[Reminiscent of Oculus Video and CineVR, a new virtual movie theater from Paramount and Bigscreen will replicate sitting in a theater with friends watching a film on a big screen, i.e., it’ll use presence-evoking technology to replicate the experience of using presence-evoking technology. This story is from Deadline Hollywood. –Matthew] Paramount Pictures Launching First Virtual Reality Movie Theater by Anita Busch November 16, 2017 EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures has just created another platform — or maybe even a new distribution window — to display its feature content. The studio, in partnership with Bigscreen, is collaborating with several tech companies leading efforts…

[A new VR project from Pixar promotes the company’s new film using both spatial and social presence. The story is from CNET, where the original includes more images and a 2:29 minute video. –Matthew] Pixar uses VR to bring the Land of the Dead to life “Coco VR,” the first virtual-reality experience from Pixar, sets you loose as a skeleton to play in the imaginary universe of its next film. By Joan E. Solsman November 15, 2017 Pixar’s movies can be so captivating, you sometimes want to walk around inside their worlds. Now you can. “Coco VR,” the first virtual-reality…

[The important presence experience described in this story from The Diamondback is available at the Washington, D.C. Newseum until December 2018. For more information, including a video, see the Newseum’s website. –Matthew] Newseum guests can walk through streets of Berlin during Cold War By Lindsey Feingold Published September 27, 2017 In a virtual West Berlin, a news correspondent briefly discusses the Berlin Wall’s history under the backdrop of the wall’s graffiti. Visitors can hear former president Ronald Reagan’s famous 1987 speech with the quote, “Tear down this wall!” playing in the background. People roam the streets of East Berlin, where…

[This new product could represent an important milestone for augmented reality and presence. The story is from GearBrain, where it includes different images. For more information see the article about the creators’ vision in Develop, the company’s press release via PR Newswire, and a 15:16 minute video review and demonstration from DadDoes; at this writing the Merge Cube is widely available, including from Amazon, for $14.99. –Matthew] Merge Cube is the AR device you’re going to want to buy. (Really.) Launching today, this $14.99 device is a seismic shift in the way you’ll think and use augmented reality.…

[With origins in the desire for telepresence after a loved one’s death, the now widely available and free Replika app isn’t a servant like Siri and Alexa but an AI friend that helps you understand yourself. This interesting first person report is from Wired, where the original includes a second image and a related video. –Matthew] What My Personal Chat Bot Is Teaching Me About AI’s Future Arielle Pardes November 12, 2017 My Artificially Intelligent friend is called Pardesoteric. It’s the same name I use for my Twitter and Instagram accounts, a portmanteau of my last name and the word…

[This short story from Interesting Engineering is a great example of why I think presence is both fascinating and important. For more see coverage in Futurism. –Matthew] Japan Grants Residency to a 7-Year-Old AI ‘Boy’ The local government in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward has decided to give residential documents to an AI robot, a bold step in legitimizing the presence of AI in our society. By Mario L. Major November, 07th 2017 An AI character—a boy of only seven years old—has been given an officially registered ID in one of Tokyo’s busiest district. The event took place on Saturday, and since…

[It’s good news that the VR industry is funding programs like the ones described in this story from SiliconANGLE to expand the applications and availability of presence-evoking technologies and experiences. For more information see the HTC Vive press release. –Matthew] HTC Vive launches program to bring the arts into virtual reality By Kyt Dotson 08 November 2017 Smartphone marker and virtual reality headset developer HTC Corp. today announced Vive Arts, a new multimillion-dollar global VR program designed to bring the arts into the living room. The Vive Arts program will help cultural institutions, such as museums, documentary projects, educators and…

[The project described in this story from Huffington Post UK is another example of the potential power of presence, including in this case “collaborative immersion”; the original version includes more images and a 1:36 minute video. For more information see the Scan Pyramids VR project page on the Emissive website. –Matthew] Virtual Reality Goggles Can Now ‘Teleport’ You Into The Pyramid Housing A Mysterious Void Walk in the footsteps of the Pharaohs… November 8, 2017 Sara C Nelson, Senior Editor, The Huffington Post UK A team of scientists have created a virtual reality tour that allows users to ‘teleport’ themselves…

[Fictional portrayals of people experiencing presence and its positive and negative effects and consequences can be both entertaining and thought-provoking (a group of us are studying them here); this story from Slate is about portrayals, and the possibility of actual, addiction to presence (and includes a quote from our colleague Skip Rizzo). You can find the new film OtherLife on Netflix and read a review in The Guardian (warning: spoilers). For more on Dr. Mehta’s research with rats, there’s a 46 minute interview with him on the Smart Drug Smarts podcast. –Matthew] The Ultimate Escapism Sci-fi has been warning us…

[A new series of successful video ads for IKEA seems to violate the rules of successful advertising but perfectly illustrates the power of presence; the story below is from AdWeek and includes three of the ads and a 2:22 minute ‘case study’ video; and coverage in Bustle makes the connection to ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response). –Matthew] Ikea Just Made the Most Boring Preroll Ads, Yet They’re Totally Mesmerizing Åkestam Holst does its own version of unskippable spots By Angela Natividad October 30, 2017 Ikea touts itself as a brand that draws inspiration from the everyday lives of people. In…

[This story from Study Breaks is about the use of augmented reality to create presence illusions for a serious and extremely valuable purpose. The original story includes several more images. –Matthew] ‘HOLOGRAMS FROM SYRIA’ REFUSES TO LET YOU IGNORE THE HAUNTING IMAGES OF WAR Bennington College student Asad J. Malik, also known by his alias 1RIC, seeks to bring the gruesome reality of war to the forefront with his latest project “Holograms from Syria.” By Marissa Cortes, Stony Brook University November 1, 2017 Early in the morning on September 2, 2015, before the sun had risen and the pops of…

[The original version of this widely-cited story from the Daily Mail includes many more pictures of the new East Valley of Science and Fantasy; for more information see the project’s (English) website. –Matthew] Spectacular pictures show China’s £1 billion virtual reality sci-fi theme park which lets tourists visit aliens, ride UFOs and fight dragons Virtual reality attraction is developed by the stock market listed Oriental Times Media Corp’s animation unit The massive park is situated in Guizhou province, China, and the first phase is set to complete in December A main feature is an impressive 174ft tall transformer structure constructed…