Black Mirror in which a woman digitally resurrects her deceased boyfriend.] Our Avatars, Ourselves…

[An October 5, 2023 article from the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) about an apparently improved modular hologram product that doesn’t require glasses to create a 3D illusion led me to the more in-depth interview from Planet Attractions below. See the original version of the interview for ten other pictures and a video, and see the Miirage website for more information. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Medium] Bridging realities: How Miirage’s no-glasses holographic experience could change the game for immersive experiences Miirage is a new modular holographic system bringing the virtual world to life without any additional need for…

[To many who study presence, experiences while dreaming don’t qualify as examples of the phenomenon because they don’t involve (misperceptions of) technology, but this story from The Daily Beast reports on a new AI-based device intended to trigger the specific type of dreaming known as lucid dreaming; the Halo technology is described as “giving people a pretty unfettered user interface with reality” and the story compares the experience to that offered by virtual reality. See the original version for two more images, and for more details see coverage from CNBC, as well as the website of Prophetic, the startup company…

[This story from The Verge carefully notes what is new and potentially harmful about the latest incorporation of technologies that easily and effectively change the image taken by a smartphone camera. See the original version for a 41-second video (also available on YouTube). For related coverage, see The New York Times, where the lead consumer technology writer describes says he “shot and edited dozens of photos with the Pixel 8. I was impressed, creeped out and skeptical that I would want to keep generating fake photos.”  –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Allison Johnson / The Verge] The Pixel 8 and the what-is-a-photo…

[The nonprofit organization AIandYou works to increase “AI literacy” to help the public avoid being manipulated by technologies that use artificial intelligence. As Politico reports, AIandYou is planning a campaign that uses deepfake technologies to demonstrate and educate the public about their use in the 2024 elections. Watch the 5:25 minute video mentioned in the story and see the AIandYou website for much more information. In related news, see the NPR story “Video game clips and old videos are flooding social media about Israel and Gaza,” the NPR audio report “Detangling the online disinformation about the war between Israel and…

[There’s a new development in the ongoing debate about the possibility that our universe is a sophisticated, presence-evoking simulation. The details are reported in this story from ScienceAlert, where the original version includes a second image and an 11:47 minute video (also available on YouTube). While the debate will probably never be resolved, the continuing and apparently growing fascination in science and popular culture with the idea that everything we experience is an illusion is consistent with the fact that we’re living in an era in which humans are using technologies to produce increasingly more, and more convincing, illusions.…