[According to a new set of studies, talking with an AI chatbot instructed to be “helpful, empathetic, friendly, and upbeat” makes people feel less lonely, an effect “on par with talking to another human being,” and presumably due to evoked medium-as-social-actor presence. The story below is from Knowledge at Wharton (a business journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania); follow the links for more information about the research and researchers. –Matthew] Can an AI Chatbot Be Your Friend? People reported feeling less lonely after interacting with AI chatbots programmed to be empathetic, according to a new study…

[Apple has just released its first scripted film made specifically for the Apple Vision Pro spatial computing headset capable of evoking high levels of presence. An early review from USA Today (via Aol) is below; see the original for more images and to watch the trailer, which is also available on YouTube). Coverage from MacStories adds these details: “With its 3D, 8K footage displayed in a 180-degree field of view combined with Spatial Audio, Apple Immersive Video is one of the highlights of the Vision Pro experience. Thus far, we’ve only seen it used in nonfictional contexts, including nature, travel,…

[A new virtual reality-based attraction is coming to New York. The brief description below from New Jersey Family is followed by extended excerpts from a Secret London review of the London edition of Horizon of Khufu”; another review, from blooloop, provides this: “Immersive experiences strive to achieve the suspension of disbelief and VR technology is heavily challenged in this area. Computer game-style visuals, the absence of body and symbolic identification, coupled with abrupt transitions and inevitable spatial glitches are the price to pay for employing VR in attractions.However, The Horizon of Khufu offers an impressive level of detail including weeds…

[Researchers and educators at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) and the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) have developed an innovative application of presence to train physician assistants. The original version of this story from UMB News includes eight images and a 3:52 minute video (also available on YouTube), and more text and video news coverage is available from the MPowering the State partnership and WTOP. –Matthew] Physician Assistants Train With Immersive Virtual Reality By Alex LikowskiOctober 3, 2024 “I see that her heart is in an irregular, irregular rhythm, so her atria are fluttering as her ventricles are…

[A recently developed tool developed by Google allows people to create realistic-sounding podcasts just by uploading content “such as links, videos, PDFs, and text.“ This story from MIT Technology Review provides details and interesting examples; see the original version for embedded materials and a “How to try it yourself” section at the end. A story in PC Gamer provides more information and reactions to the software, including this: “A well-summarised document is one thing, but it’s the natural cadence of the conversation and the lifelike emotion that has sent me for a loop after listening. They (I’m already acting like…

[Engineers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada have developed an innovative use of presence-evoking technologies to allow on-site and off-site inspectors of vital structures to work together in real time with a data-enhanced shared view to identify damage and extend the lifespan of the structures. The original version of the story includes a 2:52 minute video (also available on YouTube). –Matthew] AR/VR can help extend critical infrastructure lifespan Waterloo engineers have developed a cutting-edge system that will revolutionize structural inspection and management October 3, 2024 University of Waterloo engineers are turning to augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) to better understand…

[Living in Philadelphia, especially during the recent and current presidential elections, only adds to my interest in the explicitly presence-evoking project “The Great Experiment” that is described in this article from Perspectives on History, the newsmagazine of the American Historical Association. See the project’s website for much more information. –Matthew] [Image: Motion capture was used to animate the convention delegates. Credit: Lee Graff, Shenandoah University] The Great Experiment: Re-Debating the Electoral College in Virtual Reality By Warren R. Hofstra with J. J. Ruscella, Mohammad Obeid, and Kevin R. Hardwick Warren Hofstra is Stewart Bell Professor of History at Shenandoah University…

[The title of this post is the title of an ArXiv pre-print report on new research that raises profound concerns about the effects of viewing AI-altered images and videos, effects very likely amplified by presence. The research report includes possible positive applications, but the column below from Machine Society focuses on the many negative ones. See the original column for a second image and the research report for more details and images. –Matthew] New AI trick: ‘synthetic human memories’ AI-edited photos can alter memories of things you experienced in real life. This knowledge will be weaponized. Here comes the False…

[KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is using virtual reality (and presence) not just to train new employees but to ease the process of returning to work for cabin crew members. Details are reported in this story from Travel and Tour World; see the KLM press release the story is based on for a 1:12 minute video. –Matthew] KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Launches Innovative Virtual Reality Program to Support Cabin Crew Return to Work September 26, 2024 KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has introduced a groundbreaking virtual reality (VR) program designed to help cabin crew smoothly transition back to work after extended absences,…

[Discomfort, especially over long periods of use, is a substantial cause of reduced presence for users of virtual reality head-mounted displays. This abridged version of a story from PC Tablet reports on one user’s “do it yourself” technique for improving comfort for the already customized fit of the Bigscreen Beyond headset. An entry about this in Hackaday adds this observation: “We’ve seen a variety of DIY approaches to VR hardware, from nearly scratch-built headsets to lens experiments, and one thing that’s clear is that better comfort is always an improvement. With newer iPhones able to do 3D scanning and 1:1…

[This column from Android Central provides a vivid first-person description of a game that uses mixed reality to create a compelling presence experience. See the original version for six more images (one animated), and follow the link at the end below for a 1:28 minute trailer for Creature’s Starship Home game. –Matthew] I just had my first mixed-reality ‘wow’ moment on the Quest 3 Starship Home turns your living room into a spaceship. By Nicholas Sutrich, Android Central Senior Content ProducerSeptember 26, 2024 Until today, I was firmly convinced that mixed reality would only ever be a good “add-on” feature…

[This opinion piece from IEEE Spectrum, based on the authors’ new book Fantasies of Virtual Reality, is a reminder that presence doesn’t depend just on the perceptual realism, or even just the form, of the mediated experience. It argues that the lack of widespread adoption of gaming in virtual reality, and of the medium itself, is due to a focus on photo-realistic, fast-paced, violent, complex and difficult “hardcore” games. See the original version for four more images and a video. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: IEEE Spectrum; Original photos: Getty Images; eyevine/Redux Pictures; iStock] Where VR Gaming Took a Wrong Turn A…