[This story in Stuff (sponsored by Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington) summarizes important concerns about bias in the creation of digital humans raised by writer, visual effects designer, and researcher Raqi Syed. For more about her work, including a 3:13 minute video (also available on YouTube), follow the link in the story and visit her website. –Matthew] Finding virtue in the virtual: Who gets to be a digital human? “The story our most enduring myths tell us is that a great white man will fall from the sky and save us,” says senior lecturer Raqi Syed of Te Herenga…

[Researchers at the University of Cambridge and Disney have created a new way to evoke compelling presence illusions. An excerpt from coverage by New Atlas summarizes the key points: “Holograms are one of sci-fi’s longest promised technologies, and one of real science’s longest-running disappointments. Scientists at Cambridge and Disney Research may be a step closer to making them less disappointing, creating new ‘holobricks’ that can stack and tile together to produce large 3D images that can be viewed from multiple angles. … Each holobrick is made up of a spatial light modulator, a scanner, and coarse integrated optics. Altogether, this…

[A new study described in coverage by The Guardian demonstrates the effectiveness of using virtual reality in the treatment of (especially more severe) agoraphobia. Materials from The University of Oxford in Medical Xpress identify the study as “the largest ever clinical trial of VR for mental health,” and provide more details about the gameChange VR program used, two short informational videos (on YouTube here and here), and a link to the paper in The Lancet. The researchers here and in the paper note that the knowledge that though realistic the simulation isn’t real is a major contributor to the therapy’s…

[This story from Sky News describes a new project in Ireland that uses augmented reality to create 3D images of pioneering female scientists to inspire schoolchildren and encourage more young women to pursue careers in STEM fields. See the original story for three more images and the Learnovate website for more details about the project, and see the Volograms website for more on that company’s mobile app that lets users create volumetric holograms of themselves. Volograms has also posted a 2:37 minute Sky News report on YouTube. For information about related campaigns, see It’s Nice That and the Nexus Studios…

[PsyPost describes a new study of some interesting after-effects of using virtual reality; as the authors note, the results raise several new questions related to the effects of the technology and the presence experiences it produces. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: By Gerd Altmann from Pixabay] Virtual reality can induce mild and transient symptoms of depersonalization and derealization, study finds By Eric W. Dolan April 2, 2022 New research sheds light on how virtual reality (VR) can influence a person’s sense of reality. The findings have been published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior. There have been some preliminary indications that…

[A cautionary story from CNN describes two recent deepfake videos released to affect the war in Ukraine, one featuring President Zelensky, along with some of the ways experts are trying to blunt the impacts of the rapidly evolving technology. See the original story for a 1:26 minute video. A related CNN opinion piece by a foreign policy expert is titled “The Zelensky deepfake is a warning for Corporate America” and provides examples of how “the use of believable manipulated media could be used to confuse customers, partners and employees and damage corporate brands and valuations” and argues that “the experience…

[This example-filled story from The Boston Globe describes and speculates about some of the reasons behind an increase in interactive, immersive (presence-evoking) attractions. See the original story for four more images. –Matthew] [Image: Guests take a ride at RiseNY’s official grand opening on March 2, 2022. Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for RiseNY] ‘The reality is no longer enough’: Immersive experiences are filling travel itineraries By Jon Marcus, Globe Correspondent March 24, 2022 NEW YORK — Cold mist sprays from a fireboat, a subway train hurtles closer through a tunnel, the night sky crackles with fireworks, and the inviting scent of…

[The extent to which the views and concerns of entertainment industry leaders parallel those of presence scholars is striking, as demonstrated in this blog post from SMPTE (the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers). As in academic work, the terminology and relationships among concepts, and predictions for the speed and nature of technology evolution, vary. But the same basic ideas are there, which suggests that academia and industry would both benefit from more communication and collaboration. –Matthew] Meet the Metaverse By Michael Goldman March 29, 2022 In Chaitanya Chinchlikar’s opinion, the newest digital business buzzword—Metaverse—is a label that has…

[Archaeologists in Sweden devised a clever use of the spatial presence evoked by virtual reality to better understand the ways some ancient Romans used elements of interior design to convey their status and power to visitors. This description of the project comes from Artnet, where you’ll find three more images. A 90 second video about the project is available from Haaretz via YouTube. –Matthew] [Image: A visitor explores 3-D reconstruction of the House of the Greek Epigrams in Pompeii using a virtual reality headset. Credit: Photo courtesy of Danilo M. Campanaro and Giacomo Landeschi.] Archaeologists Built a VR Version of…

[New Atlas reports on a new entertainment venue planned for London designed to create immersive “4D” experiences using the world’s largest LED screen and various cutting edge technologies. Watch a short ‘sizzle’ video (which leads to other videos) for the project on YouTube. For information about local opposition and other controversies that may yet stop the Sphere, see coverage from the Evening Standard and Construction News. For details on the already-underway construction of a similar Sphere in Las Vegas see Construction Dive. –Matthew] Spherical music venue to boast world’s largest LED screen By Adam Williams March 24, 2022 Taking the form…

[The author of this first-person report in Bustle compares her experiences with meditation using virtual reality to those with traditional meditation. –Matthew] How VR Meditation Helped Me *Actually* Shut Out Distractions By Anna Samson March 9, 2022 Floating weightlessly miles above the Earth, I look down to see pink cotton candy clouds beneath me. A soft voice suggests that I watch a flock of birds soar through the air, focusing my attention on their movements. It might sound like I’m dreaming, but the serene scene in front of me is powered by Liminal, a wellness platform available on the Oculus…

[Here’s a breezy description and analysis of a recent patent application by Meta for the technologies to enable ‘3D conversation’ – it’s all about creating the illusions of social and spatial presence experiences even though it doesn’t explicitly use the terms. See the original story from TNW for two more images. –Matthew] Meta filed a patent for ‘3D conversations’ — are holographic calls almost here? Meta wants to enable 3D calls for everything from VR headsets to smartphones By Napier Lopez February 23, 2022 Ever since Star Wars first showed space wizards talking to holograms, calling someone and chatting with…