[In this story from The Conversation Newcastle University scholars compare two types of presence experiences for the care of dementia; see the original version for a second image and a video. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Mark Combs] ‘Time travel’ as dementia care is spreading, but the future may be more powerful than the past July 29, 2019 Kellie Morrissey, Research Fellow, School of Computing, Newcastle University James Hodge, PhD Candidate, Newcastle University The village of Hogeweyk in The Netherlands has been compared with the Truman Show. It is home to 152 people with dementia and is run by carers who maintain…

[This short IEEE Spectrum story describes a new telepresence robot with a “near lifesize” display; see the original story for another image and a 0:56 minute video. For more information, images and videos about several more robots being introduced by Toyota for the Olympics see the company’s press release, and for a 6:16 audio report see coverage by Voice of America. –Matthew] Toyota Research Developing New Telepresence Robot for 2020 Olympics Toyota’s T-TR1 offers a way for people to attend the Olympics without leaving home By Evan Ackerman 23 Jul 2019 With the Olympics taking place next year in Japan,…

[This South China Morning Post story reports on another social VR gaming attraction, including some of the design choices used to increase presence. See the original story for two different images, a 2:10 minute video, and a podcast episode. For more information see the Sandbox VR website and for detailed first-person reports on the player experience, see stories in Business Insider and The Next Web. –Matthew] [Image: Source: The Next Web] Here’s how Hong Kong start-up Sandbox VR built hyperrealistic virtual reality games A social media post of the VR game went viral and was shared over 10,000 times and…

[The interview with Suzanne Gildert below from PC Magazine is about human-like robots and medium-as-social-actor presence responses to them, embodiment, AI and machine learning, teleoperation and its after-effects, human-robot and robot-human cyborgs, the power of (science) fiction portrayals, and more. See the original version for 4 more pictures, and for more information, images and videos see Dr. Gildert’s website and her Singularity University faculty page. –Matthew] [Image: Dr. Gildert and Nadine play Connect Four. Source/credit: Daniel Marquardt and Sanctuary AI 2019)] These Human-Like ‘Synths’ Will Make You Do a Double Take Dr. Suzanne Gildert, Founder and CEO of Vancouver-based Sanctuary,…

[This story from The Salt Lake Tribune illustrates one of the most important applications of presence, helping people who need to be understood and those who need to understand others. See also a (very positive) review in The Utah Review and for more on “Hi, my name is Savannah” see coverage in Medium. –Matthew] [Image: Savannah, a 15-year-old LGBTQ activist, delivers the coming-out testimony she wasn’t allowed to give at her church meeting in Eagle Mountain in 2017, in the VR short film “Savannah,” which is being shown at the Damn These Heels LGBTQ Film Festival in Salt Lake City,…

[Here’s a clever way to evoke social presence with a houseplant; the short story is from Curbed, where it includes three different images. The Mu Design press kit notes that “Lua also includes a motion sensor that allows its eyes to follow the movements in front of them: it’s like Lua’s looking at you! Give a spark of life to your plants and evolve them into full-fledged pets with Lua!” See the Indiegogo page for more information including pictures and a 1:00 minute video (also available via Vimeo). See the Mu-Design website for information on the company’s first product: “Ulo…

[Discover reports on a new advance in haptic VR gloves that should enhance presence; coverage in Science includes an 8 second video and follow the link to the paper in Scientific Reports for much more information. For coverage of a related project, see an October 2018 post in ISPR Presence News. –Matthew] This New Virtual Reality Glove Lets You Grab Digital Objects By Bill Andrews July 18, 2019 Our squishy human brains are notoriously easy to fool. Whether it’s optical illusions or more advanced trickery, it doesn’t take much to exploit our mind’s weaknesses. But, that’s also what enables virtual…

[From privacy to mental health, a new (free) report examines the dangers of “extended reality” technologies. There’s a link at the end of this story from Forbes to a summary of the report and the full downloadable pdf version. The original story includes a 5:48 minute video, and the report summary includes several graphics, a different video and a 13-slide presentation. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Adobe Stock] The Important Risks And Dangers Of Virtual And Augmented Reality July 17, 2019 Bernard Marr, Contributor A recent report by Accenture highlighted the growing number of companies taking advantage of “extended reality” (XR) technology,…

[The U.S. military is considering how to use presence-evoking technologies to help prepare for difficult to imagine challenges, as reported in this story from Popular Mechanics; see coverage in Nextgov for additional details. –Matthew] The Pentagon Wants VR To Train for Nuclear War The tech would allow troops to train to counter nuclear and radiological weapons, including dirty bombs. By Kyle Mizokami July 9, 2019 The U.S. Department of Defense is considering using virtual reality technology to train military personnel who might someday come up against dirty bombs and other radioactive weapons. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which typically concerns…

[If you’ll be in London in August consider booking a ticket for the presence experience described in this story from Forbes (see the original version for two more images). For information about how British Air is using virtual reality for customers at check-in desks, see a story in World Airline News. –Matthew] [Image: How we travel, aircraft design and our relationship with air travel are the focus of a new exhibition at Saatchi’s Gallery. Credit: BA] What Is The Future Of Aviation? Bright, Young Minds Explore The Next 100 Years July 4, 2019 Nargess Banks, Contributor Our desire to explore…

[Fiction can often inspire and/or serve as a warning about the future; this story from Fast Company notes how quickly a short concept film about augmented reality had both effects, and describes a planned sequel. See the original story for three more images, the original film “Sight” and a behind-the-scenes video about the sequel, and see the project’s Kickstarter page for much more information. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Robot Genius] This dystopian film was supposed to critique today’s tech. Instead, Silicon Valley loved it ‘Sight’ rocked the internet in 2012. Now its creators are back for a sequel. July 10, 2019…

[Several organizations have used different technologies to reproduce aspects of the July 1969 Apollo moon shot; the short story below from Space.com describes the Smithsonian’s “Apollo’s Moon Shot AR” app; more information about it, including a 2:00 minute video, is available from the Smithsonian website. Engadget has a story about Google’s celebrations, including an “AR in Search” feature that lets you “explore a 3D recreation of the [Apollo 11] command module… If you like, you can bring the module into your living room in AR too.” USA Today is offering “an eight-day live AR broadcast focusing on six historical events…