[The incident reported in this story from The Verge raises important and interesting questions about what happens when critical events in the nonmediated (‘real’) world emerge in the mediated, virtual world – revealing human nature and suggesting the need to create awareness and potential means for responding beyond the presence environment. The original story includes a 17:56 minute video, and for more details see coverage in Kotaku.–Matthew] User succumbs to a seizure in virtual reality while other players can only watch By Megan Farokhmanesh Jan 19, 2018 While playing around in VRChat, an online virtual community, YouTuber Rogue Shadow VR…

[A 2013 ISPR Presence News post described Tianducheng, a replica of Paris in China; now François Prost has created a photo series that pairs images from the ‘real’ and the replica. This interesting (and lightly edited) story is from It’s Nice That. See more of the images in the original story and on the photographer’s website, and find more coverage from CityLab. –Matthew] Paris Syndrome: photographer Francois Prost explores a replica city in China Words by Bryony Stone January 4, 2018 “I will always remember the first time I went to Venice,” photographer François Prost remembers. “I was 23.…

[This story from MustTech News explores an interesting possible impact of the evolution of presence-evoking technologies. –Matthew] Will Virtual Reality Home Schooling Become the New Normal? The thought may strike fear into the hearts of teachers, but it’s a trend with real potential for leveling the educational playing field. By Mustafa ULU January 17, 2018 I’ve known many teachers, and they’re among the hardest working, least recognized heroes I know. So it’s not without reservation that I pen this article. But doing some research for our futuristic Flex House project recently, I stumbled into a trend that could quickly grow…

[This November news release from the Wyss Center at the University of Geneva describes a promising new way to use presence-evoking technology to experience the intricate details of the brain; the original version includes an additional picture and a recommended 0:34 minute video (also available via YouTube). Quartz has another new and recommended 1:54 minute video. –Matthew] Take a fantastic 3D voyage through the brain with new immersive virtual reality system Put your head inside a brain! November 15, 2017 A new immersive virtual reality (VR) experience now offers a unique way to visualize and interact with large volumes of…

[The start-up Black Box VR, which was named a CES 2018 Innovation Awards Honoree, seems to more thoroughly integrate virtual reality, artificial intelligence and exercise equipment to produce a motivating sense of spatial and social presence than previous efforts. The story below is from BBC News and includes a first person report (for others see coverage in Business Insider and Tom’s Guide); for more information including videos see the company’s website and a press release via PRWeb. –Matthew] CES 2018: Black Box VR wants to make gamers fit January 7, 2018 Start-up Black Box VR has developed a full-body workout…

[This story from Engadget describes how Netflix used an exhibition booth at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to evoke presence in visitors to promote a new TV series about presence after death (the topic of the most recent new episode of The X-Files (season 11, episode 2; spoiler-filled summary available from Vulture). The Engadget story includes 11 more photos and for more information see the Netflix page for the new series and coverage in DesignTAXI that includes photos, videos and tweets from CES. –Matthew] Netflix hid a fake biotech booth in the middle of CES Oblivious…

[The last sentence in this short story from SportTechie makes clear that the goal of the expanded VR coverage of the upcoming Winter Olympics is to create presence experiences. The original story includes a 2:24 minute video and for more information see the press release at Around the Rings. –Matthew] Intel Pledges Winter Olympics Will Be ‘Largest-Scale VR Event’ January 9, 2018 Joe Lemire Intel’s ambitious plans for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang include producing the largest-scale virtual reality event with official broadcast rights partners such as NBC. The tech giant has pledged more than 50 hours of live…

[The technologies are or soon will be available to let us create multi-platform (embodied and disembodied) artificially intelligent versions of ourselves to interact with other people and companies and their virtual representatives. This story from Computerworld thoughtfully considers some of the possible presence-implicated scenarios (interacting with your own virtual assistant suggests an intriguing form of self presence!). For more information including a 0:24 minute video see coverage in BGR.  –Matthew] [Image: ObEN co-founder and CEO Nikhil Jain and his virtual self] Why you’ll fire Siri and do the job yourself In the world of A.I., the best virtual assistant might…

[This story from The Verge summarizes and provides links to other coverage of a new application of presence-evoking technology: to simulate and prepare teachers for a school shooting. Some of the important ethical issues are highlighted at the end; the AP story includes a 2:19 minute video report; and the Gizmodo story notes that “It’s a dark irony that after 1999’s Columbine High School shooting, parents, teachers, and lawmakers tried to blame video games. Now, in 2018, VR simulations are attempting to prepare parents and teachers to save lives during similar shootings.” –Matthew] The Army and DHS are making a…

[A new generation of smart glasses will offer voice-activated interaction with our AI-powered virtual assistant, bone-conduction audio, an augmented reality display, and prescription lenses in light and stylish frames, which together will evoke multiple forms of spatial and social presence. The story below about the less expensive audio-only LET Glass is from Digital Trends, where the original includes different images and a 2:26 minute video; for much more information follow the link to the Indiegogo page. For coverage of Vuzik’s new AR-capable glasses see a story from Bloomberg, which notes that “everyone” (Amazon, Google, Facebook, etc.) will likely be launching their…

[As Sony launches a new more sophisticated version of its robotic dog AIBO, this story from TechRadar considers the future of robotic pets and whether we should encourage medium-as-social-actor presence responses in their young users. For more on the old and new AIBO/aibo, see coverage in The Daily Beast. –Matthew] What will tomorrow’s children make of robot pets? From Aibo to Cozmo, what does the future hold for bot pets? By Rich Wordsworth December 16, 2017 My robot is bored. I’ve done everything I can. Anki’s ‘Cozmo’ – Wall-E-meets-EVE in the cab of a forklift – costs around £200 /…

[In addition to the ethics of creating a disembodied or embodied version of a person to maintain a sense of their presence after they die, this story from The Daily Beast considers the possibility of transferring your consciousness into technology so that you experience your continued existence after your body dies (in addition to the episode of Black Mirror mentioned, the many interesting implications of such a prospect are explored in the British series Humans). –Matthew] [Image: photo illustration by Sarah Rogers/The Daily Beast] When You Die, You’ll Live on as a Robot Memories die with those who keep them,…