[Aside from being a provocative and intriguing idea, the Simulation Hypothesis represents the ultimate example of presence, and the latest analogy for the nature of the universe (following a watch or clock, a steam engine, and others). This interview with Rizwan Virk about his new book on the subject is from Digital Trends (where it includes 4 other images); see his zenentrepreneur blog for more information. Variety also has a story on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of “The Matrix” that presents Virk’s list of “The Top 5 Virtual/Simulated Characters and How They Foretold the Future.” –Matthew] Are we…

[Here’s another very positive application of presence. The story is from Seattle Children’s, where the original includes more images; note the link at the end to a 2:32 minute demonstration video. –Matthew] Doctor Creates Virtual Reality Simulation to Save Babies’ Lives April 1, 2019 Lindsay Kurs Wanting to do something different to address the alarmingly high number of newborn deaths in low income countries, Dr. Rachel Umoren, a neonatologist at Seattle Children’s, turned to virtual reality (VR). As mobile phone-based VR programs became increasingly accessible, Umoren thought the emerging technology could offer a better way to equip health care providers…

[A biometric meditation tool that uses VR/AR and presence to reduce anxiety and stress is receiving a lot of attention. See the original version of this VR Fitness Insider story for a 4:11 minute video and a second image. Coverage in Haptic.al cites studies in Frontiers in Psychology and the Journal of Neuroregulation that “showed Healium reduced moderate anxiety and increased feelings of positivity in as little as four minutes.” And a story in Startland profiles company founder and CEO Sarah Hill and what led her to develop Healium; it also notes that “StoryUP has partnered with 28 airlines —…

[MediaPost reports on OmniVirt’s new 3D Photo format that evokes a subtle presence effect – follow the first link in the story for the 3D version of the ‘Pet Sematary’ ad and see the 3D Photo Creator for more examples and to create your own photos for ads and FB posts. For more information on Facebook 3D photos see coverage in Tom’s Guide. –Matthew] OmniVirt’s Creepy 3D Banner Ad For ‘Pet Sematary’: Mangy Cat Keeps Watching You! by P.J. Bednarski April 4, 2019 When Stephen King’s spooky “Pet Sematary” film (a remake of the 1989 version) opens on Friday, you…

[Virtual reality and the sense of spatial and especially social presence that it can create is ideal for immersive language learning, as explored in this story from the Los Angeles Times; see the original version for two more pictures. –Matthew] [Image: Immerse is a virtual reality language-learning tutoring platform that launched in February. It currently focuses on helping companies in Taiwan teach Mandarin-speaking employees English but has plans to expand. Credit: Photo courtesy of Immerse.] Believing virtual reality is a promising tool for learning languages, companies, colleges invest By Ada Tseng April 3, 2019 When Quinn Taber was growing up…

[Digital Bodies reports on an amazing facility for studying presence and raises interesting questions about the future of large-scale VR and MR. See the original version of this story for a second image and a 7:13 minute video.–Matthew] Elbedome: Europe’s Largest VR Lab By Emory Craig April 3, 2019 If you like virtual reality or 3D experiences, then Europe’s largest VR lab is definitely where you want to be. It would be a storyteller’s or gamer’s paradise, except that the facility is designed for use with industrial models. Developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation, Elbedome is…

[This short story from Science Magazine reports on a new use of VR for human-robot swarm interaction; see the original version for a 1:30 minute video, follow the link in the story to read the abstract and full paper in arXiv, and watch a 3:54 minute video via YouTube. –Matthew] Ever dream of controlling robot swarms? This new virtual reality headset could help By Edd Gent March 29, 2019 Robot swarms could revolutionize everything from search and rescue missions to mining, but figuring out how to oversee so many moving parts is tough. A new approach lets people control tiny,…

[As with most stories about presence and sexuality, this one from VentureBeat raises a variety of psychological, sociological, technological and ethical issues. See the original version for a second image, and Vimeo for a 0:21 minute video. Note the related developments mentioned in the last paragraph; for more about Cardi-Bot see CamSoda’s website and coverage in The Next Web; and for more on VIRP, see CamSoda and The Verge. For an unusual story about inverse presence related to sexuality see a separate new story in Yahoo! Entertainment. –Matthew] CamSoda’s Camoji lets cam models hide behind animated avatars Dean Takahashi March…

[The lead author of the study reported in this story from Healthcare IT News says a new use of VR for radiologists “will allow physicians to travel inside a patient’s body instead of relying solely on 2D, black and white images”; for more information on the research, see the press release via EurekAlert! –Matthew] Virtual reality helps radiologists speed procedures A new study found that clinicians using VR tech could reach targeted vessels faster than today’s standard approach. By Nathan Eddy March 26, 2019 Interactive virtual reality (VR) could help improve the efficiency of interventional radiology treatments, as well as…

[This story from ZDNet describes the potential of presence-evoking technologies to enhance the value and impact of data visualization. Visit the original version for 5 more images and a 9:13 minute video. –Matthew] Data visualization via VR and AR: How we’ll interact with tomorrow’s data Augmented reality and virtual reality could fundamentally change the way we interact with and interpret data. By Greg Nichols March 26, 2019 Imagine tapping into a raw data feed from a distributed network of IoT devices in a logistics center. The center is full of robots, employee work stations, and shipping and receiving docks. The…

[In an era when intolerance and closed-mindedness is on the rise, this is a positive story about how even relatively simple and low-bandwidth technology can evoke presence and (hopefully) foster “curiosity, critical thinking, and, yes, empathy at an age when kids are starting to form impressions of people unlike themselves.” The story is from the Philadelphia Inquirer, where it includes two more images. For much more information including a video and blog, see the Empatico website. –Matthew] [Image: Second-grade students at Bells Elementary School in Blackwood, N.J., are talking to the Ibime School students in Mexico City, using Empatico. Credit:…

[The most sweeping and provocative ideas related to presence involve the possibility that everything we experience is not as it seems but some sort of perceptual illusion, as in the “simulation argument.” In this provocative essay in Scientific American, Bernardo Kastrup describes and argues against “information realism” (“Only the mathematical apparatus used to describe the behavior of matter is supposedly real, not matter itself”) and instead argues that reality is a product of perception: “the universe is a mental construct displayed on the screen of perception. … The mental universe… is a transpersonal field of mentation that presents itself to…