[A new VR tour in Jerusalem lets viewers “Step into History.” Without using the term; both this story from the AP via the Miami Herald and the one from Breaking Israel News that follows below are filled with descriptions of the presence experience the tour provides visitors. The Tower of David Museum’s website includes a 0:35 minute video also available via YouTube. –Matthew] [Image: In this Monday, Sept. 3, 2018 photo, released by the Tower of David Museum, a visitor uses goggles on a new virtual reality tour that allows visitors to experience how archaeologists believe Jerusalem looked 2,000 years…

[As another school year begins new technology developments suggest that realistic, interactive, artificially intelligent digital teachers may transform the traditional classroom experience. This story from Newsroom describes a new advance in digital teacher technologies in New Zealand; the original version includes an additional image, and for more information see the Vector press release, which includes a 2:00 minute video that features student reactions to both the digital and real teacher. –Matthew] [Image: Students trialling digital teacher Will say he’s just like a human. Photo: Supplied] World-first digital teacher in NZ schools August 23, 2018 Farah Hancock Kiwi students will be…

[This story on Labor Day in the United States describes how the power of vivid early photographs of working children directly looking at the camera (and therefore the viewer) helped change public perceptions and end child labor in the U.S. As noted in the last paragraph, today other media including virtual reality (and the sense of presence it evokes) are also being used to show and combat social injustices. The interesting story is from The Washington Post, where the original includes eight more images (follow the link at the end for over five thousand more) as well as links to…

[The airlines are finding interesting applications of presence-evoking technology. This story from MRO (“Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul”) Network is about new immersive tech Emirates Airlines is adopting for seat booking and other previews of the inside of its planes (more details, images and a 1 minute video are available from Emirates). APEX (“Airline Passenger Experience Association”) has a related story about a passenger survey supporting the addition of VR-based experiences in airlines’ airport pre-flight lounges. –Matthew] Virtual Reality Informs Passengers Booking Airline Seats Emirates helps make seat selection a more accurate experience for its passengers via an immersive, 3D, online process…

[This story from VentureBeat is about valuable applications of aerial telepresence; more details are on the Cape website and in coverage in Aviation Today, which includes this: “The U.S. government launched the [drone integration pilot program] because drones are a quickly expanding industry. Civilians and companies alike are embracing them and finding new uses every day. [Cape CEO] Rittler is confident that we’re on the cusp of a broader integration into the fabric of society. ‘I really think we’re at that point, kind of like when the smartphone first came out, everybody said ‘This will never be used in enterprise,’ he…

[The creators of a new Cinematic VR film are testing the limits and learning best production practices for transitioning the VR medium from short-form demos and games to long-form engaging narratives. This story is from Variety, where the original includes more images. –Matthew] Venice: Secret Location’s ‘The Great C’ Takes an Ambitious Stab at Long-Form VR By Janko Roettgers August 28, 2018 When the Venice Film Festival opens its doors this week, audiences will once again get to see a number of virtual reality (VR) titles. And anyone who has followed VR might notice a trend: Cinematic VR, as non-gaming…

[As the fall semester begins it’s a good time to read about how The University of North Carolina System is using VR and presence to “promote and facilitate college access” across all of its campuses. It notes their plans for the use of chatbots and expansion to all colleges in the state. Most of the press coverage is drawn from this more detailed press release from UNC. –Matthew] [Image: This still shot from a new virtual reality video compiled by the UNC System shows a class at N.C. State University. Source: News & Record.] UNC SYSTEM LAUNCHES FIRST-IN-NATION VIRTUAL REALITY…

[This case study report from the Virtual Engineering Centre (VEC) at the University of Liverpool describes a unique and potentially valuable application of presence-evoking technology to help people learn the warning signs that a dog is likely to bite them. The link at the end leads to a 1:19 minute video of a first-person interaction with a virtual dog. –Matthew] CASE STUDY: THE DOGS TRUST The Virtual Engineering Centre, in collaboration with Dogs Trust,  the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Infection and Global Health and Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, have created an immersive 3D environment to demonstrate the…

[Arizona State University is using virtual reality to teach biology lab courses, and considering expanding the use of the presence-evoking technology to other fields and eventually incorporating AI for individualized teaching. This story from azcentral has the details and highlights some of the advantages; more information is available in ASU Now and the Google AR & VR blog. –Matthew] [Image: Biological sciences student Victoria Quintana tries out a headset for a virtual-reality biology lab class during a trial run with Labster on the Tempe campus in June. Credit: Photo by Charlie Leight; Source:  ASU Now.] ASU online biology course allows…

[Presence field trip alert! The story from The Verge below provides a detailed description of Two Bit Circus, a new “micro-amusement park” opening in Los Angeles that uses a variety of technologies to evoke presence in “a tech-infused entertainment utopia wrapped in a circus-meets-Ready Player One aesthetic.” See the original story for lots of pictures and videos. –Matthew] HOW TWO BIT CIRCUS IS TURNING ITS 21ST CENTURY CARNIVAL INTO ONE GIANT GAME The ‘micro-amusement park’ combines VR, escape rooms, and carnival games to create a grand, playable adventure By Bryan Bishop August 22, 2018 Photography by Amelia Holowaty Krales Throw…

[Much of the coverage (and many of the company and product names) include terrible puns, but the expiration of “the teledildonics patent” has serious implications for the phenomena, design and study of presence experiences related to sexuality. This story is from Motherboard, where the original includes additional images. Gizmodo has more information about the effects of the patent expiring on innovation, Wired covers security and privacy concerns (including “attackers manipulating partner match ups, [so that] people might be controlling devices that they don’t have the consent to control”), and Engadget has a first-person report on the experience of using teledildonic…

[I wish Cliff Nass could weigh in on the latest tests of the Computers Are Social Actors (CASA) paradigm; this story from The Washington Post summarizes and provides links for intriguing recent work that explores how children and adults respond to robots. More information about the replication of the Asch conformity studies is available in the University of Plymouth press release and in coverage from The Verge and Gizmodo (which both specifically discuss CASA) and a critique is presented in The Next Web. –Matthew] Children can be swayed by robot peer pressure, study says By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Reporter August…