[The story of a Hong Kong man who has created a DIY robot that looks like a famous actress has received a lot of press – the piece below from Wired examines some of the many implications. For more, see the Mirror’s 1:17 minute report and creator Ricky Ma’s 1:33 minute ‘making of’ video on YouTube. –Matthew] The Scarlett Johansson Bot Is the Robotic Future of Objectifying Women April Glaser April 4, 2016 As robotics and 3-D printing technologies become more accessible to home tinkerers, men are (of course) building robots of beautiful women. Anyone who’s turned on a TV…

[Dr. Tom Kwasnitschka has sent along information about a fascinating and important application of presence. The coverage below is from the Schmidt Ocean Institute website (which features more information including a press release) and Tom writes that “we sent live VR video from a black smoker field on the bottom of the ocean last week using a 4k VR camera, and uploaded a 4k version later. Another aspect was telepresence live calls, to museums, plus the entire cruise was broadcast live to youtube.” –Matthew] Virtual Vents: The Changing Face of Hydrothermalism Revealed Exploring and visualizing remote underwater environments in new…

[This is an interesting and thoughtful first-person report on the experience of using social presence in VR today, and speculation about how it may evolve. It’s from The Guardian, where the story includes two more images. –Matthew] [Image: The human avatars are clearly meant to be unthreatening, but when you’re surrounded by them, their strange dead eyes staring at you, it can be … strange. Photograph: AltSpace] Alone together: My weird morning in a virtual reality chatroom Mark Zuckerberg says virtual social worlds could be the future. But what’s it actually like in one? Keith Stuart visits AltSpace and finds…

[This Wired story is a first-person description of the latest presence-evoking tech for movie-going; as the author notes, it’ll be interesting to see how well it works when it accommodates the film rather than the reverse. –Matthew] What It’s Like to See Batman v Superman in Butt-Punishing 4DX Brian Raftery March 29, 2016 The sign outside of the just-installed 4DX theater in New York City warns of “motion enabled chairs” with “strong vibrations”; some “lightning, rain, [and] flashing (strobe) lights”; and a dash of “fog and strong scents.” But after sitting through a recent screening of Batman v Superman: Dawn…

[Here’s an interesting take on the kinds of presence experiences we will want; the story is from The Verge, where it includes an additional image. –Matthew] First Click: Life as a bear would be sweet in virtual reality By James Vincent on March 29, 2016 I have a theory. A pet theory, you might say. I think that if and when virtual reality finally takes off (and I realize this still isn’t a given), some of the most popular games will be animal simulators. Bear simulators. Bird simulators. Bug simulators. Games where you don’t have to think too hard or…

[Attempts to ‘get closer’ to the people and events on the screen go back to parasocial relationships with early film and TV personalities and characters. A latest example is described in this story from The Creators Project blog, where you’ll find several more images and a 1:16 minute video. –Matthew] Kubrick’s ‘Dr. Strangelove’ Meets Immersive Theater in London Catherine Chapman — Mar 21 2016 Over the past month, nearly 20,000 people have been assigned new identities through the Department of Cultural Surveillance (D.O.C.S.), an organization yielding great nuclear power and the potential to launch a full-out assault on the Soviet…

[The interactive, social toy based on the Star Wars character BB-8 has the potential to not only evoke ‘medium as social actor’ presence but to help users cope with anxiety; this story is from Motherboard and includes an additional image. –Matthew] Could This BB-8 Bot Help People Cope With Anxiety? Written by Rebecca Krauss March 25, 2016 Lots of students have roommates. Lauren Dwyer, a grad student at Ryerson University in Toronto, shares her space with BB-8, the rolling bot from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Dwyer has been living alongside BB-8, and studying it, for the past two months.…

[The DIY telepresence robot RambleBot (which is available for sale by the inventor-creator for a fraction of the cost of professional products), is used to bring family members together across continents. This story is from The Sydney Morning Herald, where it includes more images and a 2:22 minute video. –Matthew] Robot dad: I built a smartphone bot to spend time with my kids March 3, 2016 Hannah Francis, Technology Reporter Divorce can be a painful experience, especially when it means one parent doesn’t see as much of their kids as they used to. When divorcee Matt Walker met his future…

[This story from IEEE Spectrum provides a thoughtful and detailed description of the history and experience of riding roller coasters that incorporate VR. Note the explicit mentions of presence, beginning in the 8th paragraph; the original story includes another image, two videos and the sidebar “Virtual Reality Rollercoasters You Can Ride Now! (or Soon).” –Matthew] [Image: Source: Los Angeles Times] Virtual Reality Roller Coasters Are Here (and Everywhere) The U.K.’s Alton Towers, which opens its Galactica ride this week, is one of more than a dozen amusement parks that are giving old rides new life with VR By Kristen Clark…

[Here’s another clever technique for creating immersive, literally photo-realistic presence-evoking virtual environments; the story from Road to VR includes more images, and a 3:06 minute video titled “This is Not a Live Action Video, This is a VR Scene from Realities.io” is available on YouTube. For more coverage, see the Just A/VR Show. –Matthew] Inside ‘Realities’ Jaw-droppingly Detailed Photogrammetric VR Environments By Ben Lang – Mar 11, 2016 Realities wants to transport viewers to exciting places across the globe in ways that are much more immersive than the single, flat vantage point of a 360 degree photo or video.…

[What is said to be the world’s first permanent VR theater has opened, as detailed in this story from VentureBeat; the original includes more images and a 1:40 minute video; coverage in Architectural Digest identifies the initial offerings: “Moviegoers have the option, for example, of watching In Your Face, a film specifically developed for the VR Cinema. The movie looks at the moral dilemma of the Syrian refugee crisis and asks viewers what they would do if a refugee showed up at their door, unannounced. There are lighter options, too. Invasion! is an animated film featuring a rabbit and a…

[Designing presence experiences for older people, as with any demographic, has both challenges and potential benefits. This story is from the Wall Street Journal’s Experts blog; the image comes from a November 11, 2015 press release via Hypergrid Business about the Honor 360 program, which brings “National Memorials to those aging and disabled military veterans who cannot make the trip.” –Matthew] [Image: Veteran with Google Cardboard headset (Image courtesy Veterans United Foundation)] How Virtual Reality Can Enhance the Life of Older Adults By Marc Agronin Mar 21, 2016 Marc E. Agronin is a geriatric psychiatrist at Miami Jewish Health Systems…