[Real-time collaborative virtual environments like ‘MasterpieceVR’ have exciting potential to evoke presence and enable creativity and other positive outcomes; this story from Upload VR features several more images and two videos; an update includes another image and video and notes that the software is “available for download on Steam — entirely for free for a limited time” and that “the player count will increase to 4 in the next few weeks and grow steadily over the life of the platform.” –Matthew] ‘MasterpieceVR’ Brings Cross-Platform Multiplayer Painting And Sculpting To Rift And Vive By Danny Bittman December 23rd, 2016 Creating art…

[Matt Jones and I have argued that sexuality represents an important context for studying presence experiences and this story from Upload VR (where it includes more images) provides a progress report that illustrates why. For example, one industry figure notes that current technology “brings us one step closer (essentially the closest) to feeling the person on the other end without actually being in the same physical space – a heightened level of intimacy” and another says “The adult industry is undergoing a seismic shift as we transition away from the traditional towards a more immersive experience that is delivering a…

[Simple haptic cues increase presence and a variety of effects sought by advertisers; this story (which I’ve lightly edited for typos) is from MediaPost, where it includes the short video mentioned; for more information see the press release from Immersion Corporation via Business Wire (also excerpted below). –Matthew] [Image: Source: Immersion Corporation] Interpublic Tests Ads That Reach Out And Touch Someone, Finds Lift by Joe Mandese January 25, 2017 Sight, sound and motion have long been the Holy Trinity of Madison Avenue’s sensory perception — and of TV’s and video’s dominance of advertising formats — but new research from Interpublic’s…

[Even though it’s the 2D version that’s been nominated, this is big news for VR; this short story is from Adweek and you can watch the short film by following the first link in it below. For more details about Pearl see earlier coverage in Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and especially USA Today. –Matthew] Google’s Virtual Reality Short Film Earns an Academy Award Nomination First VR film ever to be up for an Oscar By Marty Swant January 24, 2017 Google is now competing with the Ryan Goslings and Emma Stones of Hollywood. Today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts…

[This could be big step toward the wider adoption of AR– the story is from Tom’s Hardware where it includes several different images and a 2:44 demonstration video. –Matthew] Introducing HoloLamp: Portable, Projector-Based, Glasses-Free Augmented Reality by Kevin Carbotte January 5, 2017 Source: HoloLamp You could say that CES 2016 was the year of VR, but at CES 2017, it may be AR’s time to shine. This year at the big show, augmented reality moves from a futuristic idea towards a tangible consumer product. Microsoft started selling its Hololens developer kits in 2016, but one of those will set you…

[Saturday’s historic marches on Washington, D.C. and around the world were captured in immersive 360 videos and photos by many news organizations; I’ve compiled a selection of links to them below. It’s interesting to compare the sense of presence and related impacts created by the different combinations of content and form used in these efforts to give users a sense of the experience of being there. Some of these and others are also available on YouTube (search for “women’s march on Washington 2017 360”) including C-SPAN’s 9:00 minute video (not on their website since it didn’t air). Standard format videos are…

[The U.S. Transportation Security Administration is creating a “vast catalogue” of detailed, 360 degree virtual versions of Washington area sites – “think of it as virtual reality that allows you to travel through any transportation asset as if you were there”; this story is from The Washington Post. –Matthew] [Image: A construction worker looks at scaffolding being put up Jan. 11, 2017, near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington as part of a stage to be used in the inauguration festivities for President-elect Donald Trump. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)] TSA team works to ensure inauguration safety with library of ‘virtual’ sites By…

[As this story from New Atlas points out, key benefits of the new Teleport telepresence robot are its simplicity and affordability; the original story includes a gallery of 7 pictures and the video mentioned at the end. In coverage in the Brisbane Times (which includes another video), Teleport creator Marita Cheng is quoted as saying “It gives you much more freedom and mobility, it makes you feel like you are there… People who have used our robots say it is 100 per cent more immersive than what they thought it would be. I guess if you look at the product…

[Another example of the need to consider the ethics of presence; this story is from CNN. –Matthew] [Image: Leia (Carrie Fisher) is no longer a ‘Princess, going by ‘General’ in “The Force Awakens.”] Carrie Fisher’s death renews questions about digital re-creation By Brian Lowry, CNN January 16, 2017 Carrie Fisher’s death was a jolt to the broad community of “Star Wars” fans. But it could help spark a necessary and overdue conversation about what might be called digital etiquette, and the practice of using computer-generated imagery to re-create and manipulate the likenesses of dead actors. Last week Lucasfilm responded to…

[This story from Haaretz catalogs many recent uses of VR and presence to evoke empathy, with a variety of positive effects, but the last section considers more cautious perspectives (including from our colleague Doron Friedman) regarding the efficacy and morality of evoking empathy in this way. The original version of the story includes eight videos. –Matthew] [Image: Trying on VR headset at Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, last February. Credit: Pau Barrena/Bloomberg.] Can virtual reality bring world peace? The technology is being put to seemingly good uses, but some researchers disagree. By Shira Makin Jan 16, 2017 You are standing on…

[This week’s change in White House occupants is causing profound anxiety – a Scottish newspaper Sunday provided a creative suggestion that we’re living in a “huge interactive virtual reality project, which will unfold on TV, in the press, and on Twitter over the next four years” – but the Ad Week story below notes the continuity of efforts of U.S. Presidents to share the experience of being in “the people’s house,” with increasing ability to evoke a sense of (tele)presence. The new video is available on the White House Facebook page and a post on the Oculus blog has more…

[This story from TriplePundit provides a clear, layperson’s explanation of the many ways virtual reality (and presence) can improve the design, engineering and manufacturing of products, along with the lives of those involved in these processes. –Matthew] [Image: Immersive virtual reality uses a 23-camera motion-capture system and head-mounted display to virtually immerse an employee in a future workstation. Credits: 1) Ford (for press use only); 2) Courtesy of author.] Inside Ford’s Virtual Reality Labs By Phil Covington on Friday, Jan 13th, 2017 These days the buzz in the auto industry is all about autonomous vehicles and the future of personal…