[This Wired analysis of Meta’s latest virtual reality headset and the company’s plans to incorporate less immersive means of accessing shared virtual spaces considers two problems: The still-limited quality of nascent VR technologies and the metaverse (however it’s defined) means that only a minority of consumers and even workers want to use them, and when the minority of people who do use VR meet and collaborate in virtual spaces with the majority who don’t, it produces an undemocratic and potentially dysfunctional distribution of immersion and presence. Theoretically the first problem will be solved when the technology is (finally) ready for…

[The Toronto Star reports on how large-scale projection-mapped images and accompanying soundtracks are providing popular immersive entertainment experiences and challenging the definition of art. As one of the experts who hope the sector will turn to original, contemporary and even narrative-based source material says, “They’re barely touching on what this technology can do right now — the level of illusion and how it can create this sense of presence.” See the original story for a second image. –Matthew] Disney signs deal with Toronto’s Lighthouse Immersive to develop new projection art experience Projection-driven immersive exhibitions are revolutionizing the arts world and…

[The TV Guide review below of a new Amazon Prime Video series based on William Gibson’s novel The Peripheral and brought to the screen by the producers of HBO’s Westworld avoids major spoilers and makes clear that the series portrays, and addresses issues related to, advanced forms of presence. Not all the reviews are as positive (see The Hollywood Reporter and especially The Verge, but the program’s IMDb entry at this writing has an 8.3/10 rating). For more information and insights about the series see Wired’s interview with the producers. GeekWire’s coverage notes that series creator/producer/writer Scott B.…

[Initial evidence that the presence evoked by singing in virtual reality may have positive effects on health and wellbeing is discussed in this story from the University of York. In addition to the links within it, see a 15:49 minute talk by Professor Helena Daffern on YouTube. –Matthew Could virtual reality singing have mental health benefits? October 20, 2022 Researchers have created a virtual reality choir to understand whether virtual singing could have the same health and wellbeing benefits as group singing in real life. The team test the virtual reality singing experience in care homes. When in-person group singing…

[The short story below from ABC27 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and the press release from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections that follows describe an innovative use of presence-evoking virtual reality. –Matthew] [Image: Source: FOX 56] Virtual reality brings incarcerated Pa. parents closer to their kids By: Bryan Munoz Posted: October 17, 2022 / Updated: October 18, 2022 (WHTM) — The Department of Corrections is teaming up with Pittsburgh nonprofit Amachi for a one-a-kind initiative. “It’s an incredible opportunity for kids and parents to reconnect especially after a long period of no visitation,” said Anna Hollis, executive director for Amachi. It involves…

[This Motherboard story doesn’t use the term and isn’t about any traditional type of presence, but it describes a presence phenomenon in which humans overlook the key role of artificial intelligence technology in their mediated experience. See the original version for a Twitter post and link to an extended conversation, and Futurism’s March 2020 story “This Grad Student Used a Neural Network to Write His Papers.”  –Matthew] Students Are Using AI to Write Their Papers, Because Of Course They Are Essays written by AI language tools like OpenAI’s Playground are often hard to tell apart from text written by humans.…

[We haven’t heard much about Google’s Project Starline for a while, but this first-person report from The Verge indicates that Google is gradually expanding access to, and pursuing use cases for, the “next generation 3D video chat booth.” In addition to describing the impressive illusions it evokes, the author makes this key observation about both Starline and Meta’s virtual and mixed reality efforts: “I found it striking that two of the biggest tech companies in the world are trying to improve virtual presence.” See the original story for more images and the 1:51 minute “heartwarming” video. –Matthew] [Image: This image…

[Amid the incessant hype about virtual reality and the metaverse, honest assessments and advice from an expert can be both refreshing and valuable. John Carmack illustrates this in the Ars Technica story below; the original version features additional sidebars and Carmack’s hour-long unscripted talk at Meta Connect 2022 (which is also available on YouTube). For related assessments, and some historical context, see “What happened to the virtual reality gaming revolution?,“ also from Ars Technica, and “Virtual reality will now ruin ‘The Office’” from Cracked. –Matthew Carmack: “There’s a bunch that I’m grumpy about” in virtual reality Lonely lecture as a…

[The evolution of artificial intelligence systems that generate images, and now videos, from text prompts, has been particularly rapid this year. As the qualifiers in this story from MIT Technology Review (and others) suggests, it’ll still be a while before a member of the public can generate complete, complex and convincing audiovisual renderings of imagined objects, people and events, but the prospects are both intriguing and concerning. The original MIT Technology Review story includes three example videos, and for more on Meta’s system see coverage in The Verge. Google has already answered Meta’s work with its own Imagin system– see…

[Wired reports on Amazon’s improvements in, and longer term plans for, its home robot Astro, which include evolutions in form (limbs?) and function (elder care? companionship?) likely to generate a variety of medium-as-social-actor presence responses. Key quotes: “the company firmly believes domestic robots will one day become widespread. And they described how such devices offer a powerful way for Amazon to fulfill its main objective—anticipating customers’ every want and need.” and “’This is the beginning.’ Don’t expect Astro to evolve into something wildly more capable overnight—or Amazon to give up on the project.” –Matthew Amazon Wants Its Home Robot, Astro,…

[This insightful Big Think interview with the director of the documentary “A Glitch in the Matrix,” about the ultimate form of presence and its meanings and implications, isn’t new, but examples of people interpreting events as examples of the phenomenon continue to appear in the news, as noted in the new Yahoo! story, “TikToker convinced she finds ‘glitch in the matrix’ when unpacking after her move: ‘Your timelines merged’”; see the original Big Think story for different images and the documentary’s trailer (also available on YouTube). –Matthew ‘A Glitch in the Matrix’ documentary explores the dark side of simulation theory…

[Will there be a new, viable option for presence-evoking video conferencing that falls between relatively simple, non-immersive products like Zoom and advanced, cumbersome immersive systems like virtual reality? This Fast Company story describes one possibility. The original version of the story includes a second image and a short video. See the TMRW Foundation’s website for more information and videos, and watch Cevat Yerli describe his vision in a YouTube video from the World Government Summit 2022. –Matthew] This new service gives Zoom-style video calls a 3D video game twist Room gets your coworkers out of the grid and into a…