[This story from Artsy describes the trend towards technology-based experiential art and attractions, focusing on Meow Wolf’s installation in Santa Fe (coming soon to Denver, Las Vegas and elsewhere); the company’s CEO “envisions a future where the lines between things like art, theme parks, role-playing games, and augmented reality will be blurred. The emerging term, he explains, is ‘alternative reality.’” The original story includes a large photo gallery, and for more information see Meow Wolf’s website and a 2:20 minute video on YouTube (which will lead you to other videos). Two related news stories from the last few weeks may be…

[Thank you to everyone who joined us for PRESENCE 2018 last week in Prague, either in person or virtually. Special thanks to organizing committee members SongYi (Grace) Lee, Kun Xu, Hocheol Yang and Jihyun Kim. For me at least, it was another rewarding, intellectually invigorating and very enjoyable combination of presentations and informal discussions about different aspects of a fascinating topic. In our concluding session we identified a variety of challenges we face as presence scholars and we’ll be following up soon on some of the steps we developed towards addressing them. In the meantime, the story below is about…

[One last news item before ISPR Presence News takes a break for a few weeks: This piece from Big Think considers the role of VR and other presence-evoking technologies in defining, and controlling, our personal reality; the original includes more images and three videos. –Matthew] [Image: You are who you are because of your environment. What happens in a virtual world? Credit: Shutterstock/Big Think] How will virtual reality change your mind’s consciousness? May 16, 2018 by Derek Beres Over a half-century ago, Canadian professor and philosopher Marshall McLuhan wrote one of the most influential books on media theory ever. Understanding…

[A Villanova University professor is using a CAVE to evoke spatial presence and help baseball players train; this story is from Philly.com, where it includes two more images. –Matthew] [Image: A Villanova professor developed a program to help Wildcat players improve at the plate. Sam Margulis, a freshman outfielder, demonstrates the virtual reality setup located in “The Cave” in a campus library. Credit: Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer.] Taking a swing at virtual reality: How Villanova baseball is using tech to improve at the plate Updated: May 10, 2018 by Frank Fitzpatrick, Staff Writer Heads down, hoods up, hands buried…

[Peter Rubin’s new book covers a wide range of interesting presence topics; this interview with the author is from The Verge (where it includes a different image). –Matthew] Why the real promise of virtual reality is to change human connection It’s not all about gaming By Angela Chen Apr 17, 2018 All the talk about virtual reality revolutionizing the gaming industry is “just first-day stuff,” says VR expert Peter Rubin. Forget 360-degree video and video games, he says. That’s just the beginning, and focusing too much on these uses takes away from the true potential of VR: a social technology…

[I somehow missed this important story from last fall about a project that uses presence to help people experience the microaggressions that result from implicit bias, “quiet, coded moments of racial bias that shape [a black person’s] worldview and sense of justice over time.” The story is from Engadget, where it includes more images. For more information on the project, created through a collaboration with our colleague Jeremy Bailenson, see the 1000 Cut Journey page on the Tribeca Immersive website and coverage in VR World that includes Courtney Cogburn’s TED Talk. For discussions of the broader potential of VR and…

[This is a too-short story about our colleague Andrea Stevenson Won and some of her fascinating and valuable work related to presence. It’s from the Cornell Chronicle, where it includes two more images. For more information see the Virtual Embodiment Lab website and her page on the Cornell website. –Matthew] [Image: Andrea Stevenson Won, assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Cornell University, in the Virtual Embodiment Lab. Credit: Sasha Israel/Provided] Relieving real pain in a virtual world By Jennifer Savran Kelly April 30, 2018 We’ve all enjoyed losing ourselves in a good book, but what if the story…

[The demonstration of Google’s AI-powered virtual assistant Duplex at the Google I/O conference is both extremely impressive and, to many, worrisome. This story from NPR describes some of the concerns about the ethics of such effective presence illusions; for more on the ethics and a 4:25 minute video of the demonstration see coverage in The Verge, and for an expanded discussion that includes practical concerns, see coverage in Motherboard. –Matthew] [Image: Google CEO Sundar Pichai demonstrated new AI technology that can use human-like speech to carry on phone conversations at the Google I/O 2018 Conference on Tuesday in Mountain View,…

[Google’s May 3, 2018 360-degree virtual reality Doodle is another small landmark in the history of presence. This story is from Adweek, where it includes two videos; for in-depth information see coverage in Engadget and Google itself (where the page includes a Making Of… video). The Washington Post elegantly describes the project this way: “Google has melded the future of the past, technologically and narratively, with the future of the now.” –Matthew] Google’s First Virtual Reality Doodle Honors a French Illusionist Director An homage to the ‘father of special effects’ Georges Méliès By Marty Swant May 3, 2018 Google just…

[The headline is just one of the interesting results in this story from Forbes, where the original includes more charts. –Matthew] VR Needs More Social: 77% of Virtual Reality Users Want More Social Engagement John Koetsier April 30, 2018 77% of people who use virtual reality want more social engagement in VR, according to a new survey of 4,217 consumers. And while many of their headsets don’t get regular use, most intend to use their VR headsets more in the future. “Led by Generation Z and Millennials, 77% of respondents who own a VR headset say they are interested in…

[As a rail fan I find this review of a new model train simulator for virtual reality particularly interesting; the more inclusive term “Trainset VR” is also an intriguing presence concept. The review is from UploadVR, where it includes different images and a video trailer; more information including images and a video is available in coverage by Stuff.co.nz. –Matthew] Rolling Line Review: A Delightful Model Railway Simulator By Jamie Feltham May 4th, 2018 Platforms: Rift (Reviewed), Vive Trainset VR is a term I’ve used to describe some of my favorite VR titles. By that, I’m referring to experiences that make…

[This opinion column from Aeon is from late 2016 but it’s still extremely relevant to a key debate about the effects and ethics of presence. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: PhotoAlto/Ale Ventura/Getty] Murder in virtual reality should be illegal Angela Buckingham is a writer living in Berlin. She writes about power, moral choice, self-deception, bravery and cowardice. Her most recent work, The Colonel, is a play inspired by the events surrounding the Dreyfus Affair in 1890s France. November 2016 You start by picking up the knife, or reaching for the neck of a broken-off bottle. Then comes the lunge and wrestle, the…