[The most widely-cited story about Panasonic’s new companion robot NICOBO, which is sure to evoke medium-as-social-actor presence, is from Gizmodo, where it begins with this: “In a time when even basic human interactions are discouraged for safety reasons, there’s an even greater demand for alternate sources of companionship. But if you’re not ready for the responsibilities of a dog or a cat, Panasonic has introduced yet another companion robot that dutifully pays attention to you through bouts of flatulence—just like a real pet.” Designboom’s coverage adds this: “In order to realize the ‘new form of happiness,’ we have focused on…

[With the benefits of and need for hugs taking on new importance during the pandemic, this story from Tech Xplore is particularly interesting. It’s about a new and improved successor to the earlier hugging robot HuggieBot 1.0 and plans for a commercial version that will allow people to hug each other via the robot. See the original version of the story for a second image, and for more information see the new paper it mentions, a June 2018 ISPR Presence News post about the first iteration of HuggieBot, and Alexis Block’s website. –Matthew] HuggieBot 2.0: A soft and human-size robot…

[An interesting and apparently successful astronomical presence illusion is the subject of this short item from DesignTAXI, where the original includes two videos and an embedded tweet. Cosmopolitan Middle East has more images and the illusion merited coverage at Snopes, where there’s more information. –Matthew] [Image: Source: IBB Online] ‘Double Moon’ In Dubai Baffles Onlookers, Turns Out To Be A Stellar Stunt By Izza Sofia 17 February 2021 Residents in Dubai were surprised when they witnessed two moons appearing in the night skies last week. Snaps of the moons in the skies made their way online with many thinking the apocalypse…

[Presence scholars and technology enthusiasts have to remember the darker potential of presence, frequently portrayed in entertaining science fiction, to become an excuse to stop working to improve our nonmediated lives and world, and leave them in the control of people and organizations with selfish, economically driven agendas. This Wired story makes that possibility depressingly ‘real.’ –Matthew] Billionaires See VR as a Way to Avoid Radical Social Change Tech oligarchs are encouraging the creation of virtual worlds as a cheap way to avoid problems in the real one. By Matthew Gault February 15, 2021 The future of virtual reality is…

[This story about the development and use of a new augmented reality application to enhance presence in online teaching and learning during pandemic lockdowns and beyond comes from THE (Times Higher Education). The original story includes related links, and for more information see the websites for ARstorydecks, particularly the lesson plans page; Royal Holloway’s master’s program in Immersive Storytelling; and the StoryFutures Academy Train the Trainer initiative. –Matthew] Shakespeare in your living room: How AR can transform teaching It won’t be long before we’re all looking to immersive technology to further students’ learning, says By Mary Matheson January 21, 2021…

[Watching two recent major events in the U.S. on television reminded me of how non-interactive media can evoke a powerful sense of being there. The first was the live inauguration of President Biden and the various related activities that day, and the second is described well in this CNN story from last week about how the impeachment managers in the second trial of Donald Trump used a variety of video, audio and connecting narrative to recreate the harrowing experience of the insurrection at the Capitol. See the original story for several examples. –Matthew] [Image: An image from the security video…

[This Washington Post story reviews some of the available and soon-to-be available technologies for meeting via holograms. See the original story for an additional image and a 1:10:49 minute video of the “First Holograminar organized by WISeKey and ARHT Media Inc” on YouTube. DVE Holographics also enables holo-meetings, and for a related technology see the website of IKIN Inc. –Matthew] [Image: ARHT Media brought holographic speakers from Australia, Greece and Germany together on one stage. Credit: ARHT Media/Imverse] Will holograms be the next innovation in the post-pandemic workplace? Start-ups are introducing next-generation virtual meeting software By Dalvin Brown February 9, 2021…

[This interesting story from EdSurge explores young children’s presence responses in the context of a new, and apparently effective, application of interactive AI designed to help them learn. See the original version of the story for three more images. –Matthew] [Image: Children’s explanations of what they think lives inside a smart speaker. Left: A drawing indicates there is a person living inside the speaker. Right: A depiction of the smart speaker as a girl. Credit: Courtesy of the Digital Learning Lab.] When the Animated Bunny in the TV Show Listens for Kids’ Answers — and Answers Back By Rebecca Koenig…

[Too often we ignore the power of audio alone to evoke spatial and social presence. This story from The Verge reports on iHeart Media’s new expansion into immersive audio; the company’s press release (also available via Business Wire) makes the connection with presence clear: “Binaural, or 3D audio, creates a sense of movement, location and triggers other senses, enhancing listening experiences and providing a new way for people to hear high quality, surround sound, immersive content, and reproducing real-life experiences, much like virtual reality has done for video, right in their own homes. […] This is virtual reality for the…

[An upcoming adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream into a global, interactive real-time experience demonstrates both the evolution of presence-evoking technologies and storytelling and the creative innovation necessitated by the pandemic. The story below is from The Guardian, where it includes an additional image. More information and a video trailer are available at https://dream.online/ –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Stuart Martin/Royal Shakespeare Company] Is this an avatar I see before me? Audience takes to stage in virtual Shakespeare play Video game software enables actors to interact with viewers in real-time fantasy By Dalya Alberge 7 February 2021 Playhouses may be dark,…

[As described in the story below from The Conversation, Clubhouse is a new audio-only, real-time only (no recordings), social media platform designed to evoke social presence. Other coverage includes these additional details: From CNN: “[Founders Paul] Davison and [Rohan] Seth, who are both well connected in the tech industry from previous roles at top companies, said their goal with Clubhouse ‘”was to build a social experience that felt more human — where instead of posting, you could gather with other people and talk.’” From Vogue: “A dizzying bringing together of live podcast-style conversations, panel discussions, networking opportunities (some savvy people…

[A Florida company’s technology designed to motivate exercise and other healthy behavior creates a real-time (presence-evoking) reflection of a person modified (e.g., based on their heart rate) so that they appear “with up to a 30 percent increase or reduction in weight or muscle mass.” Details are reported in this story from The Washington Post; visit the EnvisionBody website for more information including a one-minute video (an extended version of the video is available in an earlier press release via PR Newswire). A negative opinion about the effects of the technology can be found in Input Magazine. –Matthew] [Image: EnvisionBody…