[Even without the startling prediction that “by the year 2021, there will be more Alexa-like digital assistants on the planet than humans” the responses to and uses of Amazon’s product described in this story from The New York Times are fascinating examples of medium-as-social-actor presence. It also contains interesting analyses of the reasons for these responses. The original version of the story includes more images. –Matthew] [Image: By Sergio Baradat] ‘Alexa, Where Have You Been All My Life?’ Siri is so five years ago: How a sleek, smooth-talking cylinder from Amazon stole our hearts, bamboozled our spouses and enchanted our…

[The new film Dunkirk in full IMAX format promises to create compelling presence experiences. This short story from The Verge includes the 4 minute “Behind the Frame” featurette. A detailed story in the Los Angeles Times includes this: “[A]s Nolan sees it, ‘Dunkirk’ is not a war movie per se but rather a kind of Hitchcockian suspense thriller, and his goal for the picture, which he filmed almost entirely in IMAX, is to create an immersive white-knuckle ride that puts the viewer in the shoes of soldiers fighting for survival. ‘We’re trying to create an experience that I talk about…

[This story from Stanford Medicine is about the powerful benefits of using data from brain scans to create presence experiences for neurology patients and surgeons. –Matthew] [Image: The virtual reality system is helping train residents, assist surgeons in planning upcoming operations and educate patients. It also helps surgeons in the operating room, guiding them in a three-dimensional space. Credit: Paul Sakuma] Virtual reality system helps surgeons, reassures patients Stanford Medicine is using a new software system that combines imaging from MRIs, CT scans and angiograms to create a three-dimensional model that physicians and patients can see and manipulate — just…

[This story from The Register describes a research program that involves the use of spatial presence via VR to develop ethical guidelines for the behavior of self-driving cars that evoke medium-as-social-actor presence; note the conclusion in the last paragraph that how the cars make these life-and-death choices needs to be transparent for consumers to accept the new technology. –Matthew] New work: Algorithms to give self-driving cars ‘impulsive’ human ‘ethics’ It’s just preliminary research, don’t freak out By Andrew Silver 5 July 2017 In a version of the infamous Trolley Problem, you’re sitting in a runaway train on a fatal collision…

[The technology described in this story from The Economist represents a dark side of presence illusions, a tool to support the increasingly blatant and shameless promotion of false claims about facts and events. On the positive side, the story notes several ways of countering the danger. –Matthew]   Fake news: you ain’t seen nothing yet Generating convincing audio and video of fake events Print edition | Science and technology July 1st 2017 Earlier this year Françoise Hardy, a French musician, appeared in a YouTube video (see link). She is asked, by a presenter off-screen, why President Donald Trump sent his…

[The mixed reality room described in this Engadget story looks like it creates compelling presence illusions (a Mashable video says it “could have you questioning what’s reality”). See the original story for two videos including the 3:11 minute demo video mentioned (also available on Vimeo). For more, see the Theoriz website and Vimeo page, and a related post from February 2016 in ISPR Presence News. –Matthew] Théoriz recreates the Holodeck with AR tech and projectors A French company has created a new kind of dramatic, Illumiroom-like reality. Steve Dent June 28, 2017 If you had to list the most mind-blowing…

[This story from Quartz succinctly lays out the key ethical questions raised by medium-as-social-actor presence; the answers depend on our understanding of human nature and the malleability of our behavior. The emphasis is on the peril rather than promise – the author doesn’t say much about the potential advantages of human-like technologies (which include for me, the reduced likelihood of my damaging them in a fleeting moment of anger). The original version of the story includes two videos. –Matthew] [Image: Would you punch a printer? What if it looked like you? (Office Space/20th Century Fox)] Is it unethical to design…

[As this story from Digit notes, using VR for human-human weddings is one thing but using it for human-virtual character weddings is quite another. The original story includes other images and two videos; for background see coverage in RocketNews24; for more details about the ceremony see coverage in VR Scout (where the story says 100 men have participated); and for a story about a man who married his smartphone in Las Vegas in 2016, see Oddity Central. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Grape] Japanese men are tying the knot with their favourite Anime characters in VR weddings Yes, someone actually married an…

[Complex ethical and other challenging issues related to medium-as-social-actor presence are raised in a new report from the Foundation for Responsible Robotics (FRR). This story is from The Guardian, where it features a 16:25 minute video; for more information see coverage by BBC News, which includes several links and a 1:46 audio clip. –Matthew] [Image: Catalan nanotechnology engineer Sergi Santos holds the head of Samantha, a sex doll packed with artificial intelligence providing her the capability to respond to different scenarios and verbal stimulus, in his house in Rubi, north of Barcelona, Spain, March 31, 2017. Source: REUTERS/Albert Gea] Sex…

[Queen’s Brian May is a VR innovator and the rock group has launched a new 3-song virtual concert film, as detailed in this short story from Digital Trends. Follow the VRTGO link for a preview and for more information (including two videos, one with May discussing his Owl VR kit, and a comment from Morton Heilig) see coverage from last year in Music Ally. And for even more, see a story in Creators about the earlier Bohemian Rhapsody Experience, available for IOS and Android.  –Matthew] Queen Will Rock You in Virtual Reality Concert Film ‘VR The Champions’ By Brad Jones…

[This story from StateTech is about another context in which presence is having important positive impacts. For more details see CDW’s expanded version and an earlier story in StateTech. –Matthew] 3 Ways Connected Courtrooms Enhance the Justice System Telepresence and collaboration tools don’t just streamline justice delivery, they also connect those in the system to families, bail options and more. By StateTech Staff June 28, 2017 Anytime deputies have a chance to avoid transporting an inmate from a jail cell to an external location, it may mean fewer risks for all involved. For instance, less contraband could be coming in.…

[This story from Yale News describes a project designed to evoke presence to help users better understand the poet John Ashbery and the inspiration for his work; for more information and the link to the website (when it launches July 1), see the project’s web page. –Matthew] [Image: Award-winning poet John Ashbery stands outside his Victorian home in this screenshot taken from a new Digital Humanities Lab project. John Ashbery’s “Nest” takes visitors on a virtual tour inside of his house, and invites them to “walk” through the spaces that the poet inhabits to learn about the objects that have…