[The health and fitness applications of VR and presence continue to evolve; this story from The Verge describes some of the design challenges; see the original for more images and a 2:40 minute video. –Matthew] Exercising in virtual reality with the VirZoom motion controller Gaming meets SoulCycle By Nick Statt on December 16, 2015 Video games and exercise don’t play well together. Sure, there’s the eight-year-old Wii Fit, drumming with the new Rock Band, and a slew of dedicated exercise games using Microsoft’s Kinect and featuring fitness trainers you’ve never heard of. But video games are more often a sedentary…

[The description of the product in this Kickstarter campaign (which has now met its funding goal) says, “Quite simply, Pillow Talk enables two people to experience each other’s presence”; the story is from Mashable, where it includes more images and a 1:39 minute video; see the campaign’s website for much more information including a longer video. –Matthew] Pillow Talk sends your long-distance partner the sound of your heartbeat Alicia Marie Tan December 1, 2015 Pillow talk is an important part of a relationship. It’s the intimate conversations you have with your partner between the sheets, snuggling and staring into each…

[Two more contexts for presence experiences – music production and hoverboard riding – are described in this post from The Creators Blog, which features more images and three videos. –Matthew] Now You Can Make Beats in Virtual Reality By DJ Pangburn — Dec 8 2015 In virtual reality, there is a great emphasis on visuals and haptic feedback. But apart from some established musicians like Jack White and The Who dabbling in VR, or the multisensory experience of Soundself, there’s been precious little done as far as exploiting the possibilities of sound in virtual reality. Amsterdam-based creative coder and motion…

[This very unusual product design brings together concepts of telepresence after death and telepresence and sexuality; designer Mark Sturkenboom’s website says it allows a widow to “have an intimate night with her sweetheart again.” The story is from Dose, where it features more images; more coverage, including in Mashable, appeared earlier this year. –Matthew] Do You Know Anyone Who Could Use This Sex Toy? Its Unique Function is Both Sad and Odd Posted Nov 24, by Brandon Siewert Losing any loved one is a heartbreaking experience, but for someone who loses their lifelong spouse, it can be particularly devastating.…

[This thoughtful piece from The Verge reminds us of some of the complex ethical issues that we’ll have to confront as VR and presence become more common; here’s a key line: “If VR can reveal truth, it can also make lies more vivid.” –Matthew] How do you turn North Korea’s unreal facade into virtual reality? Unfiltered access to a filtered experience By Adi Robertson December 10, 2015 When The New York Times released virtual reality mini-documentary The Displaced, its creators talked about the medium’s capacity to convey the unfiltered truth of a scene. It’s not that audiences no longer have…

[This application of presence in health care could be extremely valuable; the story is from Boston Magazine, and a 0:31 minute interactive video is available on YouTube. –Matthew] Tufts Medical Center Is Bringing Virtual Reality to Patient Care Patients will be able to get a 360-degree preview before a medical procedure. By Dana Guth | Hub Health | December 7, 2015 Patients often suffer a great deal of anxiety in the moments leading up to a procedure. But what if an individual could scope out the ER, meet her surgeon, and feel out her surroundings months before an appointment?…

[Following the recent research suggesting that 3D faces evoke more emotion comes this evidence for the power of 3D to improve memory; the story is from Popular Science, where it includes a 1:50 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: Three-dimensional video games could make your memory better right there (the hippocampus)] Three-Dimensional Video Games Could Make Your Memory Better Adding to the pile of conflicting video game research By Dave Gershgorn December 8, 2015 Video games and science have a sordid past. They make you smarter, dumber, fat, skinny, relaxed, aggressive, and now, new research adds improved memory to that list.…

[Rachel Rossin’s art goes beyond just using VR as it addresses the merging of the ‘real’ and virtual worlds; this is from PSFK, where the story includes more pictures. See Rossin’s website for more VR-based art. –Matthew] Oil Meets Virtual Reality In This Trippy Painting Series Rachel Rossin mixes the traditional with the digital by using a VR headset and visually intricate oil paintings Eva Recinos 3 december 2015 Walking into an art gallery means surrendering yourself to whatever visuals might be on display against the space’s white walls. You negotiate space as you walk through an exhibition and take…

[“Uncanny Valley” is the latest entertaining and thought-provoking portrayal of presence; we’ll be adding it to our ongoing study of them (the project website is here). This story is from The Verge, where it features the 8:53 minute film, which is also available directly on Vimeo. –Matthew] Uncanny Valley is a super stylish short film about how VR will destroy us By Adi Robertson on December 2, 2015 It’s a sad fact that despite the huge wave of virtual reality hype we’re currently in, our generation doesn’t have its Strange Days or Lawnmower Man or any other stylish blockbuster about…

[This story from CNET is a nice description of where VR is and might be heading – if it succeeds it’ll be because of the ‘magic’ of presence. See also a related piece in Venture Beat in which a father describes what happens when he introduces his 5 year old daughter to VR. –Matthew] Home for the holidays with my family, and virtual reality Commentary: To my family, no matter what their age, VR is magic…but it takes someone to put it on their heads in the first place. December 2, 2015 by Scott Stein “Oh my god, it’s so…

[This research report from Aalto University about emotional reactions to 3D faces is interesting not only because of the role of presence but the implications for media producers; as coverage in Quartz notes, “it could help them hone the 3D effect to really make the viewer feel the emotions of the characters in the game [or other 3D experience].” –Matthew] [Image: Six stereoscopic image pairs used in the experiment. The images can be seen in 3D by ‘looking through’ the image.] 3D amplifies emotions evoked by facial expressions The research findings have implications for emotion research, entertainment industry and 3D…

[Virtual environments need not be photo-realistic to evoke presence and have impacts on users; this story about an interesting VR installation is from Fast Company, where it includes a large photo gallery. —Matthew] Reaching Enlightenment Through Virtual Reality Tune in and drop out. Diana Budds December 1, 2015 The Eight Phases of Enlightenment, a virtual-reality installation by the artist Aramique, starts off as if you’re in the eye of a storm of fireflies. In a video, the glowing spots set against a black background swirl faster and start to congeal into a glowing orb before exploding in a flash of…