[Without using the terms, this story from NPR clearly describes the experience of presence in the context of teleoperation. Go to the original version for the 3:43 minute audio interview, a 1:06 minute video, and more images. For more on what it’s like to pilot these drones, see coverage in Ars Technica; for more on the nascent sport, see the story in Quartz. –Matthew] [Image: UmmaGawd (Tommy Tibajia), a pilot in the Drone Racing League, flies his quadcopter in an abandoned power plant in New York. Credit: The Drone Racing League.] A Video Game IRL: Drone Racing League Aims To…

[This press release from the University of Arizona describes an application of presence that has great potential to protect people’s lives; the original includes more images, and for additional background see coverage from last fall in Tucson News Now. –Matthew] UA-Built Concussion App in NCAA Competition Sports-related concussions are now part of the national conversation, and a team of UA researchers — including football players Jason Sweet and Scooby Wright — is teaching athletes to recognize and report the signs. Emily Litvack, UA Office for Research & Discovery February 5, 2016 Despite new concussion-management protocols in the NCAA and NFL,…

[This is a special Saturday post on a timely topic; the story below from the Independent includes the new 2:00 minute Microsoft video. For more on presence-evoking tech related to football see coverage in USA Today. –Matthew] Super Bowl of the future: Microsoft imagines how their HoloLens augmented reality device will change how we watch sport Microsoft thinks their upcoming HoloLens could drastically change how we watch sport Doug Bolton 4 February 2016 Microsoft has released a video showing how NFL fans might watch American football in the future – and naturally, it involves their HoloLens augmented reality headset.…

[This story from Inc. is about how we can make robots more ‘human’ and more likely to evoke the responses that humans do for each other. The original story features a different image and includes the video mentioned at the end; a related video from June 2015 is available on YouTube. –Matthew] This Robot Can Tell If You’re an Introvert How one PhD student wants to make robots less creepy–and more emotionally intelligent. Ilan Mochari, Senior writer, Inc. Feb 2, 2016 Would you be more receptive to working with a robot if the robot–like a human–knew when to make direct…

[Although the terminology is different, the story below notes how the disconnect between what a VR user can see and hear, and what she can touch, breaks (or fails to evoke) a presence illusion. But when that problem is solved, the applications are going to be impressive. The story is from Bloomberg and features more images and a 1:25 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: A virtual slider control for a DJ’s mixing desk—just one potential application for Ultrahaptics technology] Meet the Man Who Made Virtual Reality ‘Feel’ More Real Tom Carter’s ultrasound technology lets you touch and manipulate virtual objects—attracting interest…

[The interview below from Forbes (where it features more images) is a very thoughtful discussion of social presence – primarily in response to independent robots (‘medium as social actor’ presence) but also to teleoperated ones that act as extensions of users. Note that the term presence appears once near the end. Fascinating, important stuff! –Matthew] Relationships with Robots: Good or Bad for Humans? Patrick Lin Feb 1, 2016 As robotics and autonomous systems flourish, human-robot relationships are becoming increasingly important. They’re how we interact and control the technology, from self-driving cars to sex robots. The way technologies are designed can…

[Although it doesn’t use the terms, this link-filled article from MIT Technology Review is all about how natural mapping can be used to evoke more effective (tele)presence illusions. –Matthew] The Step Needed to Make Virtual Reality More Real If virtual reality is going to be truly immersive, holding a game controller could be distracting. Companies will instead try to let you control the action with your eyes, head, or fingers. by Rachel Metz February 1, 2016 It’s one thing to play the arcade game Whac-A-Mole by swinging around an oversized mallet; it’s far easier to whack those moles virtually, controlling…

[If you haven’t heard the sad news, Marvin Minsky passed away on January 24, 2016. His contribution to telepresence has rarely been mentioned in the coverage but it’s the focus of this post from IEEE Spectrum; follow the link to watch the 7:05 minute video mentioned at the end. –Matthew] [Image: The June 1980 issue of Omni featured an essay by Marvin Minsky titled “Telepresence”. Photo: Erico Guizzo/IEEE Spectrum] Video Friday: Marvin Minsky, Submersible Drone, and SLAM on a SnakeBot By Evan Ackerman and Erico Guizzo Posted 29 Jan 2016 Marvin Minsky, the AI pioneer and MIT professor, died on…

[Though scholars too rarely study it, presence and sexuality is a fascinating topic – the story below is from Digital Trends, where it includes a 3:56 minute video. More reactions to the CES demonstration are detailed in coverage in PCWorld and Mashable (which features a 3:22 minute video); a thoughtful different analysis can be found in Slate. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Slate] I tried VR porn in a CES hotel suite, and I’ll never be the same By Will Fulton — January 12, 2016 Porn has always been a trailblazer. Throughout the last few decades, the pornography industry has been an…

[This Microsoft project suggests the potential of AR to create social (tele)presence; the story is from MIT Technology Review; for a closely related 5:19 minute video, see coverage in Numrush. –Matthew] Augmented Reality Study Projects Life-Sized People into Other Rooms A Microsoft Research study uses augmented reality to project a life-size person into a room with you, perched in an empty seat. By Rachel Metz on January 19, 2016 Nothing beats talking to another person face-to-face, but a group of researchers are considering whether a life-size projection of a person who appears to be sitting across from you in an…

[Presence has a big role to play in the evolution of brick and mortar retail in the age of online shopping; this story is from Forbes, where it features more images. –Matthew] The Future Of Retail: Beyond Stories Told, To Stories Experienced By Rachel Arthur Jan 26, 2016 If you’d visited a mall housing a J.C. Penney store over the holidays, you may have been welcomed by a virtual reality experience that took shoppers on an immersive ride to the North Pole. Created with marketing and technology agency Narrative, the “Twas The Flight Before Christmas” initiative was in place in…

[To me this illustrates the true promise of effective presence illusions; the story is from MTV and features two more images; more information on the VR project is available on the Specular Theory website. –Matthew] This Virtual Reality Experience Shows Police Brutality From Both Sides “Perspective; Chapter 2: The Misdemeanor” is a harrowing VR project that lets you experience police brutality first hand. by Crystal Bell January 26, 2016 Most people think of video games when they think of virtual reality, but a burgeoning group of innovative filmmakers are producing narrative VR experiences with the unprecedented ability to affect us…