[This story from New Atlas makes a detailed and compelling case for the use of robots to serve in the valuable role of seeing eye dogs, with characteristics of the robots likely evoking medium-as-social-actor presence for their blind or sight-limited users. See the original version of the story for eight more images and three videos. –Matthew] [Image: The University of Glasgow has been working with the Unitree G01 platform for quite some time now, specifically to develop guide dogs for blind and partially sighted people. Credit: Glasgow University] The Seeing Eye Dog V2.0 is shaping up as a gamechanger By…

[The new innovative documentary Ibelin explores the rich relationships formed solely in World of Warcraft by a quadriplegic gamer. The very positive review from Variety below provides a vivid description of the film, which at this writing has a 100% rating from reviewers at Rotten Tomatoes (note that not all reviews are as glowing; Hollywood Reporter’s reviewer writes that “if you’re already aware that the virtual spaces created by networked gaming are, indeed, valid and even valuable ways of forging social relationships, there isn’t much additional insight”). –Matthew] [Image: Source: The Wrap] ‘Ibelin’ Review: A Shattering Documentary About a Gamer’s…

[This is the second of two related stories being posted today about the use of presence by people whose lives have been upended by tragedy and who are seeking action from leaders and legislators. The story is from The Times of Israel, where the original includes a second image and two videos.  –Matthew] [Image: A screenshot from a virtual reality scene called ‘Shlomi’s Glasses,’ created by the family of hostage Shlomi Ziv to portray the experience of hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023] Hoping to jar world leaders, hostage’s cousin rebuilds captivity in virtual reality ‘Shlomi’s Glasses,’ a…

[This is the first of two related stories being posted today about the use of presence by people whose lives have been upended by tragedy and who are seeking action from leaders and legislators. The story is from NPR, where the original includes two more images and an embedded Change The Ref post from X that contains a 1:15 minute video.  –Matthew] [Image: Flowers, candles and mementos sit outside one of the makeshift memorials at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida just days after the deadly shooting in 2018. Credit: Rhona Wise/AFP via Getty Images] Gun violence killed…

[Exploring what she and others say will become a common phenomenon, Spanish artist Alicia Framis will become the first woman to marry an artificially intelligent hologram, as reported in this story from Euronews. See the original version for two more images and a 2:06 minute video (also on YouTube), and for more details and images visit the artist’s website. For related stories, see El Pais and a 2019 ISPR Presence News post. –Matthew] Meet Spanish artist Alicia Framis: The first woman to marry a hologram The multidisciplinary artist from Barcelona Alicia Framis will be the first woman to marry a…

[As mass shootings and other tragedies become depressingly more common, training simulations for first responders in law enforcement and emergency medicine have become more sophisticated, realistic, and effective. The story below from the Louisiana Illuminator provides vivid details; see the original version for two more images and a video. –Matthew] [Image: Deputies in the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department carry an actor playing a gunshot victim to an ambulance during a January mass casualty simulation. Credit: Matt Vasilogambros/Stateline] Gunfire, screams, carnage: As mass shootings proliferate, training gets more realistic Law enforcement and medical workers experience the sights, smells and sounds of…

[This breezy read from Business Insider uses research and comments by our colleague Jeremy Bailenson to explain how the increasing and prolonged use of virtual and mixed reality headsets is likely to lead to both familiar negative impacts on perception (e.g., simulator sickness, and distortions in apparent distances to and shapes of objects), as well as some less familiar impacts on how we perceive each other (e.g., as more uncanny) and on the magnitude of differences in our understandings of physical and social reality. See the original story for two more pictures. –Matthew] [Image: Still from animated graphic. Credit: Apple;…

[A widely reported deepfake scam in Hong Kong is a dramatic illustration of the dangers of presence. The basic details are in the report below from CNN. Coverage from Bloomberg via Channel News Asia captures the unsettling new dangers in the opening line: “Is the boss who’s giving you an order real or just realistic? Deepfakes are now taking Zoom calls to another level of awkwardness, by making us question whether our co-workers are genuine.” The author goes on to identify a series of things “we’ll all need to do in the future for sensitive video calls.” According to RTHK, “Police…

[A Euronews journalist conducted a personal experiment with a Replika chatbot and reports on her experience in this story. She mentions parasocial relationships and Computers Are Social Actors research, as well as the presence-disrupting effects of AI “hallucinations.” The original version of the story includes the 6:28 minute video mentioned at the end (it’s also available on YouTube). –Matthew] I became friends with an AI avatar on the Replika app. This is what I learned Do friendships with an artificial intelligence (AI) only exist in science fiction? We tested a virtual companion app to explore human-machine relationships. By Margaux Racaniere…

[Another application of increasingly sophisticated but easy-to-use technology to create convincing simulations of reality – this time official identification documents – is described in this short story from Design TAXI. Coverage from readwrite concludes this way: “This appears to be another leg of the cat-and-mouse race between big tech and bad actors caused by the rapid advances in AI, and a very concerning one given the implications for security systems. Microsoft can attest to the vulnerability of technology after its property was used to create explicit deepfake images of Taylor Swift. This race will be an enduring marathon instead of…

[The increasingly realistic and impactful nature of experiences in virtual reality, and the increasing popularity of the technology, creates prospects for both positive and negative effects on users. This Washington Post story describes some of the challenges in preventing and prosecuting sexual harassment and assault in virtual worlds. Here’s a key quote: “’This type of immersive and embodied experience [makes] harassing behavior feel as realistic as in the physical world,’ [Clemson University professor Guo] Freeman said. ‘It’s like my offline body is attacked because it feels so real. It’s like someone is touching me.’” –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Illustration by Emily…

[A Disney invention inspired by Star Trek’s Holodeck simulation room brings new potential for presence experiences in immersive virtual reality, theme parks and beyond. This story from Fast Company provides the available details and the original version contains three animated gifs as well as a 4:49 minute video (also available directly via YouTube). –Matthew] [Image: Source: TheSocialTalks] A Disney Imagineer explains how they made the HoloTile floor, a magical walkway that moves in any direction The sci-fi inspired device could bring us a step closer to truly immersive virtual reality. By Nate Berg January 31, 2024 Disney Imagineer Lanny Smoot…