[As the author of this piece in TreeHugger notes, mixed reality (and the presence experiences it provides) has great potential beyond the important application area of elevator maintenance and repair described here. The original story includes two videos and several more images; the press release is available from thyssenkrupp. –Matthew] [Image: © thyssenkrupp/ using hololens to look at elevator] It’s starting with elevators, but 3D tech like the Hololens will change the way we look at buildings Lloyd Alter September 16, 2016 This site has long been preoccupied with the future of work: how new technology is changing our jobs,…

[The idea of a bodysuit that enhances presence isn’t new, but this looks like a clever design; the story is from Digital Trends. See the Skinterface website for more information including videos. –Matthew] Full-body touch sensations in VR will likely need special suits like Skinterface By Kevin Parrish — September 14, 2016 Now that consumers have general access to high-quality VR content by way of the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive, eye-tracking technology seems to be the next step in the evolution of VR. But what about touch input, as in feeling the virtual wind against your skin or…

[This story from Digital Trends suggests an evolution of VR toward deeper social presence experiences based on biometrics. See also the recent ISPR Presence News post about the Veeso headset, which uses cameras to measure facial expressions. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Road to VR] Emteq wants to track your facial and eye movements for emotional interaction in VR By Kevin Parrish — September 9, 2016 In June, a company called Emteq came out of stealth mode and revealed that it’s working on a solution that will enable emotional interaction within virtual reality. Right now we can interact with virtual objects, NPCs,…

[Those who design and study presence-evoking technologies can be surprised by how users react to and use them; this story is from MIT Technology Review, where it includes an additional image. –Matthew] [Image: Netflix’s app for Samsung’s Gear VR headset lets you watch movies and TV in a virtual living room.] What’s Popular in Virtual Reality’s 3-D World? Netflix and TV. More people care about movies and shows than immersive 3-D games. by Tom Simonite September 15, 2016 Companies such as Samsung and Facebook’s Oculus promote their virtual-reality headsets by highlighting awe-inspiring 3-D experiences for gaming and virtual travel. But…

[Audiences around the world will be able to experience an upcoming champion level chess match in live-streamed 360-degree virtual reality; the coverage will be “up close and personal like never before allowing viewers to truly soak up the atmosphere” and “get into the minds of the players.” This story is from The Telegraph, where the original includes several more images, a video, and a profile of Magnus Carlsen. –Matthew] [Image: Virtual reality chess as seen on a smartphone Credit: World Chess] Cold War rivalries renewed as chess enters age of virtual reality By Leon Watson 12 September 201 When Bobby…

[Could neurofiction become a common way to experience stories (and presence)? This story from Wired describes a recent experiment using readers’ brain waves to determine story features, along with some other interesting ideas. The original includes the 9:50 minute audio podcast; for more on neurofiction see neurofiction.net. –Matthew] Books Would Be So Much Better if They Could Read Your Mind September 09, 2016 Hannu Rajaniemi is a science fiction author, a self-described “recovering string theorist,” and co-founder of the biotech startup Helix Nano. Recently he and his friend Sam Halliday got their hands on an EMOTIV Epoc headset—a very simple…

[This story from UCI News reports new evidence that telepresence can improve people’s lives; for more information about the research see the website of UCI’s Digital Learning Lab. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Steve Zylius / UCI] Robotic surrogates help chronically ill kids maintain social, academic ties at school UCI is first to conduct formal study of virtual inclusion for homebound students Irvine, Calif., Sept. 7, 2016 – Chronically ill, homebound children who use robotic surrogates to “attend” school feel more socially connected with their peers and more involved academically, according to a first-of-its-kind study by University of California, Irvine education researchers.…

[This story from MIT News describes a promising new way to evoke presence in video material. The original includes a 5:50 minute video and links to other press coverage. –Matthew] [Image: Source: interactivedynamicvideo.com] Reach in and touch objects in videos with “Interactive Dynamic Video” Technique from Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab could improve augmented reality and reduce the need for CGI green-screens. Adam Conner-Simons | Rachel Gordon | CSAIL August 2, 2016 We learn a lot about objects by manipulating them: poking, pushing, prodding, and then seeing how they react. We obviously can’t do that with videos — just…

[Another application area for VR and presence in the arts is ballet; this story is from Digital Trends, where it includes the navigable 8 minute video and a 1:39 minute behind-the-scenes video. –Matthew] [Image: Source: @robinrimbaud] You’ll be blown away by the world’s first virtual reality ballet experience By Luke Dormehl — September 7, 2016 When you picture the various use-cases that best fit virtual reality, ballet may not be the first you think of. Or the 10th, for that matter. But sometimes it’s a whole lot of fun being proved wrong, which is exactly what the Dutch National Opera & Ballet has…

[This story raises the prospect of the further blurring between how we perceive humans and technology (see especially the theorizing at the end). It’s from Motherboard, where it includes four more pictures. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Ministerio de la Cultura de la Nacion/Flickr] Porn Chatbot Tricks Argentinians Into Thinking They’re Chatting With President Written by Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai September 6, 2016 Is that person you’re interacting with online a real flesh-and-bones human, or are they actually just made of 1s and 0s? Sometimes, it’s easy to tell that Twitter egg that speaks like a robot is, indeed, a robot. Other times, it’s…

[The school year is starting for many of us, so here’s a story about how a student supposedly created a (presence) illusion so he can appear attentive in class while he sleeps. The story from the Daily Mail includes the 11 second video and three images; the post and hundreds of comments about it are available on Reddit; and the creator, Zach King, has posted many other illusions on YouTube. For more light but thought-provoking presence items join the ISPR Presence Community Facebook group. –Matthew] The hilarious moment a sleeping student uses a life-size photo of himself in class so it…

[Although the term isn’t used here, one could argue that the most intense and compelling sense of presence occurs at the center of the Venn diagram in this story from TechCrunch, another step toward what the author calls “the experience age.” –Matthew] The future of mobile video is virtual reality Posted Aug 30, 2016 by Mike Wadhera After the dust settles, the real takeaway from Instagram’s cloning of Snapchat is that the connected camera revolution is just beginning. Instagram Stories sends a powerful message to hundreds of millions of people for the first time: No moment is too small to…