[The study described in this story from the U of T News describes work being done at the University of Toronto on how using current presence-evoking technologies alters our interactions in the non-mediated world, with important implications for training (e.g., of surgeons, pilots, drivers, etc.). See the original version of the story for a second image. –Matthew] [Image: Research associate Xiaoye Michael Wang fits a VR display onto study participant Colin Dolynski Credit: Molly Brillinger] Virtual and augmented reality can temporarily change the way people perceive distances: Study ‘We wanted to understand if the way our brains and bodies adapt…

[As the story from The Guardian below reports, in a creative and positive application of presence-evoking technology, journalists in Venezuela are protecting themselves from government persecution by using AI-based avatars to present accurate news about events in the nation. Caracas Chronicles summarizes the development this way: “… traditional media outlets in Venezuela—large newspapers, TV and radio networks—are under some form of control by the government, so independent media, mostly small online platforms (save for the analogue ElBusTV) have to get creative. Enter Operación Retuit, which features short social media videos that encapsulate the initiative’s reporting. The catch is that these…

[The global pandemic has led to an historic increase in the use of mediated communication, especially for work, but Zoom and other technologies don’t fully replicate the experience of being together – they evoke an imperfect sense of presence in users. In the Fast Company article below, a communication coach describes some of the negative effects of our prolonged reliance on these remote communication technologies and offers tips for how to reverse these effects and restore our in-person communication skills. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Dynamic Wang/Unsplash] HOW TO BE A SUCCESS AT EVERYTHING 3 things you forgot you knew about speaking…

[Especially because I recently had an ultrasound scan that produced results completely uninterpretable to my untrained eyes, I find the argument in this essay from Forbes about some of the important benefits of presence-evoking virtual reality in health care very convincing. –Matthew] Virtual Reality – The Universal Language In Healthcare By Alon Zuckerman, Forbes Business Council Member and President of Surgical Theater, a global leader in XR visualization for healthcareAugust 19, 2024 Imagine walking into the doctor’s office in constant pain. Your head feels like it is going to burst. You get an MRI scan. It’s cancer. You feel suddenly…

[This Sky News story reports on the widespread use and important benefits (and some limitations) of evoking presence with virtual reality in the training of firefighters. See the original version of the story for seven more images and two videos. For more context see an April 2018 story in ISPR Presence News. –Matthew] [Image: Mick Dewer from the Fire Service College practising with the VR kit] Haptic hoses and hot suits: How VR is helping firefighters prepare for climate change challenges For decades firefighters have trained for emergencies using live fires. Now there’s a new kid on the block. Virtual…

[Without using presence terminology, this column from Computerworld by insightful technology journalist Mike Elgan explains how, and offers some explanations for why, robot designers are purposely trying to evoke medium-as-social-actor presence perceptions and social responses to robots, and outlines some of the perils of those efforts. See the original version of the story for a 43 minute video (also available on YouTube). –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Credit: Stokkete / Shutterstock] Humanoid robots are a bad idea Multiple companies are now using robots that walk and talk like human beings. What could go wrong? By Mike Elgan, Contributing Columnist (Mike Elgan is…

[A doctoral student at Arizona State University has spearheaded the creation of an extensive presence-evoking experience for virtual reality that combines real-life data and an engaging three-part story to teach students in an online introductory course in meteorology. The story below includes a 4:30 minute video from the experience (it’s also available on Vimeo). For more information about this project and others, visit the website of the ASU Mobile Experiential Technology through Embedded Optimization Research (Meteor) Studio, including the website’s “About” page. –Matthew] [Image: The “Hurricane Heroes” virtual reality lab experience uses real-life hurricane data. Credit: Courtesy of the Meteor…

[Emory University is devoting substantial resources to the study and dissemination of strategies that use presence-evoking virtual reality to prevent injuries and enhance performance of young athletes. See the original version of this story for a second image and a 2:37 minute video. –Matthew] Emory expands virtual reality program to reduce injuries for youth athletes in Georgia August 8, 2024 Imagine if playing a video game could reduce your risk of injury and make you a better athlete. The Emory Sports Performance And Research Center (SPARC) is turning this dream into reality for youth athletes in Georgia. As the football…

[Google has released a new, free, more powerful AI-based generator of presence-evoking images, as reported in this story from DesignTAXI and the excerpts from other coverage that follow below. As the Venture Beat excerpt notes, the rapid evolution of the technology and the contrasting approaches of Google and Elon Musk’s xAI raise questions about “the potential impact of these tools on public discourse and information integrity.” The original versions of all of the stories include more pictures. –Matthew] Google Releases Free AI Art Generator That ‘Outperforms’ Popular Paid Rivals By Mikelle LeowAugust 20, 2024 Google is brushing up against the…

[A new “Made for Meta” rotating chair for virtual reality is designed to reduce motion sickness and increase immersiveness (presence), as reported in short story from The Verge and excerpts from coverage in several other publications that follow. Most of the original stories include more pictures and the Roto VR Explorer chair trailer (also available on YouTube). See an April 2015 ISPR Presence News post for details about an early version of the new product. –Matthew] This head-tracking spinning chair could make VR less nauseating The Roto VR Explorer chair matches the rotational movements of a VR user’s head, helping…

[Guy Bate and his colleagues at the University of Auckland are exploring the use of presence-evoking AI-based assistants to serve as supplementary teachers in the Graduate School of Management, as reported in this story from New Zealand’s The Post. See the original version of the story for five more pictures and a 1:24 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: A University of Auckland teaching avatar. Credit: Simon Morrow / Stuff] Forget imaginary friends, how about an imaginary teacher? By Kevin NorquayAugust 17, 2024 Wish you always had a friendly face close at hand, to help with tricky problems? Well, the University of…

[Regardless of its validity, the popular culture treatments and scientific and philosophical considerations of the idea that we all live in a sophisticated technology-based simulation, which would be the ultimate example of presence, demonstrate that simulation and illusion are important concepts and phenomena in our age (as clocks and steam engines were in earlier ones). This story from Futurism provides an overview of the latest efforts to find evidence that supports one version of the simulation argument. For more information, see the press release the author mentions, which is available at PRLog, and the experimenters’ testingthehhypothesis website. The Cosmos News…