[The VR add-on described in this story from Seeker should enhance presence – note the last short paragraph, in which the MindMaze creator and CEO says “We’re moving away from VR as a technological experience to being a real human experience…” The original story includes other images and a video. See coverage of Google’s related tech in an ISPR Presence News post from a few months ago. –Matthew] MindMaze’s Neural VR Interface Reads Your Mind to Reflect Your Facial Expression MASK, a new brain-computer product for desktop and mobile virtual reality headsets, can predict a smile or a wink milliseconds…

[The evolution of presence-evoking technology will increasingly make it harder to distinguish the ‘real’ from the artificial, with both positive and negative consequences. This story is from TechCrunch, where it includes a video of the (real) Lyre bird in action. –Matthew] [Image: Source: TechSpot] Lyrebird is a voice mimic for the fake news era Posted April 26, 2017 by Natasha Lomas A Montreal-based AI startup called Lyrebird has taken the wraps off a voice imitation algorithm that the team says can not only mimic the speech of a real person but shift its emotional cadence — and do all this…

[Can presence provide the motivation and distraction for long-term physical fitness? This story from Bloomberg examines some of the issues (and includes two more images). –Matthew] Virtual Reality Hits the Gym Icaros lets exercisers feel like they’re flying or diving Skeptics say gimmicks won’t trick brain into making body work by Yuji Nakamura April 26, 2017 Johannes Scholl is betting virtual reality can keep people excited about working out. Scholl’s startup, Munich-based Icaros GmbH, has developed a VR exercise machine that delivers a core workout by making it seem like users are flying and deep-ocean diving. About 200 gyms and…

[Telepresence via VR is being used to better understand and prevent balance impairments that become more likely as we age; this story is from the UNC Healthcare and UNC Newsroom; the study is available from Nature Scientific Reports.  –Matthew] [Image: Applied Biomechanics Laboratory at UNC (Courtesy of the UNC/NC State Department of Biomedical Engineering)] Can virtual reality help us prevent falls in the elderly and others? For the elderly and people with neurodegenerative conditions, balance is not taken for granted. UNC and NC State biomedical engineers are using a new virtual reality system that might one day be used to…

[This story from Haaretz discusses design decisions and the power and ethics of presence experiences across media in the most serious of contexts. The original version includes more images and a 0:51 minute video. –Matthew] How Virtual Reality Is Reinventing Holocaust Remembrance In ‘The Last Goodbye’ at the Tribeca Virtual Arcade this month, the viewer wears a virtual-reality headset as a survivor recounts his ordeal at Majdanek. It’s an experience more authentic than ‘Shoah,’ its producer says Neta Alexander (New York) Apr 24, 2017 NEW YORK − When asked a question, Pinchas Gutter doesn’t simply provide an answer − the…

[There’s plenty of press coverage of events and announcements at this week’s F8 Facebook Developer Conference (see Wired on Facebook Spaces VR, The New York Times on AR, and The Guardian for 8 takeaways from the conference), but less attention has been given to the company’s work on brain-computer interfaces. This story is from The Verge, where it includes more images and a 0:15 minute video. –Matthew] How Facebook is taking mind reading from sci-fi to reality Regina Dugan: ‘This isn’t cocktail party talk.’ by Nick Statt Apr 20, 2017 The rumblings started months ago. Through a series of peculiar job…

[You will never, ever find me on this intense presence-evoking ride. The story below is from NJ.com, where it features a photo gallery and a 0:45 minute video; for more information see the Six Flags press release mentioned in the story as well as another one with information about other Six Flags VR rides. –Matthew] Six Flags announces new ‘extreme’ option for world-record ride By Rob Spahr | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com April 20, 2017 JACKSON – Thrill seekers will soon have the opportunity to test their nerves even more on the world’s tallest and fastest drop ride at…

[This story from Insurance & Risk presents some intriguing scenarios for the use of presence (though they also raise security, privacy and other concerns). For more, see the Bain & Company website for the new report “Digitalization in Insurance: The Multibillion Dollar Opportunity.” –Matthew] [Image: Source: Newmark Insurance] Virtual Reality Shaping the Future of General Insurance Virtual Reality (VR) could shape the future of general insurance says third party claims expert Peter Tomkins. 19 April ’17 “Traditionally, the biggest challenge insurers face is understanding risk. Modern technology has come a long way to address this need – insurers are now…

[This report from the UT Southwestern Medical Center Newsroom is about a study of yet another valuable application of telepresence. –Matthew] [Image: A remote-controlled robot equipped with tools to diagnose concussion sits on the sideline of a Northern Arizona football game. Research shows doctors can use these robots to assess potential head injuries with the same accuracy as on-site physicians.] ‘Doctor’ robot could help solve sports-concussion dilemma in rural America DALLAS – April 3, 2017 – From bustling cities to tiny farming communities, the bright lights of the local stadium are common beacons to the Friday night ritual of high…

[Aside from the main point about rethinking the Z-axis in designing presence experiences in VR, this report from DeveloperTech contains the noteworthy point made by an AMD VP that the ultimate goal is making the virtual indistinguishable from real life; a contrasting view is presented in an excerpt from a Medium contributor that follows below. –Matthew] [Image: Source: pysnnoticias.com] AMD: VR requires creators to ‘rethink the Z’ By Ryan Daws 13 April 2017 VR is coming of age, but it will suffer unless creators ‘rethink the Z’ and don’t let content of the past define content of the future. That…

[The backstory of an ambitious project to create a touring group presence experience is told in this article from Adweek, where it includes more images and a 2:04 minute video. For more information, including images and videos, see the Lockheed Martin Mars Experience website, the Lockheed Martin Generation Beyond press release, Framestone’s website for the project (with a 5 minute behind-the-scenes video), an UploadVR interview with Framestore CG Supervisor Theo Jones, and a 6:20 minute video of a demonstration of the Mars Experience bus ride from YouTube. –Matthew] The Inside Story of How McCann New York’s ‘Field Trip to Mars’…

[This new product lets you see, hear, talk to and play with (i.e., experience social presence with) your pet from anywhere in the world. The story is from Metro, where it includes more images and a video. A press release is available via PR Newswire, and more information is available from the product’s Indiegogo project website. –Matthew] This gadget lets you play fetch with your dog even when you’re at work Alice Sholl Monday 10 Apr 2017 The only one in the world who loves playing fetch more than you is your pupper. And sure, the novelty might wear off…