[As some readers will know, I love trains (officially I’m a railfan or railway enthusiast). So I was particularly interesting in a recent Facebook post by the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum in Long Island, New York, announcing its new, custom simulator that provides users with a presence-evoking experience of operating a train on the Long Island Railroad (LIRR), “the busiest commuter railroad in North America.” The post includes a 1:57 minute video of the simulator in action, and the Museum’s website describes other presence experiences available, notably an augmented reality experience featuring President Theodore Roosevelt: “Theodore Roosevelt is your interactive…

[In The Conversation, a group of Australian researchers introduce the phenomenon of auditory hallucinations and the recent development of “avatar therapy” via virtual reality and video conferencing (Zoom) to address it. The therapy “allows a person to create a virtual representation of the voice or voices [they hear]… [and] regain power in the ‘relationship’ as they interact with the voice character, supported by a therapist.” See the original version of this report for two more images, and for much more information follow the links in the “Coping with hearing voices“ and “Gaining recognition” sections, including to the article “AVATAR Therapy…

[In what Futurism calls “a sneaky but clever experiment,  researchers at the University of Reading in the UK submitted AI-generated responses to short answer and essay test questions in psychology courses and the (human) graders both failed to detect the use of artificial intelligence technology and gave the AI answers higher grades. The story from The Guardian below provides details; for more information see the University’s story about the project and the study published in PLOS ONE. Although little of the press coverage notes the small sample (BBC News is an exception), or that AI-generated answers received lower grades for…

[Researchers have developed a way to attach living human skin to robots, with several potential benefits including making future robots appear and communicate more like humans (and thereby evoke more effective medium-as-social-actor presence). The key details are reported in the story below from New Scientist. More information is in the University of Tokyo press release, including this concluding paragraph: “’In this study, we managed to replicate human appearance to some extent by creating a face with the same surface material and structure as humans,’ said [Professor Shoji] Takeuchi. ‘Additionally, through this research, we identified new challenges, such as the necessity…

[This story from Vanity Fair is being cited in much of the coverage of an announcement by the NBC television network that a simulated version of legendary broadcaster Al Michaels’ voice will be used to create personalized 10-minute daily highlight videos during the 2024 Summer Olympics. The NBC press release about this latest milestone in artificial intelligence and presence notes that “’Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock [NBC’s streaming platform]’ will be featured in Peacock’s homepage and Olympics hub and available at the individual profile level, so up to six users on one account can receive their own recaps. The…

[There are many compelling ways to teach students about presence. Although the term isn’t explicitly mentioned in this story from Penn Today, it’s clearly an important element in Professor Jeffrey Vadala’s “Making Virtual Worlds” course at the University of Pennsylvania, which he describes as “a mix of anthropology, archaeology, psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy” along with instruction and experience in “the technical skills of graphics technologies like the Unreal Engine [and] Unity.” See the original story for three more images. –Matthew] [Image: Lorraine Ruppert, right, donned a virtual reality headset to work on her final project for the Making Virtual Worlds…

[Using presence experiences to increase empathy is becoming more common, including in the context of health care, but this story from The Times of Israel provides a vivid description of the need and benefits of such efforts in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. See the original version of the story for five more images and a 2:53 minute video news report (also available on YouTube). –Matthew] [Image: Three medical students at Baruch Padeh (Poriya) Medical Center in Tiberias, Israel using OtheReality VR headsets] Virtual reality app lets medical staff get a patient’s-eye view Israeli start-up OtheReality allows doctors to…

[The MIT Technology Review story below explores how generative artificial intelligence is changing the nature of gaming by enhancing the ability of nonplayer characters to evoke presence, and some of the ways AI could be used in the future to change the nature of play itself. Both the abridged version below and the original version (which includes seven more images and links to related stories) are long but really interesting and thought-provoking. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: George Wylesol] How generative AI could reinvent what it means to play AI-powered NPCs that don’t need a script could make games—and other worlds—deeply immersive.…

[As we often note, presence doesn’t depend on technology reproducing nonmediated experiences as they occur in the real world. Although the results generate lots of questions for follow-up study, the research described in this news release from the Cell Press journal iScience (via EurekAlert!) provides an intriguing example by comparing how human- and machine-like prosthetics seen through virtual reality evoke embodiment and self-presence. Follow the link at the end to read the full research report. –Matthew] People feel more connected to “tweezer-like” bionic tools that don’t resemble human hands By CELL PRESSJune 6, 2024 Some say the next step in…

[This story from Ars Technica illustrates how deploying presence can offer both a new way to address a problem (in this case angry, abusive calls from customers) and a way to avoid a more difficult but better solution (improving a company’s products and business practices). –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Getty Images / Benj Edwards] SoftBank plans to cancel out angry customer voices using AI Real-time voice modification tech seeks to reduce stress in call center staff. By Benj EdwardsJune 18, 2024 Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank recently announced that it has been developing “emotion-canceling” technology powered by AI that will alter the…

[A Washington Post photo essay, with the accompanying text below, profiles two transgender friends who met and spend much of their time together in VRChat. The Washington Post webpage features 13 more images and a 4:43 minute video set in VRChat. The video is also available on YouTube; here’s an excerpt from the description of the project there: “Silent and Radar, two transgender friends who spend most of their time on the virtual reality platform VR Chat, have found there a true sense of belonging. … For them, it is never about the technology itself, but always about the human…

[Researchers at Victoria University Wellington in New Zealand conducted and analyzed detailed interviews with women after most of them used virtual reality, and the presence it evokes, to reduce pain and anxiety during their early and active labor. The study and its results are described in this report from News Medical. For more information, watch a 4:53 minute interview with the study’s lead author from 1News in New Zealand. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Prostock-studio / Shutterstock] How virtual reality transforms women’s labor experiences By Dr. Sanchari Sinha Dutta, Ph.D.Reviewed by Benedette Cuffari, M.Sc.June 17, 2024 In a recent study published in…