[Here’s another interesting application of VR and presence; as so often happens, this story from The Los Angeles Times includes many descriptions of presence but not the term itself. -Matthew] [Image: Neal Taylor watches and listens a Los Angeles Philharmonic performance via a virtual reality headset in the orchestra’s Van Beethoven. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)] L.A. Philharmonic’s Van Beethoven takes virtual reality for a classical spin September 24, 2015 David Ng Can the technology that set the video gaming world abuzz create classical music fanboys and girls? The Los Angeles Philharmonic has launched a virtual reality project in…

[Shared augmented reality is more difficult than shared VR, with all kinds of interesting potential uses; this story, which features some of our presence colleagues, is from MIT Technology Review; btw, as the CNET coverage notes, the headsets are called “Reality Mashers.” –Matthew] [Image: One of Lanier’s students, Andrea Stevenson Won, wears a headset developed in his lab at Microsoft.] Microsoft Researchers Are Working on Multi-Person Virtual Reality Researchers in Jaron Lanier’s lab at Microsoft are exploring ways for people to share the experience of mixed reality. By Will Knight on October 12, 2015 Augmented or mixed reality, which renders…

[Note: Apologies for the lack of posts Monday, due to computer server problems beyond our control] [Aside from all the good this invention can do in testing vision, as someone with reduced vision (due to congenital nystagmus) and of course interested in VR and presence, I find its potential for personalized prescription VR screens particularly interesting; the story is from MIT Press. –Matthew] [Image: Ramesh Raskar holding the Netra device. Credit: John Werner/Camera Culture Group] Smarter lenses Newly launched mobile eye-test device could lead to prescription virtual-reality screens Rob Matheson | MIT News Office October 19, 2015 After five years…

[Here’s an ambitious plan for a 21st century virtual World’s Fair; this story is from Variety and there’s more coverage in Fortune; the Landmark press release is available via PR Newswire, and an earlier story in ISPR Presence News describes the company’s plans for mixed reality theme parks. –Matthew] Landmark Entertainment Is Building A Virtual Reality World’s Fair October 15, 2015 Janko Roettgers, Senior Silicon Valley Correspondent Landmark Entertainment President and CEO Tony Christopher thinks it’s about time that the world joined virtual reality: Landmark is unveiling plans to build what it calls a Virtual world’s fair, which could eventually…

[This first-person account of watching a political debate in VR identifies both strengths and limitations and raises questions about which will and won’t be solvable as the technology evolves. The story is from Mashable, where it features more images. –Matthew] I used virtual reality goggles to watch the CNN Democratic debate and it was underwhelming Jason Abbruzzese October 14, 2015 The Democratic debate almost made me throw up – but not for the reasons you expect. I’m in a giant hall, in the back right corner facing the stage. I look up and to my right, and I can see…

[The research described in this news from the University of Lincoln describes a way to enhance medium-as-social-actor presence. In press coverage, “Dr Murray told the BBC that how robots interact socially will be key to future robot research. ‘Obviously it depends on the application and, in a factory, we don’t want robots that make mistakes,’ he said. ‘But with robot companions, it is not so much the look of the robot but its behaviour. If you want a robot to become friendly and for people not to [be] wary of it, it will need certain traits.’” –Matthew] How perfect is…

[Here’s a nice first-person description of already-available presence experiences (even if the term isn’t used), and technology tweaks that would enhance them; it’s from VentureBeat, where it includes lots more pictures. Get the Street View app for IOS or Android here. –Matthew] Hands-on with Google Street View on Cardboard: Goodbye, productivity Jordan Novet October 12, 2015 I just went to Fiji. No, not literally. I took a mini vacation in Google Street View. I was able to look around 360 degrees in a bunch of places using the OnePlus Cardboard virtual reality (VR) headset, based on the Google Cardboard VR system.…

[This high-end simulator attraction sounds like it creates a compelling sense of presence. The story is from designboom, where you’ll find many more images and two videos: ‘Making Of’ and a trailer for the attraction. –Matthew] Sensorama opens an immersive virtual reality ride in Brazil September 21, 2015 Sensorama has announced the launch of ‘VIX’, Brazil’s advanced immersive attraction. It’s a 24 person ride that straps passengers on a sensory experience of an underwater voyage. As the ride accelerates through a narrow passage of land, guests will feel their hair blowing in the wind, simulating the sensation of levitating through…

[There’s a lot to figure out about how best to use presence for education (at all ages), but there are encouraging developments; the story is from The New York Times, where it features a 1:34 minute video from Google. –Matthew] [Image: Students using Google Expeditions, via a cardboard viewer and a smartphone, at Bronx Latin High School in New York. Credit: Andrew Federman/Bronx Latin High School.] Google Virtual-Reality System Aims to Enliven Education By Natasha Singer September 28, 2015 As part of a class last year on “Romeo and Juliet,” Jennie Choi, an English teacher at Mariano Azuela Elementary School…

[Apparently the little-known company Uncorporeal has figured out how to jump across the ‘uncanny valley’ in VR to produce more effective presence experiences. This story is from Wired, where it includes another image and two videos. There’s not much there at this writing, but the company’s website is uncorporeal.com –Matthew] [Image: The geometric data gathered by Uncorporeal’s cameras and processing hardware results in a data mesh that can be placed in any game environment built in Unity 3D.] These FX Wizards May Have Solved VR Films’ Biggest Problem Peter Rubin October 7, 2015 Sebastian Marino already has an Academy Award…

[The ‘magic’ of Disney technology; this story is from Business Standard; a 1:59 minute video is available on YouTube, the original press release is available via EurekAlert!, and the conference paper is available from Disney Research. –Matthew] New Disney app turns coloured drawings into 3D characters Press Trust of India | Washington October 4, 2015 A colouring book app devised by researchers at Disney can cause characters from drawings to leap from the page in 3-D with the help of augmented reality. A child colours a character, such as an elephant, on the book page normally, while a tablet or…

[Fascinating debates are ahead as technologies increasingly mimic human social actors; this is from Phys.org. –Matthew] [Image: Pepper is described as an “engaging, friendly companion that can communicate with people through the most intuitive interface we know: voice, touch and emotions.” Credit: Aldebaran, SoftBank, Corp.] Incident of drunk man kicking humanoid robot raises legal questions October 2, 2015 by Lisa Zyga A few weeks ago, a drunk man in Japan was arrested for kicking a humanoid robot that was stationed as a greeter at a SoftBank, Corp., store, which develops the robots. According to the police report, the man said…