[The invention described in this story from the Cornell Chronicle has clear potential to improve social presence during mediated communication, especially with the limitations imposed by the pandemic. For more details and demonstrations, see the 4:22 minute video in the original story (it’s also on YouTube). –Matthew] [Image: Captured video of a user’s facial expression (left), with a 3D model predicted by C-Face.] Earphone tracks facial expressions, even with a face mask By Melanie Lefkowitz October 12, 2020 Cornell researchers have invented an earphone that can continuously track full facial expressions by observing the contour of the cheeks – and…

[Researchers at Cambridge University collaborating with a 3D image analysis software company, have created software that lets users explore super-resolution microcopy data in virtual reality. This passage particularly struck me: “Anoushka Handa – a PhD student from Lee’s group – used the software to image an immune cell taken from her own blood, and then stood inside her own cell in virtual reality. ‘It’s incredible – it gives you an entirely different perspective on your work,’ she said.” For more information and a 5:07 minute walk-through video (also available via YouTube), see the LUME VR website. –Matthew] [Image: DBScan analysis…

[It’s often enlightening to see how various types of presence phenomena are dramatized in movies and television programs (e.g., the Telepresence in Media Environments project). A new 10-episode Fox TV event series that debuted last week is the latest example. The Chicago Sun-Times review below begins with the familiar example of a child speaking with (a fictional version of) Alexa that takes a creepy turn. For more information about the thinking behind the show see an interview with its creator from CBR. In an intriguing related development, Fox hired a “tech-focused creative shop” to develop an AI that then created…

[A new playful large-scale experiment with presence using augmented reality may lead to lots of interesting applications, as suggested near the end of this story from Wired; see the original version for a second image and a 1:17 minute video, and for more information see a June 2020 CNET story. –Matthew] Snapchat has turned London into an augmented reality experiment Snap has launched its first persistent, shareable augmented reality experience on London’s Carnaby Street – it’s a proof of concept for a 1:1 digital copy of everything on the planet By Will Bedingfield 8 October 2020 The dream of graffiti…

[I’ve been skeptical about the appeal of watching a television (or movie) screen within virtual reality, but this entertaining story from Esquire provides a first-person explanation, including some of the factors that enhance and reduce the appeal of this kind of presence experience. See the original version for two more images.  –Matthew] The Artful Opulence of Watching Netflix With the Oculus Quest 2 Proves VR Isn’t Just for Gaming The headset’s virtual reality living room, in which you’ll hunker down to catch up on TV, is nicer than your reality. By Justin Kirkland October 7, 2020 I am decidedly not…

[Augmented reality has received less attention than virtual reality in the presence community but this story from CBS News describes a clever application of AR and presence in the context of military training. For some reason the 4:46 minute video report isn’t included in the original story but can be found (at this writing at least) in the version at MSN.com. For much more information, including a long interview with Dan Robinson and several more images and videos, see coverage in The Drive. –Matthew] [Image: Dan Robinson wearing augmented reality headset. Source: The Drive] U.S. Air Force pilots could soon…

[As if today’s shameless denials and distortions of truth and polarizing media ‘bubbles’ weren’t big enough problems, this detailed and example-filled article from Fast Company argues that presence-evoking deepfakes will soon challenge our ability to understand and learn from our own history. See the original story for three videos. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: bashta/iStock] Fake video threatens to rewrite history. Here’s how to protect it AI-generated deepfakes aren’t just a problem for politics and other current affairs. Unless we act now, they could also tamper with our record of the past. By Benj Edwards October 3, 2020 Since deepfakes burst onto…

[Artificial intelligence will likely play an increasingly important role in our presence experiences and the new “dynamic film” Agence is an intriguing example of this potential. This story from Upload describes the project; see the original version for two different images and a 7:45 minute “gameplay walkthrough” video (also available via YouTube). –Matthew] Agence Is A Fascinating VR Deep Dive Into Evolving AI By Jamie Feltham September 28, 2020 While speaking to Pietro Gagliano of Transitional Forms and David Oppenheim of the NFB about their new VR film, Agence, Gagliano streams the piece itself. I watch as he toys with…

[Live Science is among the many publications reporting on a project to create presence-evoking portraits of Roman Emperors; see the original story for more photos. Excerpts from some of the other coverage that add more details and raise additional issues about efforts like this follow below. –Matthew] [Image: A description of Caligula said the emperor had “a glare savage enough to torture.” Credit: Courtesy of Daniel Voshart/The Metropolitan Museum of Art] AI ‘resurrects’ 54 Roman emperors, in stunningly lifelike images An artist used machine learning to create the photorealistic portraits. By Mindy Weisberger September 28, 2020 Ancient Roman emperors’ faces have…

[CNN Travel reports on a clever innovation in Japan that allows people to experience Halloween scares safely. As The News Wheel notes, Drive-thru haunted attractions are popping up all across the United States, hoping to keep Halloween on course despite COVID-19. But before The Haunted Road was announced in July, the concept of getting scared senseless from the safety of your car was given life (or unlife as it were) in Tokyo, Japan, thanks to Kowagarasetai and its drive-in haunted house. See the original version of the CNN story for a 1:43 minute video and see an AP story for…

[This story from Coveteur is a whirlwind tour of the increasingly blurred line between the physical and virtual in (especially the luxury) fashion world, encouraged in part by the pandemic; see the original version for two images and a video. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Instagram/@hanifaofficial] IS VIRTUAL REALITY FASHION’S NEXT FRONTIER? Marc Jacobs and Sandy Liang seem to think so. By Sara Radin September 29, 2020 Alongside the rise of CGI influencers including Lil Miquela, Bermuda, Shudu, and Imma, fashion brands have started making virtual clothes. For a few years now, cutting-edge designers at the forefront of the movement, such as…

[In this CNN story about an ambitious study of the effects of interacting with a robot, the executive director of Britain’s National Care Forum is quoted as saying the results do “of course, challenge our understanding of care as a purely human to human interaction.’” The original story includes a 6:10 minute video and some additional details are provided in other coverage. The Guardian includes this: “The wheeled robots, called ‘Pepper’, move independently and gesture with robotic arms and hands and are designed to be ‘culturally competent’, which means that after some initial programming they learn about the interests and…