[This essay from Forbes presents statistics and expert predictions about the rapid rise of technologies that simulate humans and evoke medium as social actor presence; provides some potentially useful definitions that distinguish the technologies based on their characteristics, applications and impacts; and concludes with links to several state-of-the-art tools for creating the most sophisticated category of simulations, digital humans. –Matthew] From Science Fiction To Reality: How Digital Humans Are Forging New Realities By Kuk Jiang, Forbes Technology Council Member; Kuk is the cofounder of ZEGOCLOUD, a global cloud communication service provider of real-time audio and video communication APIs and SDKs…

[A group of faculty in Peru have created an AI-powered digital avatar that not only delivers news in an indigenous language on TikTok, but in a new program offers lessons in the ancient language. In the future they hope that Illariy “will function as a bot that can be asked questions and respond in Quechua.” It’s not hard to imagine a near-future in which not only languages but many other aspects of diverse cultures are preserved and taught via a combination of extended reality and artificial intelligence that allows users to interact with vivid simulations of places and people. See…

[Another venue for a “presence field trip” has opened! This long but interesting story from Fast Company describes a new exhibit space at the American Museum of Natural History in New York designed to evoke spatial and social presence (and other important things). See the original story for three images and three videos. –Matthew] [Image: Source: TimeOut New York] The future of the museum is an empty room that can take you anywhere The Invisible Worlds exhibition at New York’s museum of natural history gives new meaning to the immersive experience. By Alex Pasternack June 8, 2023 How do you…

[The story below from Futurism reflects frustration about how easy it already is to use generative AI to create presence illusions that mislead (and dangerously increase political and cultural polarization). Coverage in USA Today starts this way: “A May 30 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes images of apparel and store displays featuring horned figures and satanic imagery inside a major retailer. ‘Folks: THIS is TARGET, & that is a Satanist idol,’ reads the post. ‘STOP SHOPPING TARGET! They are EVIL.’ The post was shared more than 700 times in a week. Other versions of the claim were shared…

[This story from Notre Dame News describes a new published article about the “promise and pitfalls” of presence-evoking technologies for science. Follow the link in the story (and the full reference at the end) for the full article. –Matthew] The metaverse can lead to better science One Notre Dame researcher says we should look beyond the hype to see how virtual reality can make scientists more effective. But to realize the benefits, researchers must also plan well and avoid potential pitfalls. By Brett Beasley May 25, 2023 In 2021, Facebook made “metaverse” the buzziest word on the web, rebranding itself…

[As a person with congenital nystagmus, and especially given my interest in presence, I’ve looked for ways to effectively describe the way I see the world, or much better, provide them with a simulated version of my experience. The two stories below report on a new use of virtual reality that can provide the latter – the BBC News story focuses on the benefits of the simulation (see the original version for more pictures) and the one from Belfast LIVE that follows it provides more details about the VR software and how it was developed. –Matthew] [Image: Caroline Henderson now…

[There is very widespread coverage of this week’s unveiling of a new augmented reality headset from Apple; if you’re looking for a comprehensive and thoughtful reaction to what it all means, you might want to read an editorial by The Ghost Howls blog’s Skarredghost (Antony Vitillo), a long-time and expert observer of the XR world. Here’s the introduction (follow the link for the rest). –Matthew] Editorial: Apple Vision Pro is a mix of innovation, and year-2016 VR, for a hefty price. But… By SKARREDGHOST June 5, 2023 I just watched the full keynote of Apple at WWDC, where the company in…

[Here’s an interesting, and somewhat worrisome, story from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania about the status of social science research on presence-evoking technologies. Follow the links for more details. –Matthew] New Report Comprehensively Reviews the State of Extended Reality (XR) Research Published by the Annenberg School’s Virtual Reality ColLABorative, the report summarizes augmented, mixed, and virtual reality research in the social sciences. By Hailey Reissman May 30, 2023 Most of us interact with virtual technologies in our everyday lives, whether it’s scanning a QR code to see a restaurant menu, taking a selfie with a…

[In arguing that computers and AI are simply not capable of human consciousness, thought and intention, this essay from Psyche argues that the actual danger of emerging artificial intelligence technologies is acting on the (medium-as-social-actor presence) illusion that they are: “If one is disposed to fear this technology, one should do so not because it is becoming conscious, but because it never can. The algorithm can endow it with a kind of ‘liberty’ of operation that mimics human intentionality, even though there is no consciousness there – and hence no conscience – to which we could appeal if it ‘decided’…

[The author of this story from Wired provides a vivid and personal description of the experience provided by “Body of Mine,” a new project that uses virtual reality and presence to increase empathy with and support for people with gender dysphoria. See the project’s website for more information, including this from the “Vision” section: “LGBTQ+VR With the rise in attacks against transgender individuals and their rights, we believe that full immersion has the potential for not only powerful empathetic responses from non-queer people, but also profound support for those who are closeted or questioning. While a young trans girl in…

[The presence illusions we studied used to be simpler: Are you in the actual world or one created by virtual reality (or film, television, etc.)? Does that desktop computer seem to be just a technology or a social actor? Over the last few decades, the ways in which we misperceive the roles of technology in an experience have multiplied. With augmented, mixed and extended reality; telepresence robots; multi-platform virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa; smartphones; advances in CGI and VFX; audio and visual deepfakes; a wide variety of robots including Sophia and Ameca; digital humans; holograms; and now generative and…

[Non-player characters in games provide important information that brings the human player into the game setting and story. As Business Insider notes, “One video game alone can have dozens — if not hundreds — of non-player characters, or NPCs. Controlled by a computer, these characters range from Tom Nook, who runs the village store in ‘Animal Crossing,’ to Zelda, the princess of Hyrule and namesake of the Nintendo series. Over the past few decades, the graphics and basic dialogue of these characters may have advanced, but the interactions can still feel static and scripted.” To make interactions with NPCs more…