[In the second of two posts today about presence and religion, this detailed story from Catholic World Report describes a disturbing form of “fake celebrity endorsement” in which Pope Francis and Cardinal Mark Ouellet are seen in presence-evoking deepfake videos promoting the sale of an “at best theologically dubious” product. –Matthew] [Image: Real and AI-produced images of Pope Francis and Marc Cardinal Ouellet. Credit: Screenshots courtesy of the author] Beware of the Deepfake Magisterium By M. V. DoughertyJanuary 27, 2025 The use of artificial intelligence to produce fake celebrity endorsements of dubious products is not new and is well-documented, and…

[In the first of two posts today about presence and religion, this AP story reports on the results of an interesting, and controversial, experiment in Switzerland in which people interacted with an “AI Jesus” in a Catholic chapel. See the original version of the story for five different images, and an earlier story by The Guardian for more details. A 1:37 minute video news report from Euronews is available on YouTube. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Euronews] ‘AI Jesus’ avatar tests man’s faith in machines and the divine By Jamey KeatenNovember 28, 2024 LUCERNE, Switzerland (AP) — Would you trust an “AI…

[This story from the Jacksonville University College of Law’s WAVE Magazine describes how one professor is leading the effort to create a comprehensive set of virtual reality simulations that provide “real world” learning experiences for students. See the Jacksonville University website for more information about the College and Professor DeVito. –Matthew] How Can Virtual Reality Translate to Real World Experience? By Katie GarwoodDecember 17, 2024 A key piece of any legal education is real-world experience — getting in the courtroom, going through the motions and learning by doing. That’s why Associate Professor of Law Scott DeVito includes real-world examples and…

[Faculty and students at the Rochester Institute of Technology have created a presence-evoking simulation of an important device in media history. The headline of this post that describes the project is from a EurekAlert! press release from RIT (the subhead is “Virtual reality technology is a tool for sharing cultural heritage objects”). See the original version of the story from RIT News for four more images. –Matthew] [Image: This screenshot from the 19th-century printing press VR app built by RIT students and faculty introduces users to a historical pressroom. Credit: Cary Graphic Arts Collection/RIT] RIT app on Steam brings 19th-century…

[Technology writer Mike Elgan writes in Computerworld about Apple’s research on how people perceive and respond to a non-humanoid robot that simulates human emotions and other internal states – essentially research on the social cues that evoke medium-as-social-actor presence. For more on Apple’s research see the Apple Machine Learning Research website and new article in arXiv; for more on the Luxo Jr. logo see the Pixar website. Elgan writes more extensively and emphatically about researchers’ habit of implying that robots actually have these internal states in his Machine Society substack (part of the post is behind a paywall). Excerpts from…

[This story from Psychology Today describes a recent study of four dimensions of presence and how they impact the objective and subjective success of small teams working together to solve 3D puzzles in a virtual environment. Note the call for expanded future research at the end. –Matthew] [Image: Figure 2 from Massey et al. study: Scrambled Puzzle (on left) and Solved Puzzle (on right).] Enhancing Team Performance in Virtual Reality Environments The influence of presence on teamwork in collaborative virtual environments. By Michael Hogan, Ph.D., a lecturer in psychology at the National University of Ireland, GalwayReviewed by Margaret FoleyFebruary 15,…

[The story below from Forbes, and the excerpts of other coverage that follow it, are a vivid illustration of the complicated promise and peril of presence-evoking artificial intelligence. The viral AI deepfake video is available via a Lead Story “hoax alert.” See also Rolling Stone’s recent story “How Celebrities Are Fighting AI Deepfakes of Themselves. The founder and CEO of a ‘likeness protection company’ explains what can be done about unwanted digital doppelgängers.” –Matthew] [Image: Source: CNN] Inside The Viral AI Video Of Celebrities Blasting Ye’s Antisemitic Remarks By Leslie Katz, Senior ContributorFebruary 13, 2025; Updated February 14, 2025 In…

[Researchers at the Mayo Clinic are investigating the potentially substantial benefits of giving patients anxiety-reducing presence experiences before they undergo heart surgery, as reported in this story from the Mayo Clinic News Network. See the linked research report in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings for more details. –Matthew] Mayo Clinic researchers and surgeons test virtual reality to calm presurgery jitters  By Terri MalloyFebruary 12, 2025 ROCHESTER, Minn. — Heart surgery is a serious and invasive medical procedure, and that can be intimidating for a patient. A new study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings suggests that virtual reality (VR) can be an…

[Science News Explores covers science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) “for children ages 9 and up, their parents and educators”; this story describes a recent study of the experiences of teens in the U.S. who use virtual reality and includes quotes from both teens and the researchers who conducted the study. Note the indirect references to multiple forms of presence and how they contribute to both positive and negative impacts. See Florida Atlantic University’s coverage from October 2024, and the authors’ published article in the journal New Media & Society, for more details. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Izusek/E+/Getty Images Plus] For…

[In this link-filled report from The Conversation, our colleague and friend (and former student member of the ISPR Board of Directors) Vicky McArthur describes the use and potential positive impacts of presence-evoking 360-degree videos. See the original version for two embedded 360-degree videos.  –Matthew] [Image: A woman uses virtual reality glasses at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22, 2025. Credit: AP Photo/Markus Schreiber] 360-degree videos are making social issues and educational content more engaging for Canadians By Victoria (Vicky) McArthur, Associate Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton UniversityFebruary 5, 2025 Immersive film…

[This ‘case study’ from the company Mood Media doesn’t use the term presence but provides a good example of how presence experiences can be effectively incorporated into brick-and-mortar retail settings. The original version includes many pictures, a one-minute video (also available on YouTube), and links to press coverage, notably by AV Magazine. The title of this post is the headline of a story in Retail TouchPoints. –Matthew] [Image: Two views of The Dome Tent inside The North Face store. Source: AV Magazine] The North FaceCase Study About The North Face Since 1966, The North Face has been the definitive outfitter…

[In what is likely to be an increasingly common development, researchers are enhancing the presence-evoking capabilities of a virtual reality application designed to provide realistic simulations of real-world interactions to improve students’ social skills. Follow the links in this story from the University of Kansas for more details. –Matthew] [Image: Student avatars converse and make their way through a school hallway in VOISS (Virtual reality Opportunity to Integrate Social Skills), an AI and virtual reality empowered system designed to help students with autism spectrum disorder improve their social skills. Credit: VOISS] KU research team develops virtual reality, AI-boosted system to…