[Presence field trip! I’d love to visit this cafe in Seoul… The short story is from Adweek, where it includes several pictures, and see Design You Trust for 30+ more. The idea of a presence-evoking restaurant isn’t new of course; for example My Modern Met compares Cafe Yeonnam-dong 239-20 to “an Instagram-worthy Wes Anderson-esque cafe in the Philippines [and] a coffee shop shaped like a Rolleiflex camera in South Korea.” –Matthew] [Image: Source: Design You Trust] This Popular ‘Drawing Cafe’ Transports Patrons Into a Quirky Cartoon World A designer’s dream in Seoul By Shannon Miller September 27, 2018 When was the last time…

[Stories about the use of technology to connect children undergoing medical treatment with their school classmates, and to connect the isolated elderly with family and friends, are relatively common. Aside from highlighting new products in this area, the story below from BBC News highlights ways that designers of these technologies are refining the presence experiences they produce, including the use of one-way rather than two-way video, emphasizing sound over image and maintaining novelty and surprise. See the original story for six more images, a 1:52 minute video and links to related stories. –Matthew] ‘My robot makes me feel like I…

[Only men appear on U.S. paper currency; a new augmented reality app superimposes the images of notable women over them. This story is from Next Reality, where it includes a second image and a 1:37 minute video. All of the women and information about them are on the Notable Women website. Nexus Studios adds a bit more detail: “The process of creating Notable Women required millimetric attention to detail in order to achieve seamless portrait transitions. Due to visual differences in each dollar bill denomination, 7 portraits needed to be made for each woman. This resulted in the creation of 700…

[This interesting link-filled piece from The Conversation examines the role and significance of a variety of medium-as-social-actor presence experiences for humans. The original version includes two more images. –Matthew] Why we love robotic dogs, puppets and dolls Brent Rodriguez-Plate, Visiting Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Hamilton College September 13, 2018 There’s a lot of hype around the release of Sony’s latest robotic dog. It’s called “aibo,” and is promoted as using artificial intelligence to respond to people looking at it, talking to it and touching it. Japanese customers have already bought over 20,000 units, and it is expected to come…

[This story from ABC News in Australia describes one of several efforts to use presence to provide patients and their family, friends and caregivers the experience of various health conditions. The original story includes four more pictures and the 1:50 minute 360 degree video (also available on YouTube). –Matthew] [Image: The VR experience was filmed at a Sydney school with students from Tyler’s class. Credit: ABC Radio Sydney: Harriet Tatham] Virtual reality experience replicates life as a child with hearing loss By Harriet Tatham September 24, 2018 For anybody with hearing loss, articulating the isolation it causes is almost impossible.…

[The latest presence-evoking experiences from Philharmonia Orchestra take you on-stage during performances of works by Beethoven and Mahler. The abridged press release below via The Corner Shop PR provides the details. Find a news report on this topic in The Times (requires subscription). Luke Ritchie, Head of Innovation and Partnerships for the Orchestra, describes the development of the VR projects and the potential and challenges the format represents in a 2017 story in ArtsProfessional. A first person report on the earlier “Virtual Orchestra” experience is available from ClassicFM. The Philharmonia website indicates that all of the showings this month at the…

[Our surroundings when we eat, whether real or virtual, affect how the food tastes to us, according to new research reported in the Cornell Chronicle. For details follow the link to the new publication in the Journal of Food Science. For a related story see a November 2017 post in ISPR Presence News. –Matthew] [Image: Cows enjoy spacious accommodation at the new Cornell University Ruminant Center in Harford, New York. Source: Cornell Chronicle.] Eating with your eyes: Virtual reality can alter taste By Blaine Friedlander September 20, 2018 Humans not only relish the sweet, savory and saltiness of foods, but…

[Presence experiences are increasingly being used to combat and aid recovery from the all-too-common scourge of sexual harassment and violence. This story from Reuters via Canadian HR Reporter highlights the work of some of our colleagues; for more information about Vantage Point, see a March 2018 ISPR Presence News post. –Matthew] Virtual reality tackles real-life sex abuse Umberto Bacchi September 10, 2018 Your boss ends a meeting by grabbing a colleague and asking her to “pack something fitting” for the party you’re all planning after an out-of-town conference. Do you a) say something or b) let it pass? That’s the…

[The creators of a new child robot for training medical students have purposely adjusted the level of presence it evokes for its users by making it as realistic as possible in function but not maximally realistic in appearance. Note the comments in the story from Wired about breaks in presence (without using that term) and the observation that even plain rubber dummies can evoke intense responses. For much more information including images and videos, see the Gaumard website, and see NBC Bay Area for a 3:48 minute video news report and a 9:33 minute 360 video. –Matthew] This Hyper-Real Robot…

[This story from the University of Rochester Medical Center describes a new tool that creates presence illusions to study how the brain and body are affected by neurological diseases and disorders. See the original version for a 3:46 minute video. –Matthew] Researchers Harness Virtual Reality, Motion Capture to Study Neurological Disorders September 05, 2018 Neuroscientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) have a powerful new state-of-the-art tool at their disposal to study diseases like Autism, Alzheimer’s, and traumatic brain injury. The Mobile Brain/Body Imaging system, or MoBI, combines virtual reality, brain monitoring, and Hollywood-inspired motion capture technology, enabling…

[This story about the Nuclear Dissent “immersive website” highlights the personal nature of effective presence experiences; it’s from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. See what the author means by visiting the new website. –Matthew] A virtual visit to a nuclear test site By Thomas Gaulkin September 14, 2018 It can be difficult to grasp how nuclear weapons shape world events without confronting the cold, hard facts. There are an estimated 15,000 nuclear warheads on Earth, and the nine nuclear states that have them ran some 2,000 nuclear tests to produce them. Sky-high numbers like that get you part of…

[Some of the most valuable applications of presence are in the human aspects of medical care; this story by the creator of the My MRI Journey app is from The Guardian. An earlier King’s College Hospital press release adds some detail and a user’s reaction: “The VR technology allows children to feel as though they are inside an MRI scanner and experience what it will be like on the day. Children have the opportunity to get accustomed to the loud tapping noises that happen during the scan (this is the electric current in the scanner coils being turned on and…