[Although the terminology is different, the story below notes how the disconnect between what a VR user can see and hear, and what she can touch, breaks (or fails to evoke) a presence illusion. But when that problem is solved, the applications are going to be impressive. The story is from Bloomberg and features more images and a 1:25 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: A virtual slider control for a DJ’s mixing desk—just one potential application for Ultrahaptics technology] Meet the Man Who Made Virtual Reality ‘Feel’ More Real Tom Carter’s ultrasound technology lets you touch and manipulate virtual objects—attracting interest…

[The interview below from Forbes (where it features more images) is a very thoughtful discussion of social presence – primarily in response to independent robots (‘medium as social actor’ presence) but also to teleoperated ones that act as extensions of users. Note that the term presence appears once near the end. Fascinating, important stuff! –Matthew] Relationships with Robots: Good or Bad for Humans? Patrick Lin Feb 1, 2016 As robotics and autonomous systems flourish, human-robot relationships are becoming increasingly important. They’re how we interact and control the technology, from self-driving cars to sex robots. The way technologies are designed can…

[Although it doesn’t use the terms, this link-filled article from MIT Technology Review is all about how natural mapping can be used to evoke more effective (tele)presence illusions. –Matthew] The Step Needed to Make Virtual Reality More Real If virtual reality is going to be truly immersive, holding a game controller could be distracting. Companies will instead try to let you control the action with your eyes, head, or fingers. by Rachel Metz February 1, 2016 It’s one thing to play the arcade game Whac-A-Mole by swinging around an oversized mallet; it’s far easier to whack those moles virtually, controlling…

[If you haven’t heard the sad news, Marvin Minsky passed away on January 24, 2016. His contribution to telepresence has rarely been mentioned in the coverage but it’s the focus of this post from IEEE Spectrum; follow the link to watch the 7:05 minute video mentioned at the end. –Matthew] [Image: The June 1980 issue of Omni featured an essay by Marvin Minsky titled “Telepresence”. Photo: Erico Guizzo/IEEE Spectrum] Video Friday: Marvin Minsky, Submersible Drone, and SLAM on a SnakeBot By Evan Ackerman and Erico Guizzo Posted 29 Jan 2016 Marvin Minsky, the AI pioneer and MIT professor, died on…

[Though scholars too rarely study it, presence and sexuality is a fascinating topic – the story below is from Digital Trends, where it includes a 3:56 minute video. More reactions to the CES demonstration are detailed in coverage in PCWorld and Mashable (which features a 3:22 minute video); a thoughtful different analysis can be found in Slate. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Slate] I tried VR porn in a CES hotel suite, and I’ll never be the same By Will Fulton — January 12, 2016 Porn has always been a trailblazer. Throughout the last few decades, the pornography industry has been an…

[This Microsoft project suggests the potential of AR to create social (tele)presence; the story is from MIT Technology Review; for a closely related 5:19 minute video, see coverage in Numrush. –Matthew] Augmented Reality Study Projects Life-Sized People into Other Rooms A Microsoft Research study uses augmented reality to project a life-size person into a room with you, perched in an empty seat. By Rachel Metz on January 19, 2016 Nothing beats talking to another person face-to-face, but a group of researchers are considering whether a life-size projection of a person who appears to be sitting across from you in an…

[Presence has a big role to play in the evolution of brick and mortar retail in the age of online shopping; this story is from Forbes, where it features more images. –Matthew] The Future Of Retail: Beyond Stories Told, To Stories Experienced By Rachel Arthur Jan 26, 2016 If you’d visited a mall housing a J.C. Penney store over the holidays, you may have been welcomed by a virtual reality experience that took shoppers on an immersive ride to the North Pole. Created with marketing and technology agency Narrative, the “Twas The Flight Before Christmas” initiative was in place in…

[To me this illustrates the true promise of effective presence illusions; the story is from MTV and features two more images; more information on the VR project is available on the Specular Theory website. –Matthew] This Virtual Reality Experience Shows Police Brutality From Both Sides “Perspective; Chapter 2: The Misdemeanor” is a harrowing VR project that lets you experience police brutality first hand. by Crystal Bell January 26, 2016 Most people think of video games when they think of virtual reality, but a burgeoning group of innovative filmmakers are producing narrative VR experiences with the unprecedented ability to affect us…

[The application of virtual reality and presence to the work of surrealist Salvador Dali (and presence experience creator Walt Disney) seems particularly appropriate; this story is from the AP via Business Insider; a 1:16 minute promotional video, a 5:09 minute 360 degree navigable version of the experience, and more information, are available from The Dali Museum. –Matthew] Virtual reality experience highlight of new Dali Museum show Beth J. Harpaz, Associated Press Jan. 22, 2016 Visitors to a new exhibition at The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, won’t just be looking at art. Thanks to virtual reality, they’ll be exploring…

[As this and other articles on the artist’s work note (without using the term), it’s hard to suppress a presence response to these realistic dolls. The story is from the Huffington Post and features more pictures; for a recent update on research on the Uncanny Valley, see coverage in Slate. –Matthew] Don’t Blink! These Russian Dolls Are So Lifelike They Could Move Captivating videos show Michael Zajkov eerily whittling away blocks of clay into lifelike human beings. 01/21/2016 Nina Golgowski Trends reporter, The Huffington Post When it comes to dolls, Michael Zajkov is not playing around. The Russian artist’s collection…

[This discussion from The New Yorker is full of incomplete but provocative ideas about the nature of our experience of both reality and mediated/virtual reality. –Matthew] [Image: Credit Sarah Lee / eyevine / Redux] Werner Herzog Talks Virtual Reality By Patrick House January 12, 2016 “I’m a skeptic of 3-D, but when I saw the paintings I knew I had to use it,” Werner Herzog told Judith Thurman in 2010, after the New York première of his documentary “Cave of Forgotten Dreams.” The film examines some of the world’s earliest known paintings, which cover the walls of the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave,…

[Even inexpensive VR gear is becoming more realistic and likely to evoke presence; this is from Motherboard. –Matthew] [Image: Screenshot from Google’s sample app for audio spatialization.] 3D Sound Is Coming to Google Cardboard to Make Virtual Worlds More Real Michael Byrne, Editor January 14, 2016 Google’s goofy but cool Cardboard virtual-reality platform is getting an audio upgrade. On Wednesday, Cardboard project manager Nathan Martz announced via the Google Developer’s Blog that software development kits (SDKs) for both the Java-based (Android) and Unity-based (iOS) implementations of the VR headset API would be getting support for audio spatialization. Now, Cardboard apps…