[Here’s a nice example of how people develop effective applications of presence without knowing the field and with relatively simple technologies. The story is from NPR, where there are more pictures and a 4:24 minute audio version. –Matthew] [Image: Kids waiting for surgery at the hospital can choose from a menu of age-appropriate entertainment options that include certain TV shows, movies and music videos. The big, close screen helps make the experience “immersive,” the doctors who designed it say. Heidi de Marco/Kaiser Health News] Doctors Get Creative To Soothe Tech-Savvy Kids Before Surgery June 29, 2016 Jenny Gold Heard on…

[As this story from The Guardian suggests, even simple chatbots can be very useful and are likely to become much more common; the presence-related research questions include to what degree and in what ways do users perceive and treat the bot as a social actor, and how do their perceptions impact their likelihood to use and be satisfied with their interactions? –Matthew] Chatbot lawyer overturns 160,000 parking tickets in London and New York Free service DoNotPay helps appeal over $4m in parking fines in just 21 months, but is just the tip of the legal AI iceberg for its 19-year-old…

[This piece from Recode is an excellent, brief summary of the challenges, rewards and current status of the evolution of virtual reality, and particularly the central role of presence, short for telepresence and otherwise, in the success of the medium. –Matthew] [Image: Experiencing Samsung Gear VR at the Samsung Creator’s Lounge At VidCon 2016. Jonathan Leibson / Getty] Why virtual reality matters As a new medium, VR is in a peculiar predicament: Hailed as a multibillion-dollar industry, it’s also still in its creative infancy. by Jason Brush Jun 28, 2016 Once upon a time, every medium in our incomprehensibly vast…

[Microsoft’s vision for Windows as a standard operating system for virtual and augmented (mixed) reality has important implications. Here are two stories on this development: the first is from CNN Money, where the original features Microsoft’s 1:03 minute concept video, and the second is a big picture analysis from IT Business Edge that, among other things, identifies the origins of a presence-infused future in the Reeves and Nass-inspired ‘Bob’ product. –Matthew] Microsoft unveils its new vision for Windows by Hope King June 1, 2016 Microsoft wants to do for virtual reality what it did for PCs: Make the emerging technology…

[This story from New York Magazine describes the interesting ways Edward Snowden uses telepresence to interact with the world and how people in the world respond, as well as his views on the emergence of virtual reality. This is an abridged version of the long original, which includes several more images. –Matthew] [Image: Attending “Astro Noise” at the Whitney. Photo: Henrik Moltke] I, Snowden For a man accused of espionage and effectively exiled in Russia, Edward Snowden is also, strangely, free. By Andrew Rice June 26, 2016 Edward Snowden lay on his back in the rear of a Ford Escape,…

[For VR and the presence experiences it creates to evolve, we need to figure out how to tell compelling stories in the new medium; production designer and founder of Virtual Reality Company Robert Stromberg provides insights about where we are and where we need to go in this story from Engadget (where it includes more images). –Matthew] [Image: A still from “The Martian VR Experience” (Image credit: Virtual Reality Company)] The struggle to adapt storytelling for virtual reality “We’re ready to tell stories but how do you do that in VR?” asks Oscar-winning art director Robert Stromberg. Mona Lalwani June…

[This story from Popular Science describes another way presence is being used to prepare athletes for competition, in this case for the triathlon at the Rio 2016 Olympics. –Matthew] [Image: Gwen Jorgesen, World Triathlon Series Champion. Original Photo by Charlie Crowhurst / Getty Images, Illustration by Graham Murdoch] Virtual Reality Training Turns Olympic Triathlon Course Into Motor Memory It helps to know the road before you go By Will Cockrell Posted June 21, 2016 Gwen Jorgensen’s secret training tool isn’t her $10,000 road bike—it’s her mind. As in when she kicks back and closes her eyes. “I use mental visualization…

[Could a mediated experience of our planet from space provide the same neurological and psychological effects as ‘being there’? This story from Wired suggests an interesting series of studies about presence, perception and human nature. For more on the Overview Effect, see the Overview Institute’s website. –Matthew] [Image: Getty Images] So You Think You Love Earth? Wait Until You See It in VR Sarah Scoles 06.21.16 In an ideal future, trips beyond the atmosphere are easy(ish) and cheap(ish). Humans will regularly slip the surly bonds of Earth, rocket up to inflatable space hotels, and stare out at space, up at…

[The creator of the robot Pepper (which some of us encountered during our ISPR-ICA conference trip in a Softbank store in Kyoto) is working on a new robot designed specifically to combat human loneliness; the story is from CNET, where it includes more images. A related story from The Wall Street Journal, “Too Cute for Their Own Good, Robots Get Self-Defense Instincts,” considers ways designers have to consider how people respond to robots in different contexts. –Matthew] [Image: Kaname Hayashi has observed that people tend to respond to Pepper by showing the robot physical affection. MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images] Man seeking…

[We’re back after a two-week break. Profound thanks to everyone who made the ISPR conference event “The Power of Presence: Using Telepresence Theory, Research and Applications to Enhance Mediated Communication Experiences in the 21st Century” in Kyoto, Japan a great success; information about how to access the official proceedings will appear here soon, as will information about our next conference event. For now, this story from Rolling Stone is a nice summary of ‘the story so far,’ including references to presence experiences in VR, that technology’s rocky history and its promise in several application areas, and a striking comment at…

[This story from Geek describes a novel presence experience that explores and demonstrates the complex interaction of the visual and aural senses. The story (lightly edited for typos here) includes more images, and the link at the end is to a New York Times story that includes a 12:09 minute video and more information. –Matthew] Virtual reality sim Notes on Blindness makes you feel like Daredevil By Charles Battersby Jun. 2, 2016 Superhero stories and urban legends say that blind people develop enhanced senses when they lose their vision. In the real world, it isn’t quite so simple. The subjective…

[Presence isn’t investigated directly but clearly plays a role in a study by an impressive Harvard senior about how much and why people trust robots; context obviously matters and it’ll be important to investigate how the results change as robots become more commonplace. The story from Harvard University News features more images and a 2:04 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: Serena Booth and her robot, Gaia, in its cookie-delivery disguise. (Photo by Adam Zewe/SEAS Communications.)] In automaton we trust Student examines the issue of over-trusting robotic systems By Adam Zewe May 25, 2016 If Hollywood is to be believed, there are…