[Warning: This article from The Times may disturb some readers. It’s about a program that uses spatial and social presence to help convicted, imprisoned domestic abusers in Spain understand what it’s like to be the victim rather than the perpetrator of that crime. See the original story for two more images; related coverage of crime and justice is also available from The Times. For more details about the VRespectMe program, see the April 2023 report “Use of Virtual Reality in Catalan Prisons: Challenges and Opportunities” from Justice Trends. –Matthew] [Image: The psychologist Nicolas Barnes, right, showcases the technology in Catalonia,…

[This thought-provoking essay from Psychology Today published late last year explores some larger implications of the increasingly compelling medium-as-social-actor presence illusions evoked by using sophisticated artificial intelligence technology. –Matthew] [Image: Art generated by DALL-E/OpenAI] The Rabbit Hole Without a Hole: The Illusion of AI Personal Perspective: Our quest for AI’s soul is an archaeology of imagination. By John Nosta, an innovation theorist and founder of NostaLab.Reviewed by Monica Vilhauer Ph.D.December 9, 2024 For as long as we’ve existed, we’ve crafted illusions to stretch the boundaries of what we know. From the myths of Prometheus and golems to the mechanical marvel…

[To publicize and increase interest in their Lab and research, and to help students and others become more comfortable with presence-evoking technologies, two researchers at the Virtual/Augmented Reality Lab at the Penn State Behrend campus in Erie, Pennsylvania will attempt to set a Guinness World Record by “watching 55 hours of uninterrupted content in VR headsets.” The press release is below; more information (including about how to watch the attempt online) is available at the Lab’s website. –Matthew] [Image: Lauren Cass, the immersive administrator at Penn State Behrend’s Virtual/Augmented Reality Lab, will attempt to set a Guinness World Record by…

[The InterRecon technology described in this New Atlas story has intriguing potential to enhance a wide variety of presence experiences. See the original version of the story for three more images and the mentioned video. –Matthew] [Image: MIT’s InteRecon tech recreates physical objects in mixed reality, complete with the way they function. Credit: Images provided by the research team] MIT tech recreates old toys as interactive playthings in mixed reality By Abhimanyu GhoshalApril 2, 2025 A team of researchers from MIT, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and ETH Zurich, has developed a mind-blowing tool to not only…

[Venezuelans in Dural, Florida and around the world are visiting their homeland by viewing a 360 degree high-definition video in virtual reality, as reported in this story from WLRN Public Media. Note especially the first-person reporting at the end by the author herself. The original story includes an audio version, a second image, a nine-image photo gallery from Instagram, and the 10:24 minute video from YouTube. (Personal note: I wish I could discuss this story and project with my former student, colleague and friend Gisela Gil-Egui and her husband Jose Labrador.) –Matthew] [Image: Friends at the “Teleport to Venezuela” event…

[Dartmouth University researchers have published a systematic clinical study of the effectiveness of an AI-powered therapist called Therabot, which they trained using “original training set the researchers developed from current, evidence-based best practices for psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy.” The impressive reductions in reported symptoms of depression, anxiety and concerns about body image and weight come with some important caveats, but a key result concerns medium-as-social-actor presence: Senior author Nicholas Jacobson notes that “We did not expect that people would almost treat the software like a friend. It says to me that they were actually forming relationships with Therabot.” See…

[The author of this story from Android Central uses two vivid examples as he describes the benefits of using presence-evoking virtual and mixed reality for at-home date nights. He writes that “there’s something amazing about being able to go somewhere with your significant other after a busy day without having to hire a babysitter for the kids.” See the original version for five more pictures and two videos. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central] At-home date nights are better in VR (no, seriously) It can be tough to be creative when you have kids, but VR makes it…

[Here’s a short story (for all of us but particularly our colleague and friend Chad Edwards in case he missed it). It’ s from PC Gamer and describes how an expert woodworker was able to build a table while using the passthrough feature of a VR headset without injuring himself, arguably demonstrating the progress mixed reality tech has made in enabling accurate and precise perceptions during presence experiences. Some of the comments below the 20:12 minute YouTube video available in the original story. and the comments at Hackaday, note that XR glasses are or will be superior for this kind…

[An ambitious collaborative research project by the company that developed and operates the general purpose ChatGPT AI service, and the MIT Media Lab, has produced some interesting presence-related results. The summary below from MIT Technology Review is followed by a more pointed assessment from Futurism that concludes that “the longer you use the chatbot, the more likely you are to become emotionally dependent upon it”). For a more detailed summary of the project, see the blog post from OpenAI and Media Lab. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Photo Illustration by Sarah Rogers/MITTR | Photo Getty] OpenAI has released its first research into…

[Our colleague and friend Grace Ahn is one of the lead researchers working with the U.S. government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric association (NOAA) to develop “an immersive and simulation” for virtual reality to help members of the public learn about and prepare for the dangers of storm surges. The NOAA press release below provides details, and is followed by more information from a University of Georgia press release. –Matthew] [Image: People at a public sporting event try out the “Weather the Storm” storm surge VR simulation. Credit: NOAA/Joshua Alland] Bringing storm surge to virtual reality New product to teach public…

[As Artnet reports, in addition to experiencing the surviving palace and grounds, a presence-evoking virtual version of long-lost monuments at the Palace of Versailles is now available to visitors. See the original story for four different pictures and the Palace website for more information about the Lost Gardens of the Sun King VR experience. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Château de Versailles] The Lost Monuments of Versailles Are Revived in a New V.R. Experience Visitors will discover digital reconstructions of the palace’s lost menagerie for exotic animals and its iconic hedge maze, known as the labyrinth. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, European News ReporterFebruary…

[Education researcher Jared Izumi at Chapman University in Southern California is exploring the potential benefits of using presence-evoking technologies to both assess and treat behavioral problems in children. This story from the University provides details (and the original version includes a photo of Izumi; more information about him and his work can be found on his faculty bio webpage). –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Generated by Adobe Firefly] Virtual Reality and AI Could Transform Behavioral Assessments in U.S. Schools Assistant Professor Jared Izumi is developing a virtual reality program that could eliminate bias from child behavioral assessments. By Benjamin BrazilMarch 18, 2025…