[This opinion piece from CNN provides a link-filled summary of the significant advances in the latest version of ChatGPT, including a more informal “personality” that creates a “more natural human-computer interaction” likely to evoke greater medium-as-social-actor presence in users. As the author notes, The Daily Show provided an insightful and entertaining take on the features of ChatGPT-4o. See also the related essay, “I Am Once Again Asking Our Tech Overlords to Watch the Whole Movie. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has seemingly cited Her as an inspiration for ChatGPT’s conversational voice assistant update. Maybe don’t!” in Wired. Here’s a key quote:…

[Presence-evoking digital spaces provide new opportunities to not just mimic real life but create new modes of interaction and learning. This story from Aalto University in Finland describes an interesting example in the context of dance instruction. Watch the 1:32 minute video in the original story (and available on YouTube) to see how the innovative WAVE technique works. –Matthew] [Image: The WAVE technique demonstrated in a video screenshot. Credit: Markus Laattala.] Researchers develop a new way to instruct dance in Virtual Reality The new virtual reality technique makes it easier to join a dance routine without first having to learn…

[The camera in an art project called Nuca uses generative artificial intelligence to create photos in which people who are dressed normally appear to be naked. Rather than being prurient, the goal is to make us think about the potential of AI to “destroy reality.” This story about the project is from Fast Company, where the original includes four more images and a 2:38 minute video (which is also available on Vimeo). –Matthew] A new camera can undress people almost in real time—to send a message about AI Nuca, a new deepfake camera, is an art project that shows how…

[Apologies for the glitchy re-start of ISPR Presence News posts; if you didn’t receive the full version of yesterday’s post titled “Virtual reality environment for teens may offer an accessible, affordable way to reduce stress,” you can read it here. The story below is from NPR and reports on a series of AI-generated images distributed on social media that appeared to show certain celebrities attending and modeling dramatic fashions at the recent MET Gala even though those individuals hadn’t attended the event. In one case the AI image deceived even singer Katy Perry’s mother. Both this story and an excerpt…

[Researchers created a virtual reality environment to reduce stress among teens and conducted a study suggesting that it works. This story is from the University of Washington, where the original version includes two more images and a 1:12 minute video; the published study is available from the link in the story. –Matthew] Virtual reality environment for teens may offer an accessible, affordable way to reduce stress By Stefan Milne, UW NewsMay 1, 2024 Social media. The climate crisis. Political polarization. The tumult of a pandemic and online learning. Teens today are dealing with unprecedented stressors, and over the past decade…

[The Apple Vision Pro was the impetus for lots of discussion at an interesting and enjoyable symposium at the University of Toronto last week titled “Questioning Reality: Explorations of Virtual Reality and Our Social Future.” The story below about a new presence-evoking documentary about fashion from Gucci touches on some of the same themes and questions regarding the future of Apple’s new platform and others that will come after it. The story is from fxguide, where the original version features more images; the documentary is available via the GUCCI app on the Apple App Store. For more details and coverage,…

[The author of this review from Axios describes the benefits and challenges she encountered during sustained use of the new Apple Vision Pro headset. As with so many assessments, the report makes clear that presence-evoking virtual, augmented and mixed reality technologies are advancing, but there are still substantial barriers to widespread adoption. –Matthew] [Image: A view from the Vision Pro with icons overlaying pass-through video of a living room. Credit: Apple] Axios Review: Using Apple’s Vision Pro in real life By Ina Fried, author of Axios AI+ March 29, 2024 Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro headset, two months after its appearance…

[An ”immersive and beautiful” new museum of children’s literature evokes presence without screens and other digital technologies. Instead, it features “40 book-themed dioramas blown up to life-size and arranged, Ikea showroom-style, in a space the size of two hockey rinks.” The details are in this abridged version of a story from The New York Times; see the original version for 15 more images. –Matthew] [Image: Two generations of readers enjoy “Caps for Sale” at the Rabbit Hole, a new museum in Kansas City, Mo. Credit: Chase Castor for The New York Times] Once Upon a Time, the World of Picture…

[A new study demonstrates that behavioral activation – a treatment for depression in which patients are encouraged to engage in pleasant real-life activities, is also effective when the activities are simulated using virtual reality. The details are in this post from Stanford Medicine’s Scope blog (where the original includes two more images). –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Emily Moskal] Imagining virtual reality as a simple tool to treat depression By Sarah C. P. Williams April 11, 2024 Some of the 17 million Americans afflicted with major depressive disorder each year may soon receive a surprising new prescription from their clinician: Have fun…

[The new Spatial Personas feature in Apple’s Vision Pro headset allows up to five users to collaborate in the same mixed reality space; the author of this story from CNET describes his presence experience using the feature and is impressed. See the original story for a second image, and ZDNET for more coverage. –Matthew] [Image: Here’s Norman Chan, playing chess with me in my home office. Credit: Screenshot by Scott Stein/CNET] Spatial Personas Have Turned My Apple Vision Pro Into a Telepresence Machine A small change to how Apple’s avatars work has made connecting with people feel far more real…

[This essay from Vox makes clear how difficult it is for us to resist perceiving an artificial intelligence as a “conscious, thinking being,” i.e., experiencing medium as social actor (MASA) presence. Of course it’s only a presence misperception if the AI is indeed not conscious, and while the author agrees that we shouldn’t base our decisions about an AI’s consciousness on what it tell us, she notes that experts have few effective tools for making the determination. A New York Times story from September 2023 titled, “How to Tell if Your A.I. Is Conscious,” with the subheading, “In a new…

[This AppleInsider report about a newly revealed patent application doesn’t focus on the implications for presence, but the incorporation in Apple products of lenticular displays that create the illusion of three-dimensional objects certainly would enhance the presence experiences of a large group of consumers. See the original version of the story for a second image. –Matthew] Apple wants to bring Spatial Computing to regular monitors By William Gallagher April 4, 2024 Amplifying work and media it has developed for the Apple Vision Pro headset, Apple is developing technology so your MacBook Pro or desktop monitor can display 3D environments without…