[Another venue for a “presence field trip” has opened! This long but interesting story from Fast Company describes a new exhibit space at the American Museum of Natural History in New York designed to evoke spatial and social presence (and other important things). See the original story for three images and three videos. –Matthew] [Image: Source: TimeOut New York] The future of the museum is an empty room that can take you anywhere The Invisible Worlds exhibition at New York’s museum of natural history gives new meaning to the immersive experience. By Alex Pasternack June 8, 2023 How do you…

[The story below from Futurism reflects frustration about how easy it already is to use generative AI to create presence illusions that mislead (and dangerously increase political and cultural polarization). Coverage in USA Today starts this way: “A May 30 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes images of apparel and store displays featuring horned figures and satanic imagery inside a major retailer. ‘Folks: THIS is TARGET, & that is a Satanist idol,’ reads the post. ‘STOP SHOPPING TARGET! They are EVIL.’ The post was shared more than 700 times in a week. Other versions of the claim were shared…

[This story from Notre Dame News describes a new published article about the “promise and pitfalls” of presence-evoking technologies for science. Follow the link in the story (and the full reference at the end) for the full article. –Matthew] The metaverse can lead to better science One Notre Dame researcher says we should look beyond the hype to see how virtual reality can make scientists more effective. But to realize the benefits, researchers must also plan well and avoid potential pitfalls. By Brett Beasley May 25, 2023 In 2021, Facebook made “metaverse” the buzziest word on the web, rebranding itself…

[As a person with congenital nystagmus, and especially given my interest in presence, I’ve looked for ways to effectively describe the way I see the world, or much better, provide them with a simulated version of my experience. The two stories below report on a new use of virtual reality that can provide the latter – the BBC News story focuses on the benefits of the simulation (see the original version for more pictures) and the one from Belfast LIVE that follows it provides more details about the VR software and how it was developed. –Matthew] [Image: Caroline Henderson now…

[There is very widespread coverage of this week’s unveiling of a new augmented reality headset from Apple; if you’re looking for a comprehensive and thoughtful reaction to what it all means, you might want to read an editorial by The Ghost Howls blog’s Skarredghost (Antony Vitillo), a long-time and expert observer of the XR world. Here’s the introduction (follow the link for the rest). –Matthew] Editorial: Apple Vision Pro is a mix of innovation, and year-2016 VR, for a hefty price. But… By SKARREDGHOST June 5, 2023 I just watched the full keynote of Apple at WWDC, where the company in…

[Here’s an interesting, and somewhat worrisome, story from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania about the status of social science research on presence-evoking technologies. Follow the links for more details. –Matthew] New Report Comprehensively Reviews the State of Extended Reality (XR) Research Published by the Annenberg School’s Virtual Reality ColLABorative, the report summarizes augmented, mixed, and virtual reality research in the social sciences. By Hailey Reissman May 30, 2023 Most of us interact with virtual technologies in our everyday lives, whether it’s scanning a QR code to see a restaurant menu, taking a selfie with a…

[In arguing that computers and AI are simply not capable of human consciousness, thought and intention, this essay from Psyche argues that the actual danger of emerging artificial intelligence technologies is acting on the (medium-as-social-actor presence) illusion that they are: “If one is disposed to fear this technology, one should do so not because it is becoming conscious, but because it never can. The algorithm can endow it with a kind of ‘liberty’ of operation that mimics human intentionality, even though there is no consciousness there – and hence no conscience – to which we could appeal if it ‘decided’…