[Incorporating not just tracking, touch or vibration but physical resistance in screen-based and more immersive technologies has exciting potential applications… This is from Forbes, where the story includes other pictures and a 2:37 minute video; for more information see http://www.therealmsystem.com –Matthew ] World’s First 3D Force Gaming Tech Launches Crowdfunding Campaign on Kickstarter Jason Lim 2/18/2015 In the backyard of a terrace house in the Sydney suburb of Paddington, the world’s first gaming system that measures energy expenditure whilst using resistance, is being developed. The start-up behind it is The Realm, a tiny team with a big vision. Many have…

[Another unusual context for social presence… this is from All Day, where there are 21 more images and the link below to a 6:30 minute documentary on Vimeo. I particularly like that you can ‘visit’ the town and its dolls via Google Earth. For a more unsettling example of this kind of thing, there’s Mexico’s Isla de las Munecas (Island of the Dolls) – see isladelasmunecas.com and the 2:34 minute video by David Maurice Smith on Vimeo. –Matthew ] Nagora, Japan: Valley Of The Dolls By Ash M. Richter If all of your neighbors were replaced by dolls, what would…

[This story from The Verge includes some interesting impressions comparing standard and Dolby Atmos audio for different VR content; only a step forward, but it’s (exciting) early days. –Matthew ] Dolby dives into virtual reality with Atmos surround sound for VR By Bryan Bishop on February 26, 2015 As the momentum behind virtual reality slowly continues to build we’re seeing more traditional movie companies dip their toes into the medium. Today Dolby is announcing a partnership with Jaunt that will bring its Atmos surround sound technology to the world of VR — and it may turn out that virtual reality…

[I wonder how this will change physical rehabilitation in the future – manipulating perceptions of a person’s body movement can affect, and logically could be used to treat, their experience of pain; this is the press release from the University of South Australia. –Matthew ] Neck pain can be changed through altered visual feedback February 23 2015 Using virtual reality to misrepresent how far the neck is turned can actually change pain experiences in individuals who suffer from chronic neck pain, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. It may seem like…

[This is a dramatic illustration of the power of the form of presence in which a medium itself is perceived as a social actor! The story is from The Japan Times, where it includes two more images. –Matthew ] [Image: An A-Fun employee put[s] the Sony’s pet robot AIBOs at an altar prior to hold[ing] the robots’ funeral at the Kofukuji Temple in Isumi, Chiba Prefecture. | AFP-JIJI] An afterlife for man’s best robot friend? AFP-JIJI Feb 25, 2015 Incense smoke wafts through the cold air of the centuries-old Buddhist temple as a priest chants a sutra, praying for the…

[This is a particularly thoughtful, big-picture story about presence and sexuality, from Wired. Note the connection between immersion in books and VR, the historical perspective, the role of popular culture portrayals, the critique of some technologies and predictions for their success, and especially the explicit (no pun intended) discussion of the role of presence in mediated intimacy. Matt Jones and I argued in an article in Human Technology (pdf) that presence scholars should pay more attention to this context for presence experiences. –Matthew ] [Image: When Ela Darling and her collaborators filmed some test footage for the Oculus Rift, what…

[This article from Road to VR not only uses the term presence but highlights many presence dimensions or types. Note that the “55% of communication is nonverbal” claim is a misapplication of Mehrabian’s work (e.g., see the 3:29 minute CreativityWorks video “Busting the Mehrabian Myth” on YouTube). –Matthew ] Why Social Virtual Reality is Worth Celebrating February 21, 2015 This guest article comes from Chris Madsen who has been eagerly exploring the developing Social VR scene. Chris graduated from the University of Utah in psychology and has worked in the mental health field for almost 20 years. Throughout his career…

[I like that they’re calling the discs “experience reels”… this is from CNET, where the story includes more pictures and a 1:45 minute video report; more CNET coverage is available here and the press release is available from Mattel. –Matthew ] A View-Master for virtual reality: Hands-on with Mattel’s new AR, VR phone toy February 13, 2015 Scott Stein Mattel is relaunching View-Master, but as a virtual reality and augmented-reality phone toy. And I got to play around with it for a bit…or at least, some of the tech behind it. Announced at an event in New York City, the…

[Several of our colleagues are quoted and many interesting examples and links are included in this story from The Atlantic. –Matthew ] The Good and the Bad of Escaping to Virtual Reality Researchers believe new immersive technology could lead to isolation, but maybe when social needs are met online, people won’t need in-person interaction as much. Monica Kim Feb 18 2015 In Silicon Valley, in 1985, a ragtag band of programmers began exploring the concept of virtual reality from a tiny cottage in Palo Alto. Spearheaded by the 24-year-old Jaron Lanier, VPL Research helped make VR a buzzword in the…

[This is reminiscent of Philips’ Hue and Microsoft’s IllumiRoom… the story is from Wired, where you can find several more pictures. –Matthew ] A Pixar-Inspired Projector That Beams VR Into an Entire Room By Joseph Flaherty February 12, 2015 Virtual reality can make you feel like you’re high atop the Wall in Westeros, flying like a bird, or running from an alien intent on killing you, but to everyone else, you look like a spaz flailing about in high-tech ski googles. This makes demonstrating a head-mounted display like the Oculus Rift difficult in a group setting.…

[How real(istic) does a virtual stimulus have to be to say we’ve had the corresponding experience? A first-person report from Road to VR, where the story includes more images and two videos. –Matthew ] I Went Mountain Biking* February 13, 2015 by Ben Lang Not like taking a few jumps on a raked path in the woods behind my house like I used to do as a kid—I mean really mountain biking, the kind of thing you’d see on a GoPro commercial. The kind of thing that would almost certainly result in my death if I tried it without practice.…

[Imagine the possibilities for other sports and non-sports installations… This is from Wired, where the story includes a photo gallery and short video loop. –Matthew ] [Image: “The Last Shot” is a 10-million-pixel immersive scene that lets you recreate one of Michael Jordan’s iconic game-winners. Credit: Tim Moynihan/WIRED] This Immersive Michael Jordan Simulator Is the World’s Coolest Basketball Court By Tim Moynihan 02.15.15 If you’ve played with the Wii, the Kinect, or PlayStation Move, you’ve already blurred the line between games and real-life action. But you’ve never experienced anything like the immersive, genre-bending installation called “The Last Shot”—unless you’re Michael…