[This story about a new production designed to evoke a greater sense of presence in historical events is from The Hollywood Reporter; the experiences are available at DiscoverVR.com and a press release is available via Broadway World. –Matthew] [Image: Chris Gordaneer/Courtesy of AHC Discovery’s American Heroes Channel Plans Virtual Reality Civil War Experience (Exclusive) The immersive segment takes an 1865 Confederate cadet dodging enemy fire in muddy trenches from 2D to 360 degrees. November 28, 2016 by Etan Vlessing The Discovery-owned American Heroes Channel is bringing the Civil War from 2D to 360 degrees with a virtual reality experience.…

[Perspective is key to effective presence illusions; this story is from Digital Trends, where it includes a 0:32 minute video and four more images. –Matthew] City VR Will Give You a Giant’s Perspective of the World’s Biggest Cities By Luke Dormehl September 30, 2016 Ever dreamed of getting your Godzilla or Stay Puft Marshmallow Man on and stalking through a city, towering high above its buildings? The founder of cutting-edge Silicon Valley virtual reality studio Amber Garage certainly did. As a kid, Botao Hu, aka Amber, fantasized about this scenario. Well, jump forward a decade and successful stints as a…

[This story from Psychology Today highlights some of the promise and especially the controversial perils of technologies that produce increasingly higher levels of presence. –Matthew] [Image: Debradacija/Shutterstock] Warped Reality What will it mean when millions of people play—and kill—in virtual reality? By Andrew Rosenblum, published on September 5, 2016 – last reviewed on November 25, 2016 It’s 1944. You’re an American G.I. on the Pacific island of Peleliu and a Japanese tank is creeping your way. You aim your bazooka and pull the trigger, sending the tank flying in a cloud of fire and molten steel. Somebody yells, “One down,…

[Drones with cameras can provide the user with a sense of spatial presence, but Robot Drone Man can also provide both the user and people who encounter the device with a sense of social presence. This story is from IEEE Spectrum, where it includes an additional image and a 0:55 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: Ilhan Bae/KAIST] Behind the Music: How “Robot Drone Man” Built His Flying Avatar By Evan Ackerman Posted 7 Nov 2016 The most entertaining video we posted on Video Friday a couple weeks ago was almost certainly Robot Drone Man, a parody of this PPAP (Pen Pineapple…

[One of the reasons I think presence is so interesting and important is that it’s extending into nearly all of our activities, in this case an American holiday tradition. This story is from Digital Trends, where the original includes an interactive 1:36 minute behind-the-scenes video. Check out the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade website for more information. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Shinya Suzuki / Flickr] Turkey Day Tradition Gets Update: Macy’s Parade Adds 360 Broadcast, VR App By Hillary Grigonis — November 22, 2016 A Thanksgiving tradition is getting a modern upgrade — this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be broadcast…

[Technology is poised to provide doctors and patients with increasingly more compelling presence experiences of unborn babies; this press release is from the Radiological Society of North America via EurekAlert; more information, including additional pictures and two videos is available from the Daily Mail, and coverage from NBC raises some key concerns about how the new technology will be used. –Matthew] [Image: A 3-D virtual model MRI view of fetus at 26 weeks. Credit: Radiological Society Of North America.] Researchers generate 3-D virtual reality models of unborn babies Public Release: 21-Nov-2016 Source: Radiological Society of North America CHICAGO – Parents…

[Despite arguments about feasibility and the too-often unmentioned ethical issues it raises, the prospect of thought-based interactions with and in virtual environments is provocative. This story is from The Guardian, where it features another image and related links. –Matthew] [Image:  Brainwave-reading technology could eliminate the need for a controller when using a virtual reality headset. Photograph: Andre Kosters/EPA.] Virtual reality powered by … our minds? ’10 years from now, it will seem obvious’ EyeMynd wants to create a system in which thoughts, not handsets, will control our actions in virtual reality worlds Dan Raile in San Francisco Last modified on…

[Here’s a nice first-person report of an ambitious use of VR and presence; it’s from VR Scout, where it features lots more pictures. I’ve lightly edited it here to fix some typos. –Matthew] Jaguar Just Showed Us The Future of Car Launches The VR reveal for the company’s first-ever electric car blew our minds. by Jonathan Nafarrete November 14, 2016 During a press event at Milk Studios in Los Angeles Sunday night, Jaguar revealed the I-PACE, the company’s first-ever electric car. A competitor to the Tesla Model X, the I-PACE is a major foray for Jaguar into electric automotive transportation.…

[Now more people can create augmented reality-based presence experiences. This story is from BuzzFeed and for more information see the GoMeta blog post announcement for the Metaverse app. Quoting coverage by UploadVR, “Metaverse can be downloaded on IOS devices here and creators can also request access to the Metaverse Studio beta so you can create deeper and collections of interactive experiences.” –Matthew] Ex-Googler Debuts An AR App That Lets You Build Your Own Pokémon Go Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner and venture capital company Greylock Partners are betting on an app that sets a foundation for more augmented reality applications.…

[What will it take for VR and AR to reach mainstream commercial success? This story from IEEE Spectrum provides insights and a status report; check out the 2016 Gartner Hype Cycle article highlighted in this story for the prospects of a wide variety of additional presence-related technologies. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg/Getty Images] The Fuzzy Future of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality By Amy Nordrum Posted 15 Nov 2016 Virtual reality is having a moment, but the technology is still far from mainstream. Following the release of the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift in early 2016, headset sales quickly flattened…

[Wireless VR would enhance presence by removing a constant reminder of the technology from the user experience; this story is from MIT News, where it includes a second image and a link to the recent paper. –Matthew] [Image: A new cordless virtual reality device consists of two directional “phased-array” antennas, each less than half the size of a credit card. Future versions could be small enough for users to have several in a single room, enabling multi-player gameplay. Photo: MIT CSAIL] Enabling wireless virtual reality Developed at Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, “MoVR” system allows VR headsets to communicate…

[The application areas for VR and presence are limitless; this story from The New York Times (where it features more photos) describes how luxury watchmakers are taking high-end clients into their products and to related environments. –Matthew] [Image: Guests at a Roger Dubuis virtual reality event in October in Shanghai. Credit: Eric Leleu for The New York Times] Virtual Reality Takes Fans Inside the World of Watches By Victoria Gomelsky November 13, 2016 Swiss watchmakers are nostalgic by nature. How else to explain their constant reference to a golden era of timekeeping, more than 200 years ago, when masters such as…