[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…

[Here’s a detailed first-person description of how to use VR (and presence) in the classroom. It’s from the New York Times, where it includes more images. –Matthew] Reader Idea | New York Times Virtual Reality in the Classroom By The Learning Network August 31, 2016 Using virtual reality, or VR, in the classroom can help students learn about the world in a powerful new way, says Cayne Letizia. In this series of lessons, he uses Times VR reporting as a way to hook students on stories about everything from the refugee crisis to life on Pluto to the secret languages…

[The film Viens! is “an experiment meant to transform and ‘test the boundaries of intimacy, presence and empathy’”; this story from Broadly raises several interesting questions about the future of VR and presence experiences (the original story features more images and related links). –Matthew] What It’s Like to Experience a Virtual Reality Orgy If you thought real orgies weren’t nerve-racking enough, try sitting through a tantric sex film shot in 360 degree virtual reality. by Katherine Templar Lewis Aug 30 2016 “Put your feet on the ground. Don’t hold the headset. And breathe.” The experience will only last 12 minutes,…

[The installation described in this story from The Creators Project should evoke a welcome sense of spatial presence among travelers. The original includes different images and a 1:08 minute video, and for more photos and information see the project’s page on the Studio Roosegaarde website. –Matthew] A Dutch Artist Takes Augmented Reality into the Clouds DJ Pangburn — Aug 28 2016 If travelers happen to visit Departure Hall 3 of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, they may notice an immersive installation of clouds. Titled Beyond, Dutch artist Daan Roosegaard’s latest work is a “cloud wall” that creates the impression of a 3D…

[As this story from Vox explains, the new game No Man’s Sky not only adds evidence to the debate about the possibility that our entire world is a convincing simulation, it raises deep questions about the nature and purpose of our lives. Here’s a quote from the second-to-last paragraph: “[B]y refusing to provide you with a purpose, it forces you to reconcile with the essential emptiness of its universe, with the pointlessness of a game whose only reward is the opportunity to continue playing the game. It is cold and lonely and empty and unsatisfying — and that may be…

[There are certainly lots of challenges, but this new patent from Google is an interesting approach to creating effective and useful telepresence experiences. The story is from TechRepublic, where it includes different images; the patent is available from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Quartz; credit: AP Photo/John Locher] Google may soon take conference calls to the sky with video conferencing drones On Tuesday, Google was awarded a patent for a quadcopter with cameras and screens. But could it replace traditional video conference calls? By Alison DeNisco August 10, 2016 Conference calls may soon take flight, literally:…

[This fascinating interview with photographer June Korea explores the current and possible future roles of life-sized dolls and the medium-as-social-actor presence responses they evoke. The original story in Highsnobiety includes many images. –Matthew] Meet the New York-Based Artist Living With a Sex Doll By Maddie Holden July 27, 2016 We get a lot of strange emails here at Highsnobiety: newly formed brands and aspiring artists often reach out in the hopes of being featured, and plenty of these emails are attention-grabbing and unusual. However, South Korean-born and NYC-based artist June Korea stood out more than most. His new work, Still…

[Presence can evoked by simple, low-bandwidth cues too; this story is from Yahoo! Tech (where it includes two other images). See also coverage of the related Pillow Talk product in ISPR Presence News. –Matthew] The love of your life can hear your heartbeat in real time with smart wedding band Kyle Wiggers August 4, 2016 There’s something irrefutably intangible about a phone conversation — especially with a loved one. Sure, voice and video chat is good in a pinch, but there’s no replacement for more palpable signs of affection like, say, a warm embrace. Transmitting that sort of physicality over…

[This post from the blog of Grammy nominated DJ/producer Morgan Page (also available via OSSIC) provides an insider’s view of the current status and potential future of VR and presence in nearly all aspects of music: consumption, performance, collaboration and sharing, and learning and teaching; it features 11 videos that illustrate the author’s points. Btw, DAW is an acronym for Digital Audio Workstation. –Matthew] Beyond the DAW – How VR Will Change Everything July 27, 2016 After spending two weeks with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets, it’s clear that virtual reality will completely reshape the human experience.…