[Here are three short stories about how people are using technology to celebrate Christmas virtually this year. I wish you all a wonderful, restorative Christmas and holiday season, mediated by technology and otherwise! –Matthew] [The first story, from Patch, is about a “virtual Santa sleigh ride” attraction in Chicago; for more details see ABC7 TV’s 3:37 minute news report. For coverage of other attractions see “Mindful of Amazon, malls take the Santa experience high-tech” in the Chicago Tribune.] [Image: Source: O The Places We Go, where you can watch the 1:23 minute sleigh ride video] Water Tower Place Debuts First…

[The story below is about a depressingly necessary application of presence-evoking technology; it’s from CBS News, where it includes a 3:56 minute video report from CBS Morning News. For more on STRIVR, see the company’s website. –Matthew] Companies use VR to train employees for hostage situations, robberies December 20, 2018 Virtual reality is often associated with video games. But well-known companies are now using it as a tool to train for potentially dangerous situations. Major companies like Walmart, Chipotle and Verizon are using VR to prepare employees for what they could see on the job. Verizon has more than 1,600…

[Presence as immersion and transportation are highlighted in this story about a new VR attraction; the original version from TimeOut Los Angeles includes several more images and a short video. For more on the development of the feature “The Blu: Deep Rescue” (and for a video trailer) see coverage in Variety, and for a 4:23 minute video report and a 9 minute podcast on the opening of the attraction see coverage from KTLA in Los Angeles. –Matthew] In the virtual reality Dreamscape, you literally walk through the screen of your own movie By Michael Juliano December 14 2018 You can play…

[This story from the Georgia Straight describes an interesting, and aptly named, music performance designed by two Canadian artists. For more information, including bios and a 1:43 minute video, see the venue’s website; even more details are available in coverage by The Source. –Matthew] Telepresence brings immersive virtual reality to concert setting by Alexander Varty December 12th, 2018 We can’t quite explain what you’re going to see if you go to Telepresence, an adventurous virtual-reality undertaking at the Western Front this weekend, but we can promise you this: it won’t be like anything you’ve seen before. The brainchild of media…

[Peter Jackson’s new WWI documentary “They Shall Not Grow Old” illustrates the power of film to evoke several types of presence. The film’s website and trailer feature these three quotes from reviewers: “Heart-breaking immediacy,” “A deeply human experience,” and “A haunting and moving lesson in how to bring the past vividly alive.” The trailer text concludes with “Travel back in time to experience history with those who were actually there.” The story below from The New York Times describes how the film was created and includes more references to presence as well as five brief “before and after” clips. More information…

[The new product described in this story from UploadVR suggests a coming evolution of presence-evoking technology that will more powerfully and seamlessly measure and manipulate the user’s experience, with both potentially amazing positive and frightening negative consequences. For more information see the VRgineers website. –Matthew] XTAL Ultra High-End VR Headset Adds Neurable’s Emotion Analysis By Ian Hamilton December 10th, 2018 A new partnership between Neurable and VRgineers adds the former’s “brain sensors” to the ultra high-end XTAL VR headset. We tried out Neurable last year, a system which places EEG (Electroencephalography) sensors along the interior of a VR headset’s strap…

[There are clear benefits to using presence-evoking technologies for the training described in this story from Federal News Network. Tthe original story includes a 2:43 minute video (also available via YouTube) and for more details see the Navy’s press release. –Matthew] Using virtual reality to train for one of the Navy’s most dangerous jobs By Scott Maucione December 13, 2018 Flight deck operations on an aircraft carrier have been described as a ballet of chaos. It’s an apt description for one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. The flight deck crew is responsible for assisting the takeoff and…

[The art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast has a new immersive installation in London, as described in this story from The National (see the original for more pictures and two videos). The creators provide some insights about how to design effective and impactful presence experiences as the available technology improves. The new installation We Live in an Ocean of Air extends the environmental themes of earlier MLF works covered in ISPR Presence News, Treehugger: Wawona and In the Eyes of the Animal. –Matthew] The virtual-reality art show that seeks to repair our ‘broken connection with nature’ We Live in an Ocean…

[We focus so much on sights and sounds in creating presence it’s easy to forget the importance of smells; this story from the Orlando Sentinel briefly describes the work of one company that creates this part of the illusion – see the original version for a 2:11 minute video featuring the company’s president. –Matthew] [Image: Global Technology Integrators works with chemicals to make 2,000 scents in all. This bottle contains “Custom 5009” – 90% Raw Seafood B, 5% Fire Damage, and 5% Cordite. Credit: Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda / Orlando Sentinel] From stinky to cookies: Orlando firm creates scents for virtual reality…

[A company in France is launching a streaming TV service for virtual reality; this story from TechCrunch describes what it’s like to use it to create a social presence viewing experience. See the original version for two more images. –Matthew] Molotov creates a VR coffee shop to watch TV together Romain Dillet December 11, 2018 French startup Molotov is slowly becoming the leading platform to stream TV in France. With a single account, you can watch TV on your phone, tablet, computer and set-top box. The company is about to release a VR app that lets you watch TV using…

[Many factors interfere with effective presence illusions in virtual reality but image resolution is one of, if not the, most important. This story from UploadVR describes industry efforts to address the problem. The original story includes four more pictures, and read the comments section for some interesting insights. –Matthew] Facebook Wins Patent For Human-Eye ‘Retinal’ Resolution VR Headset By David Heaney December 4th, 2018 Facebook has been awarded a patent for a head mounted display (HMD) which combines a large low resolution display and small high resolution display projected to where the user’s eye is pointed to achieve ‘retinal’ resolution.…

[Here’s a great example of how telepresence can make it possible for people to participate in activities they’d otherwise be excluded from. See the original story from Digital Trends for two videos. –Matthew] [Image: Source: The Spoon]  The robot waiters in this Japanese cafe are controlled by people with paralysis Luke Dormehl December 4, 2018 Whether it’s autonomous delivery bots dropping off pizza, robo-bartenders, or automated waiters, it’s clear that robots have a growing place in the food industry. But a new Japanese pop-up cafe located in Tokyo offers a far more uncommon — and potentially transformative — spin on this…