[The new VR film of a Mount Everest climb described in this story is impressive because of the technical feat involved and the fact that it offers everyone an experience that’s extremely rare in nonmediated reality. Beyond that I think the fact that the creators didn’t want high production values because “If it had [felt] polished and produced, it would have felt inauthentic” is particularly noteworthy – higher resolution and seamless camera work and editing may not always produce greater presence. The story is from Fast Company, where it includes an additional image. –Matthew] How Sports Illustrated Made The First Live-Action…

[Here’s an extremely positive application of presence-evoking technology in medicine and science education. The story from The Stanford Daily describes the evolution of a tool that helps medical professionals and others understand the complexities and dynamics of the heart, and as indicated at the end, potentially other parts of the human body. Follow the pilot link for a 1:01 minute video. –Matthew] Virtual reality reveals the human heart in three dimensions May 2, 2017 Katie Gu Stanford Virtual Heart, a new initiative at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, employs immersive virtual reality (VR) technology to tackle previously unaddressed questions in science…

[This story from TechCrunch describes a novel form of mixed reality that apparently evokes very effective presence illusions. –Matthew] Nomadic wants to bring VR you can feel to your local movie theater Posted Mar 23, 2017 by Lucas Matney On the outskirts of the Bay Area, my Lyft driver jokingly asked me if I wanted to leave him my number in case I didn’t return from where I was headed. I would soon be descending a set of stairs into the basement of a newly built, largely empty office complex where I was going to try an “experimental virtual reality…

[Aside from being an interesting example of the pursuit of presence, this story from Queensland University of Technology News describes the potential of industry-academic partnerships. See Malcolm Burt’s YouTube channel for more information. –Matthew] QUT’s ‘amusement academic’ helps create world-first VR waterslide 27 April 2017 The ever-popular theme park waterslide is about to enter a new dimension thanks in part to a QUT academic who has become a world-leading expert in fun. Malcolm Burt, currently doing his PhD which seeks to define the elements required to deliver the ultimate virtual reality theme park ride, was asked by German waterslide company…

[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…