[Quickly evolving technologies are making it possible to have ever more vivid and realistic presence experiences in which we interact not only with other people but with our future self, with potentially valuable impacts, as illustrated in new work by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law. This story is from Germany‘s DW (Deutsche Welle); for more details, listen to the 30 minute episode of the Science unscripted podcast titled “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Unai Huizi/imageBROKER/picture alliance] Can VR help you achieve your goals? A Max…

[Ermo Säks explores how cinematic virtual reality, in which film and video are presented to viewers in 360 degrees, “helps people become accustomed to virtual reality, spatial media and other emerging immersive environments that are highly engaging and alter one’s perception of reality.” This story from Tallin University (also available via Phys.org) describes his dissertation, which is available via the link at the end. –Matthew] A doctoral thesis examined what happens when the cinema screen is no longer in front of the viewer, but the viewer is instead inside the film’s narrative Until now, most films have been shown on…

[We return from a break with this story about new mixed reality apps that help users learn and practice the physical movements, and to develop the psychological confidence, needed for dancing with a partner. The story is from NPR, where the original includes a second image and an audio version. Follow the links to the apps for more information, images and videos. –Matthew] [Image: Entrepreneur David Huang tests out a VR headset while conducting demonstrations of the social dance lesson app Dance Guru at the Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, Calif., June 17, 2026. Credit: Chloe Veltman/NPR] Shy on…

[Although it nearly always seems to us that the world we see with our eyes is exactly the world that exists outside of us, our eyes only sample reality for our brain to interpret. As this story from the University of Rochester explains very well, that means that creating a presence illusion of reality with virtual or augmented reality is much more challenging and complicated than creating high-resolution, “lifelike” images. See the original version of the story for four more images and a 2:15 minute video (also on YouTube). –Matthew] [Image: Credit: University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster]…

[Northeastern University researchers have created and are testing a new game that uses the player’s facial expressions not to trigger simple changes in aesthetics or difficulty but as a mechanism for playing the game: “The emotional input you’re asked to provide further boosts the sense of ‘dramatic agency’ and makes you feel like a participant.” The ultimate goal is to build “emotional perspective-taking” and empathy, in this case for members of the LGBTQ+ community. The approach has great potential not only for VR games but in other contexts, as explained at the end of the story. See the original version…

[The use of presence-evoking virtual reality for taekwondo is the basis for “a growing community of the gamified combat sport across Southeast Asia.” This story from AP News provides details, including some of the motivations for and benefits of virtual taekwondo; see the original version of the story for eight more large and vivid images and a 52 second video. –Matthew] [Image: Virtual Taekwondo athletes compete at an event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Saturday, June 20, 2026. Credit: AP Photo/Vincent Thian] VR and gaming are adding a kick to taekwondo By Eileen NgJuly 7, 2026 KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) —…

[The news that AI-generated actress Tilly Norwood will star in a feature film (as an AI-generated character) is receiving wide coverage in the press, including this report from Variety. Following that below I’ve added presence-related excerpts from a few stories in other publications, and from a recent interview with the Tilly Norwood in the New York Times Magazine (the interviewer gives an insightful assessment of why the actress evokes her medium-as-social-actor presence). –Matthew] Tilly Norwood to Lead New Movie ‘Misaligned,’ Marking Feature Debut for AI ‘Actor’ By Alex RitmanJuly 6, 2026 Tilly Norwood, the AI “actor” who sparked a frenzy…

[High-end technologies designed to evoke spatial and social presence have come a long way in the last few decades, as can be seen in this story from AV Magazine about the latest products from the company Noro. See the original version of the story for two more pictures, follow the links at the end for videos of the latest tech, and for more details visit the Noro website. –Matthew] Is Tommaso Trionfi taking the next turn in telepresence? The CEO of Noro and his team are combining an LED wall with an embedded central camera, companion touchscreen, collaboration tools and…

[The ambitious Virtual Experience Research Accelerator (VERA) project was created to advance human-subjects research on extended reality; in this news release via the University of Central Florida, VERA announces two new milestones toward that goal. See the original version for three more images, and a May 2023 ISPR Presence News post for more context. There’s much more information on the VERA website. –Matthew] UCF-Led VERA Project Reaches 2 Major Milestones for VR Research The Virtual Experience Research Accelerator (VERA), a U.S. National Science Foundation-funded platform designed to advance the pace and scope of immersive research, has launched its first large-scale…

[In what is apparently a world first, a charter school in San Diego, California has purchased two AI-powered humanoid robots to interact with students. It’s “part of a pilot program meant to help [the educators] figure out what role AI – and potentially robots – may play in the future of education.” Of course there are some serious concerns about the effort, including the priorities represented by the high cost of the robots and fears about the possibility of technology being used to replace human teachers. This report from Voice of San Diego describes the early days of the program…

[AI companies and many organizations label and refer to AI agents not as technological tools but as “digital humans,” “employees,” or “coworkers.” As described in this story from MIT Technology Review, researchers from Boston University have found that encouraging what might be considered role-based medium-as-social-actor presence in this way leads to negative outcomes by implying that the AI has skills and responsibilities equivalent to those of humans. As the researchers write, “AI employees appear to occupy a hybrid organizational position: treated as delegated producers rather than tools, but not monitored like human subordinates.” –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Photo Illustration by Sarah…

[This interesting story from UploadVR describes the trajectory of work by creator Marc Zimmermann, who has designed a series of presence-evoking virtual reality experiences that emphasize “mood, movement, sound, and emotional immersion rather than traditional gameplay.” To better understand what these experiences are like, see the original version of the story for six more images and two videos (and of course follow the links and try some of the experiences yourself). –Matthew] How Realms Of Flow Explores A Different Side Of VR By Craig StormJune 4, 2026 Some of the VR experiences that have stayed with me the longest haven’t…