[The technology used to evoke presence need not be digital, as exemplified by the art experience described in this story from the Philadelphia Inquirer. I’ve lived here for 33 years and I hadn’t heard of Grounds for Sculpture, but I really want to visit. See the original version of the story for six more images. –Matthew] [Image: Columnist Stephanie Farr (far right) and reporter Michelle Myers look up at the 14-foot sculpture by Seward Johnson, “God Bless America,” 2012, aluminum and wood, 168 x 108 x 70 inches, Collection of the Seward Johnson Atelier, © 2012, The Seward Johnson Atelier,…

[The author of this essay from UnHerd uses French theorist Jean Baudrillard’s concept of hyperreality – “simulations that become ‘more real than the real’” – to support an argument about the potential negative impacts of presence evoked by AI-generated erotica. For more on Baudrillard see today’s first ISPR Presence News post. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Abdoul Latif] ChatGPT will kill our erotic imagination By Sohrab AhmariOctober 15, 2025 OpenAI boss Sam Altman has announced that ChatGPT will soon permit adult subscribers to create custom erotica. The move will no doubt amplify the already-growing calls for Congress and other public authorities to…

[As presence-evoking technologies and their impacts on us as individuals and societies continue to evolve, the work of French theorist Jean Baudrillard, author of the book Simulacra and Simulation (1981) seems increasingly prescient and relevant. In addition to this essay from Nigerian Sketch, see “How the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard predicted today’s AI 30 years before ChatGPT” in The Conversation and today’s second ISPR Presence News post. –Matthew] With AI, We’re Now Fully in Baudrillard’s Hyperreality By Farooq A. KperogiOctober 29, 2025 It seems our world is inexorably moving in the direction of replacing the authentic with the synthetic.…

[In this essay on his website, Thor Martin Bærug argues for the incorporation of technology design features that encourage users to overlook the role of the technology in their experience, i.e., that are more likely to evoke presence. The focus here is on museums, but the ideas certainly can be applied more broadly. –Matthew] How We’re Building Museum Technology That Gets Out of the Way By Thor Martin Bærug, Advisor, Strategist and Analyst in Digital Media & ProductsNovember 5, 2025 There’s a photo making rounds on social media. It’s the Grande Galerie of the Louvre – that magnificent vaulted corridor…

[Another innovation in the design of visual displays has the potential to substantially enhance presence experiences, as reported here by Phys.org. See also the recent ISPR Presence News post “Scientists develop retina E-paper display with 25k pixels per inch, matching human vision.” –Matthew] [Image: Optical and scanning electron microscope images of a nano-LED device that uses AC power instead of DC power, which could be a game-changer for sharper near-eye displays. Credit: Tao Tao] AC instead of DC unlocks nano-LEDs for VR headsets and near-eye displays By American Institute of PhysicsEdited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Robert EganNovember 4, 2025…

[The creator of Collective Body, an “intimate, immersively embodied VR experience” currently on a global tour, describes the project and its origins, design, and impacts in this interview from The Dance Enthusiast; see the original version of the interview for four more images. For more information see a story from Playbill and a review from The VR Critic. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Photo courtesy of Lincoln Center] THE DANCE ENTHUSIAST ASKS: Sarah Silverblatt-Buser’s “Collective Body,” an Interactive Virtual Reality Dance By Sarah Cecilia BukowskiOctober 20, 2025 Collective Body is an interactive virtual reality experience that guides participants through movement explorations to…

[An interdisciplinary team at the University of Miami is studying the effectiveness of visual arts training via presence-evoking virtual reality for teaching medical, nursing and physical therapy students. As one of the researchers notes, “Through guided discussion of art, students learn to embrace multiple perspectives, tolerate ambiguity, and support their interpretations with evidence, which are abilities that translate directly to the bedside.” See the original version of the story for two more images. For a related story about a virtual reality nutrition training program, see a story from New Mexico State University. –Matthew] [Image: A virtual reality session with six…

[The PC Magazine report below describes a recent deepfake video of a keynote address that was streamed as the actual address was being delivered by the CEO of NVIDIA. The incident is just one example of how AI-based videos have expanded to deceive viewers of real-time events. On his blog, technology writer Shelly Palmer had this take: “The good news is that no credible reports suggest the scam moved NVIDIA’s stock price or resulted in major financial losses. The bad news is that this kind of impersonation is not only super-easy to pull off, it’s getting harder to detect. Get…

[The first few paragraphs of this story from IndustryWeek have a Halloween vibe, but they effectively introduce a first-person report about how Toyota is using presence-evoking virtual reality to avoid “catastrophic events” at its auto manufacturing plant in Georgetown, Kentucky. See also the story “From aspiring dentist to virtual reality ergonomics researcher: How Dr. Nick La Delfa is helping GM design safer, more productive work“ from Ontario Tech University. –Matthew] What I Learned from Toyota’s Virtual Reality Safety Training in Kentucky No motion sickness but a lot of virtual close calls at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, the largest auto plant…

[As this essay from SamMobile notes, right now artificial intelligence exists mainly in “apps and browser windows,” but the new Samsung Galaxy XR headset and others like it “move AI from its current state into an embodied, spatial and truly interactive being.” As the author writes, this new (medium-as-social-actor presence-evoking) capability will create both benefits and dangers. –Matthew] Galaxy XR’s biggest breakthrough isn’t what you might think, here’s why It’s where you meet AI halfway. By Adnan FarooquiOctober 27, 2025 There’s been a lot of excitement for Samsung’s first extended reality headset. It was launched as the Galaxy XR last…

[This link-filled essay from Bioethics Today, the website for the American Journal of Bioethics, raises some thought-provoking and important concerns about the use and impact of (presence-evoking) simulations in medical education. –Matthew] Virtual Reality in Medical Education: Can Empathy Become a Simulation? By Hana Abbasian, MS, a Research Assistant at Harvard Medical School and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)October 28, 2025 Medical education has always relied on simulators. From wooden mannequins in the 17th century to the digital cadavers of today, physicians have long used different tools to practice care without consequence. But virtual reality (VR) changes the…

[The selection of rich presence experiences in Las Vegas continues to grow with Interstellar Arc, as described in this story from the Las Vegas Review-Journal; see the original version of the story (or YouTube) for a 30 second trailer. Coverage in Travel Weekly adds that the new attraction “is part of Area15’s expansion, which includes Universal Horror Unleashed and other attractions to open soon.” That story also includes this quote from co-creator Félix Lajeunesse: “Some of our early participants have described the experience as ‘visually beautiful and surreal.’ One even described the moment of waking from cryosleep as ‘a shockingly…