[A widely-cited Reuters report briefly describes the latest work of a Japanese professor and his students toward adding taste to presence experiences .See the original version for four more images and a 1:14 minute video summary. For more information see a three minute Global News report via YouTube, a May 2020 ISPR Presence News post and an August 2021 press release from Meiji University titled “Yoshiaki Miyashita Laboratory, Faculty of Comprehensive Mathematics Developed ‘TeleSalty’, a communication system that allows you to experience the same concentration of salt in real time even remotely.” –Matthew] [Image: Source: Mashable Southeast Asia] Tasty TV:…

[For this pre-Christmas post I’ve collected links to some interesting and potentially restorative recent examples of presence – enjoy! –Matthew] [Image: Source: Capture the Atlas] Presence via building façade: Louis Vuitton window installation (Noel Y. Calingasan • NYC via Twitter – Day and Night) “Louis Vuitton unveiled its holiday window installation featuring a colorful, towering Christmas Tree that scales the entire corner facade of their Fifth Avenue [New York City] store.” — Presence via still images: The 2021 Northern Lights Photographer Of The Year (Capture the Atlas) “There aren’t many events as moving as seeing the aurora borealis dance and illuminate…

[The UK’s National Gallery will open a free exhibition in spring 2022 that will allow visitors to experience Paolo Veronese’s 1562 painting “The Consecration of Saint Nicholas” as it would have appeared in its original chapel in the church of San Benedetto al Po near Mantua, Italy. Some of the details from the National Gallery’s press release are below; see the original version for three more images and more information about the painting. A company called Immersive Promotion Design presents details about and examples from the mentioned R&D project that explored the best ways to effectively promote this and other…

[The author of this short Road to VR story is right when he says it’s hard describe an impressive recent demonstration of social mixed reality from Unity Labs that uses Meta/Facebook’s Presence Platform – it’s easier to watch the included 25 second video (also available on YouTube). For a very detailed 27 minute demonstration and discussion see a video from Adam Savage’s Tested on YouTube and for more on the new Presence Platform see a story in VRScout and a 28 minute video from Facebook ‘s Reality Labs that features the chess demo starting at 15:38. –Matthew] Unity’s Incredible Mixed…

[Deepfake video technologies are already a major threat – Reuters reports that “Non-consensual deepfake pornography accounted for 96% of a sample study of more than 14,000 deepfake videos posted online, according to a 2019 report by Sensity, a company that detects and monitors synthetic media” and a new Wired report is headlined “The Biggest Deepfake Abuse Site Is Growing in Disturbing Ways.” But the danger of the use of even audio-only deepfakes for malicious social engineering are highlighted in this story from Singularity Hub. In a Continuity Central story an expert from trend-tracking company IntSights warns of the “potential evolution…

[This link-filled CNN report covers the latest developments in digital fashion and discusses key challenges (e.g., convincing people to pay for objects that only exist online; transportability across platforms) and benefits (e.g., for sustainability); see the original story for eight more images. In a short NPR interview Imran Ahmed, CEO and editor-in-chief of the Business of Fashion, explains why companies think there’s a market for fashion in the digital world: “Fundamentally, it comes down to the purpose of why fashion exists. Of course, we all wear clothes for functional reasons – to stay warm or to cover ourselves up. But…

[In a positive but disturbing application of presence, a new virtual reality experience puts users in the role of President of the United States making life-and-death decisions that affect millions of people during an apparent attack with limited time and information. The author of this story from The Guardian provides a first-person report along with other information about the project. See the original story for two more images and two videos of the simulation, and for more information including quotes from a variety of experts, see a press release from Global Zero. –Matthew] ‘15 minutes to save the world’: a…

[KQED reports on a program at the University of California San Francisco that uses virtual reality and the presence experiences it creates to build empathy and combat unconscious biases of doctors and nurses that contribute to disturbing racial inequities in medical care and outcomes. The story includes valuable perspective on the challenges and open questions involved; see the original version for three more images. –Matthew] [Image: Nova Wilson, program coordinator for the UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences, instructs Dr. Mike Reid on using virtual reality equipment at UCSF offices in San Francisco on Dec. 10, 2021. The VR program…

[This short story from PYMNTS describes a parasocial interaction experience designed for Chicago sports fans (and soon for many others). See the press release for a short video (also available on YouTube). –Matthew] Augmented Reality at Chicago’s United Center Powers the 5G Connected Fan Experience By PYMNTS December 14, 2021 Sports fans visiting the United Center in Chicago will soon be able to take video and photo selfies with augmented reality (AR) versions of players and mascots. This “Pose with the Pros” experience results from a partnership between AT&T and two teams: the Chicago Blackhawks and the Chicago Bulls.…

[This CNN Business story describes a very positive application of presence via chatbots; see the original story for three other images. For more information see a press release on The Trevor Project’s blog. –Matthew] How chatbots are being used to train crisis counselors By Rachel Metz December 7, 2021 Drew, a 21-year-old in Irvine, California, needs help: He’s transgender, and after starting hormone replacement therapy he’s facing harassment from coworkers. It’s gotten so bad, Drew tells a crisis counselor via a text-based chat session, that he’s considering suicide. He can’t quit his job, however, because he needs the money. “i think…

[Many people and organizations are raising concerns about the infringement of rights in virtual and extended reality environments including the nascent metaverse. For example, see “Virtual Worlds, Real People: Human Rights in the Metaverse” by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and an interview in The Ghost Howls blog with Kristina Podnar about how we need to fight for “Privacy & Safety and Digital Human Rights.” But this essay in ZDNet makes an even more basic argument about the human right of autonomy in virtual platforms and how to address threats to it. See the original story for a 5:27 minute…

[CNBC reports on how advertising will, or should, evolve for a metaverse that will give users a “feeling of presence”; the story describes a transition from the decades-old model in which messages mostly interrupt users’ experience to one in which brands “create experiences people actually want.” See the original story for two videos, and see Influencer Marketing Hub for “A Deep Dive into Metaverse Marketing.” –Matthew] [Image: Source: Influencer Marketing Hub] Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse, how will the world of advertisements look? November 20, 2021 By Todd Wasserman Imagine at a point in the near future, you are taking your…