[I need to go experience the Philadelphia version of the interesting use of augmented reality and the presence it can evoke described in this story from The New York Times (where the original includes 5 different pictures and 2 short videos). For more details about the project, see the Art Production Fund website. Coverage in artnet News adds these important observations: [Artist Nancy Baker] Cahill, who draws in VR before working with a tech team to convert her images to AR, is committed to the nascent medium. “It inherently has subversive potential. It is invisible to the naked eye, and yet…

[As this story from Forbes notes, Hybri isn’t the first attempt to create compelling digital companions, and it assumes the upcoming Kickstarter campaign will be successful, but it’s an interesting example of a social presence technology and raises lots of ethical questions. For example, coverage in Beebom includes this: “[A] digital companion is not at all creepy, until it has the face of one of your loved ones who left you or even passed away. This feature makes Hybri one of the creepiest apps I have ever seen. … So, technically, you can use a picture of a person who is…

[To encourage more effective and compelling presence experiences it’s important to make the technology involved less apparent and intrusive. This story from Mashable describes new prototype technology developed by Facebook Research to do this for VR headsets. –Matthew] Facebook reveals the future of VR headsets, and it’s more ‘CSI Miami’ than ‘Tron’ By Amanda Yeo June 30, 2020 Immersing yourself in virtual reality can feel like a sci-fi fantasy come true, but bulky, cumbersome VR headsets almost make it more trouble than it’s worth. There have been various attempts to slim down VR headsets, such as Dlodlo’s lightweight V One…

[A milestone in presence history took place 50 years ago, on June 30, 2020, as described in this story from Fast Company; see the original for two more pictures and the two videos mentioned. –Matthew] Watch the first videoconference, which took place 50 years ago today The Zoom of its time, AT&T’s Picturephone II went live on June 30, 1970, in Pittsburgh June 30, 2020 By Harry Mccracken In 1964, AT&T unveiled its Picturephone—a telephone with video as well as audio—at the New York World’s Fair and at Disneyland. It was an iconic moment for personal technology. But when the…

[The use of a variety of technologies that evoke presence is changing the nature of both individual and collective memorialization, as described in this thought-provoking article from YaleGlobal by the editors of the new book Mass Violence and Memory in the Digital Age: Memorialization Unmoored. –Matthew] [Image: Global grieving; New technologies help museums and individual gather evidence and relay history – Holocaust survivor Sam Harris answered hundreds of questions to help create a hologram; global movement Together We Remember relies on social media to act against hate. Source: Ron Gould Studios/Illinois Holocaust Museum and Together We Remember)] Digital Memorialization for a Global…

[UploadVR reports on a new Google video technology that provides a more immersive and realistic presence experience than other systems and can be streamed using currently available internet connections. TechCrunch provides a description of its capabilities: “Google is showing off one of the most impressive efforts yet turning traditional photography and video into something more immersive: 3D video that lets the viewer change their perspective and even look around objects in frame. […] The effect of high-definition video and freedom of movement gives these light field videos a real sense of reality. Existing VR-enhanced video generally uses fairly ordinary stereoscopic…

[Several of the innovative design concepts in the new Ikea project described in this story from Fast Company involve presence. Follow the links for much more information and many images and videos. –Matthew] [Image: Source: designboom] Ikea imagines home life post-COVID-19, and it’s wild Ikea sees an opportunity to rethink the home By Mark Wilson June 25, 2020 If sheltering in place has taught us one thing, it’s that your home has to be more than a place to sleep. It’s where we live a lot of our lives—and even work and teach school—and so spending on indoor and outdoor…

[A new NIH-funded project will develop the use of virtual reality to produce both spatial and social presence to train teams of operating room doctors and nurses, all of whom can be in different remote locations. This story from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) describes the project; see the original version for a 1:06 minute video (also available on YouTube). –Matthew] $2.3 Million Grant Will Support Development of Virtual Operating Room Team Training Shared virtual system will provide new opportunities for clinical team training June 24, 2020 By Torie Wells TROY, N.Y. — A surgeon makes an incision on a virtual…

[The company OVR Technology is introducing a new platform for adding scents to virtual reality experiences, with the explicit goal of enhancing presence. This interview with the CEO from the AWE (Augmented World Expo) blog provides a lot of interesting details. For more information, see a January 2020 story in Seven Days and the company’s website. –Matthew] [Image: Source: OVR Technology via Twitter] What Is Olfactory VR? Interview with OVR’s Aaron Wisniewski 20 May 2020 Emily Friedman He’s been described as the “Indiana Jones of scent.” Self-described mad scientist, artist and olfactory evangelist Aaron Wisniewski is the CEO of OVR…

[Artificial intelligence and augmented reality could provide a valuable way to perceive, and maintain, social distancing. The Amazon blog post below describes the company’s new “Distance Assistant” technology and includes a 32 second demonstration video. If AR-capable glasses were common, this technology could provide a first person view that evokes greater presence and would be even more useful. Coverage in TechCrunch makes a similar point: “It’s not exactly immediate feedback that technology might be able to provide with, say, a haptic wearable. Instead, it’s designed to serve as a visual reminder for workers to keep their circles green by maintaining…

[Ideal for a world in various stages of lockdown during a pandemic, the design project called “Feel the Conversation” features telephones that translate speech into simple haptic signals that create social presence. This story is from dezeen, where it includes five different pictures and a 0:14 minute video. For more information, pictures and a 0:44 minute video, see Xian-Zhi Zhang’s website. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Xian-Zhi Zhang’s website] RCA students design licking phones that turn speech into physical sensations Natashah Hitti 27 May 2020 Royal College of Art students Sandeep Hoonjan and Xianzhi Zhang have designed a pair of devices that…

[This very short post from the Arduino blog, and the 4:20 minute video titled “We Built a Telepresence Robot (To Survive the Quarantine)” in the original version (and on YouTube), demonstrate how even basic DIY technology can be used to evoke presence. For more details see the project’s Hackaday page. –Matthew] Meet TELEBOT, the terrifying telepresence robot June 1, 2020 Arduino Team The Internet has been perhaps more important than ever to keep us connected these days. Available technology, however, apparently wasn’t good enough for brothers Hunter and Josh Irving, who built their own telepresence robot using parts on-hand during…