[In the aftermath of the US presidential election, I’ve had the thought that the result, and much of what preceded it, provides unsettling support for the Simulation Argument that we’re living in someone else’s sophisticated simulation – essentially, I’ve experienced inverse presence, the sense that nonmediated experience is mediated. It turns out this idea was advanced and explained in detail back in July, after the Republican National Convention, in this story in Cyborgology; the original includes the additional images mentioned. –Matthew] Image: Source: “A MIT computer scientist created a Donald Trump Twitter bot — and it’s oddly realistic” in Business…

[Presence can be a valuable calming influence. This story is from The Creators Project, where it includes more images and a 1:36 minute video; see the link at the end below for more information, and for related coverage see “Virtual Reality experiences to escape the Trump Presidency” from VR-Zone. –Matthew] We Asked a VR Meditation Expert How To Stay Calm Beckett Mufson November 9 2016 The Creators Project team thought we’d give you some much needed R&R from the headlines, so we’ve roped together a regimen of healing and happy stories to help get you through the day. If you’re…

[Now you can have a first-person presence experience of last weekend’s 2016 New York City Marathon; this story from Sports Illustrated includes the 0:43 minute preview video. For detailed information about an upcoming Sports Illustrated VR documentary that takes users on a climb of Mount Everest see coverage in Variety. –Matthew] SI debuts first-person virtual reality experience of 2016 New York City Marathon Monday November 7th, 2016 Sports Illustrated, Life VR and CyberLink have joined forces to create a first-person virtual reality experience that allows users to see the 2016 New York City Marathon through the eyes of 10-time participant…

[This story from Bustle highlights the use of presence for social action and change. If you’re eligible, please vote today in this critically important election. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images] MTV’s “Open Your Eyes” Virtual Reality Art Show Brings To Life Everything That’s At Stake In The 2016 Election By Suzannah Weiss November 7, 2016 If you think politics are a dry subject matter, MTV’s “Open Your Eyes” virtual reality art show might change your mind. Through digital art created through the 3D painting program Tilt Brush, 18 artists have brought the most important political issues of our time…

[The evolution from Second Life to persistent virtual worlds for VR raises important possibilities for presence. This story is from Variety from earlier this year and for more see recent coverage by CNBC. –Matthew] HelloVR Is Creating A 10,000 Square Mile Virtual Reality World Janko Roettgers, Senior Silicon Valley Correspondent July 20, 2016 Never mind the foosball table: One of the perks of working for San Francisco-based virtual reality (VR) startup HelloVR is a 24-hour campfire — a digital campfire, to be precise. It’s part of MetaWorld, the virtual world that HelloVR has been building over the past several months.…

[This story from New Scientist considers a future in which we use telepresence to embody not just a single robot but many of them, both human-like and non-human-like. The prospects raise lots of intriguing research and philosophical questions. The original story includes a different image and a 2:54 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: Source: YouTube] What is it like to be a bot? The strange world of telerobotics Not Like Us is Aviva Rutkin’s monthly column exploring the minds of intelligent machines – and how we live with them By Aviva Rutkin 2 November 2016 “What is it like to be a…

[Microsoft is advancing the state-of-the-art in adding a sense of touch to presence experiences; see the original version of this story from SiliconANGLE for a 3:25 minute video. –Matthew] Microsoft Research paper points to touch-sensitive VR interfaces by Kyt Dotson | Oct 17, 2016 Virtual reality headsets made by Oculus, HTC, Sony and others can drive powerful audio-visual immersion, but one aspect of immersive user interfaces is still literally out of reach. That’s what Microsoft Research aims to change. This week, Microsoft Corp.’s research arm is publishing a white paper on a pair of new prototype systems that provide “haptic…

[Here’s another interesting application of VR and presence – and note the explicit use of the term in this story from VentureBeat. More information can be found in coverage by Fast Company. –Matthew] L’Oréal launches virtual reality hair education for salon stylists Dean Takahashi November 1, 2016 Salon stylists may not be known as early adopters of new technology, but L’Oréal is targeting them with its virtual reality hair education program in a partnership with 8i and hair care brand Matrix. The move is a recognition that consumers aren’t the only target for VR, which is expected to be a…

[This story from The Creators Project describes an interesting example of presence being used to preserve and reproduce the experience of a place, in this case a temporary art installation; the original story includes lots of pictures. –Matthew] ‘Donald Dump’ Artist Hanksy Brings Street Art into Virtual Reality Andrew Nunes Oct 26 2016 Once known as a parodist street artist who riffed on Banksy tags through the goofy addition of Tom Hanks’ head, the anonymous Hanksy has begun to branch out to bigger and better things. This past weekend the artist put on Surplus Candy VR, a New York show…

[As the Boiler Room CEO/founder notes in this story from Magnetic Magazine, presence technologies are poised to bring music fans closer to performers and performances, “to what it’s like being at a sweaty rave or an amazing concert half-way across the world.” The story includes two videos; for more information see the press release available via BusinessWire. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Pitchfork] Boiler Room and the emerging worlds of VR in electronic music Electronic music fans can now get closer than ever to the live streaming action Akhil Kalepu October 27, 2016 The international music broadcaster is bringing their live streaming…

[One of the most important applications of presence is bringing people together via technology to increase the likelihood of understanding; the project described in this story from the New York Times (where it features an additional image), is a good example. This work reminds me of Sam Keen’s book and documentary “Faces of the Enemy” and his more recent “The Art of Enemy Making.” –Matthew] [Image: Jiabao Li experiencing the virtual reality project “The Enemy” in Cambridge, Mass. Credit: Kayana Szymczak for The New York Times.] Meeting ‘the Other’ Face to Face By Randy Kennedy October 26, 2016 CAMBRIDGE, Mass.…

[Technology that connects strangers using social presence has the potential to widen horizons and enrich lives; this story is from the Austin American Statesman, where it includes more images and two videos. See also a 2015 ISPR Presence News post about the use of this technology by the UN. –Matthew] [Image: A virtual portal housed inside a shipping container allows visitors at St. Edward’s University to communicating by videoconference with people all over the world. In this photo, Tony Chavez (left), who works at the university and was on the committee for the project with Shared Studios, speaks to Mona…