[This news release from the University of Alabama at Birmingham describes an impressive effort to take presence outside the lab to educate children in a vital skill. The original version of the story includes a second image and a 1:11 minute video. A related story can be found in a September 2015 post in ISPR Presence News. –Matthew] [Image: Students in a classroom in Changsha, China, test the Google Cardboard virtual reality training system.] UAB Professor Uses Latest Virtual Reality Technology to Improve Access to Pedestrian Safety Education Newswise (UAB News – University of Alabama at Birmingham Newsroom) 16-Mar-2017 BIRMINGHAM,…

[This story from The Guardian illustrates different ways presence technologies are being used in ‘high culture’ experiences; I think the use of 3D digital replicas of art works displayed in the reproduction of the historic Gothic home Strawberry Hill House is a compelling example of the blurring of authentic and artificial. The original story includes a second image. –Matthew] [Image: 3D replicas of 18th century portraits will be hung in Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham, the home of Horace Walpole. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian] Step inside Butterfly’s house in virtual reality opera night Arts are embracing cutting-edge tech in…

[The two stories below demonstrate the use of presence experiences in health care beyond the hospital or clinic. The first is from VR Fitness Insider, where the original includes more images; for more information see coverage in the Los Angeles Times. –Matthew] VR Can Lower Blood Pressure (You Read That Right) A VR Smart phone app educating patients about the best and worst foods to eat in the context of blood pressure? Yes! By Patrick Ryan June 2, 2017 When virtual reality first debuted, few people thought this technology had the potential to transform medical treatment and improve the human…

[Robots in new roles are provocative and novel today, but will they and medium-as-social-actor presence responses to them, become common and normal? This story from The Guardian includes a 0:51 minute video (also available on YouTube); for more information see EKHN. –Matthew] [Image source: Popular Mechanics] Robot priest unveiled in Germany to mark 500 years since Reformation BlessU-2, which delivers blessings in five languages, is intended to trigger debate about the future of the church Harriet Sherwood, Religion correspondent 30 May 2017 Five hundred years after revolutionary printing presses spread news of Martin Luther’s radical call for church reform across…

[Simulating the experience of caring for a baby has come a long way, from carrying around a bag of flour or sugar, or an egg, to the VR app in this story from Fast Company. See the original story for a 3:00 minute video and see researcher Akihiko Shirai’s blog for much more information including additional images. –Matthew] [Image: courtesy Kanagawa Institute of Technology] Not Sure If You Want To Have A Baby? Try Procreating In VR First Becoming a new parent is one of the few things more frightening than being seen in a VR headset. June 02, 2017 By Mark…

[A new 1:39 minute video by Mashable makes Kino-mo’s Hypervsn “holographic” displays look very impressive; the story below from New Atlas provides a review and a different video, and more information is available from Kino-mo’s website. Of course the prospect of these displays becoming common in public spaces raises concerns about clutter and distraction too. –Matthew] [Image: Kino-mo’s Hypervsn displays uses LED-based technology, which allows the “holograms” to be clearly seen at a distance, even under brightly-lit conditions (Credit: Kino-mo)] Kino-mo’s Hypervsn puts a different spin on holographic displays Stanley Goodner January 8, 2017 Marketers are always on the lookout…

[Aside from the intriguing experiment results, this story from Scientific American is notable for raising the prospect of “real-world, bot-assisted company meetings” along with the ethical challenges of using AI and medium-as-social-actor presence to manipulate human beings. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Sarah Holmlund Getty Images] Pushy AI Bots Nudge Humans to Change Behavior Researchers use artificially intelligent bot programs to stimulate collaboration and make people more effective By Richard Conniff on May 17, 2017 When people work together on a project, they often come to think they’ve figured out the problems in their own respective spheres. If trouble persists, it’s somebody…

[The new robot toy described in this story from Mashable replicates, some would say eerily, a (fictional) animated character in Pixar’s Cars movies and so is very likely to evoke medium-as-social-actor presence, especially in young children. See the original story for a 1:30 minute video, many pictures, and a link to a recent story about the Sphero BB-8 toy that ‘watches’ Star Wars movies with you and moves and ‘speaks’ in response to key scenes and characters. –Matthew] This Ultimate Lightning McQueen robot is awesomely real By Lance Ulanoff May 24, 2017 Pixar’s original Cars movie worked because you believed…

[This interesting article from The New Yorker explores the application of environmental psychology to the design of presence experiences for the workplace. See also a 2014 ISPR Presence News post about virtual windows. –Matthew] [Image: Mure VR, an Icelandic startup, hopes to cure the workplace doldrums using the power of fake nature. Courtesy Breakroom] The Virtual-Reality App That Turns Your Office Into A Vacation Paradise By Dawn Chan May 30, 2017 The British writer Charles Lamb was no stranger to workplace-induced despair. In 1792, to make ends meet, he took a job as a bookkeeper at the East India Company,…

[There are lots of examples of technologies designed to evoke presence in the ‘Home of the Future’ described in this story from Advertising Age. The original story includes a large photo gallery, there’s a 3:24 minute 360 video tour on Vimeo, you can explore the Home in interactive 360 images or VR at the Home of the Future website, and the press release is available from Unruly. –Matthew] Marketers Take a Trip to 2020 in News Corp.’s Home of the Future By Emma Hall. Published on May 11, 2017. A wardrobe that matches your outfit to the weather forecast.…

[The tool described in this story from Motherboard addresses, and hopefully will raise awareness about, a key ethical challenge of evolving presence-evoking technologies: the obligation to make presence experiences voluntary. It reminds me of the tools, such as ad skipping features in DVRs, developed in the conflicting efforts of advertisers to reach consumers and consumers to avoid forced exposure to advertising messages, but with potentially much more far-reaching consequences. –Matthew] [Image: Flickr/Abode of Chaos] This Dystopian Wearable Detects AIs Pretending to Be Humans The ‘Anti-AI AI’ will literally send a chill down your spine. Jordan Pearson May 26, 2017 As…

[A treatment that uses presence to treat schizophrenia is yielding promising results, as reported in this story from CBC News (where it includes four more images and related links). –Matthew] [Image: The Philippe-Pinel Institute’s pilot project has patients such as Richard Breton designing and facing their inner demons with the help of virtual reality technology. (Radio-Canada)] Montreal schizophrenia patients face their demons through virtual reality New experimental treatment has patients interact with avatars they design to reflect what they see and hear CBC News May 23, 2017 A pilot project at Montreal’s Philippe-Pinel Institute has patients with schizophrenia confronting voices…