[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…

[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…