[Most of the press coverage of this important application of presence is drawn from the Samsung press release below, which includes a 4:43 minute video. More information on the project is available from Start VR, and an excerpt from coverage in The Australian about the origins of the project follows the press release below. –Matthew] Start VR Introduces Virtual Reality to Chemotherapy Patient Program at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse Australia on March 07, 2017 Sydney based virtual reality studio Start VR have collaborated with Samsung Australia and Chris O’Brien Lifehouse to develop a ground-breaking initiative to supply Samsung virtual reality (VR)…

[Presence via holograms and augmented reality raises a lot of interesting and important practical and legal questions; this story is from Singularity Hub, where it includes a 1:32 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Ukraine Today/YouTube] You Can Ban a Person, But What About Their Hologram? By Aaron Frank Mar 17, 2017 If you think augmented reality is only fun and games, consider that we’ve already witnessed the first known police action taken against hologram technology. During the summer of 2015, a performance by controversial gangster-rapper, Keith Cozart, was shut down when local police discovered the musician was broadcast as a hologram…

[There are few applications of presence-evoking technology more interesting and fraught with ethical issues than sexuality. This story is from The Huffington Post, where it includes two videos; more information is available from Forbes. –Matthew] [Image: “Kati,” the Lumi sex doll now at a Barcelona brothel] Hello, Westworld: Sex Doll Brothel Opens In Barcelona Industry edges closer to “realistic, robotic” sex partners. By Mary Papenfuss March 2, 2017 In the first known brothel of its kind, a Barcelona establishment is offering erotic sessions with sex dolls only. Clients of the “agency” will have to pony up $127 an hour for…

[Advances in technology are permitting both producers and consumers to effortlessly and instantly modify mediated experiences, making presence more common and determining what is ‘real’ increasingly difficult. This story is from Fast Company’s Co.Design, where it includes many images; the 1:33 minute The Human Race video (also available on YouTube); and a second, 1:49 minute video about the project. A short behind the scenes video is available on YouTube and Sam Russell, general director of global Chevrolet marketing, talks about the project in another YouTube video. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Ad Week] This Crazy New Technology Transforms Movies Into Video Games…

[Here’s another very positive application for presence-evoking technology; the story, which includes extended quotes from our colleague Brenda Wiederhold, is from Tonic, where it includes two additional images. –Matthew] I Tried Virtual Reality Breast Implants Plastic surgeons are recommending this pre-op step. Catherine Chapman March 13 2017 A plastic surgeon’s office is no place for an anxiety-stricken perfectionist like myself, but there I was about to get a consultation for a breast augmentation. I have never thought about changing my breast size, or that much about my breasts at all for that matter, but as a 28-year-old woman, my life…

[It’s sad that an all-female team had to take the initiative and invent the “personal space bubble” feature discussed in this article from MIT Technology Review; note the explicit references to presence and how it, along with human nature and the anonymity of social VR, makes invasions of personal space more likely. The original story includes a video version of the image below and a 26:04 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: Illustration by Veronyka Jelinek] The War on the Disturbingly Real Trolls in Virtual Reality When you feel like you really are inside a virtual body, protecting your personal space is…

[Reminiscent of the PARO therapeutic robot, this story from The Philadelphia Inquirer describes the increasing use and positive impacts of medium-as-social-actor presence with residents of senior centers; the original story includes more images and a 0:43 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: “Pearl”, one of the robot cats used at the Abramson Center for Jewish Life, lays across the lap of Ina Schecter, 91, a resident of the center, waiting to be petted. Credit: Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer] Senior centers try robotic cats to soothe agitated elders Updated: March 10, 2017 by Stacey Burling, Staff Writer Stanley Ellis, who has dementia,…

[This column in EdTech highlights the importance of presence, and ways to enhance it, in the distance learning classroom; for more information, see the Michigan State University study “From 2D to Kubi to Doubles: Designs for Student Telepresence in Synchronous Hybrid Classroom” in the International Journal of Designs for Learning. –Matthew] [Image: Source: “Transforming classrooms with telepresence robots. Presented by John Bell, William Cain, and Marcus Rosenthal” (PDF of PowerPoint presentation)] Telepresence Robots Give Distance Students Their Own Seat at the Table Michigan State University helps online students feel represented in a unique way. By John Bell March 8, 2017…

[You have to watch the 2:00 minute video in this story from Motherboard to fully understand the nature of Gatebox, a new embodied virtual assistant from Japan’s Vinclu Inc. As coverage in Vocativ notes, “The plot from Spike Jonze’s movie ‘Her,’ about a man who falls in love with an artificially-intelligent operating system companion, just keeps getting closer to reality.” As detailed in Forbes, the company has just been purchased by South Korea’s Naver, which has 700 million registered users for its LINE messaging app and is developing its own “digital assistant powered by machine learning.” For more details about…

[This would seem like an ideal application area for presence; the first story below, from ZDNet, describes the new Mondly language learning VR app, and the second, from The Next Web, provides a first-person user’s evaluation. For more information see the company’s press release via PR Newswire. –Matthew] Mondly launches virtual reality for learning languages, powered by chatbots Practice talking in 28 different languages with virtual characters, which teach language fundamentals and help build confidence, with the Mondly VR app By Eileen Brown February 28, 2017 Romania-based ATi Studios, the creator of the Mondly language learning platform, has released a…

[This story from Computer Weekly describes the effective use of presence for training for fire safety as well as for enhancing several aspects of an airline’s operation. The original version includes more images and links to related stories. For more news about the use of presence for safety training see “Virtual reality training for ‘safety-critical’ jobs” from the University of Exeter. –Matthew] Virtual reality simulation helps KLM engineers escape in an emergency Dutch airline KLM develops virtual reality simulation to show engineers what happens if the maintenance hanger catches fire Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly 06 Mar 2017 Airline KLM is…

[The ethics of presence made its way onto the popular U.S. program Saturday Night Live this weekend, as reported in this story from Exclaim! –Matthew] [Image: Saturday Night Live photo by Will Heath] Father John Misty Addresses Taylor Swift Lyric from “Total Entertainment Forever”: “That Is the Worst Thing I Can Think Of” By Stephen Carlick Published Mar 05, 2017 Last night (March 4), Father John Misty stopped by Saturday Night Live to perform a new song from his forthcoming third album, Pure Comedy, titled “Total Entertainment Forever.” The song’s opening line — “Bedding Taylor Swift every night inside the…