[This piece from Harvard Magazine summarizes some of the observations from an interview with Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker on the topics of virtual reality and presence. See the original version (or YouTube), for the 14:12 minute video interview. A related video, “Harvard Professor Steven Pinker on Apple Vision Pro,“ is also on YouTube. –Matthew] [Image: Steven Pinker, Johnstone Family professor of psychology at Harvard University, wearing a Meta Quest headset outside William James Hall, home to Harvard’s psychology, sociology, and social studies departments. Credit: Jason Nemirow, courtesy of Steven Pinker] The Psychology of Virtual Reality Harvard’s Steven Pinker on…

[This story from Anglia Ruskin University describes an ambitious project using presence-evoking and other technologies to preserve the endangered Cornish language and the culture of Cornwall, England, and Griko, a second endangered European language. –Matthew] New project aims to REVIVE the Cornish language Digital technologies will help to preserve and promote Cornwall’s unique heritage By ARU Press officeJanuary 16, 2025 A major seven-nation project has been launched to help preserve and promote the Cornish language, as well as Cornwall’s wider cultural heritage, by combining immersive technologies with participatory storytelling. Called REVIVE, the £2.5 million project is being led by Anglia…

[Researchers at the University of Montreal are testing the effectiveness of personally relevant virtual reality experiences and the presence they evoke, combined with hypnosis, to reduce the pain and anxiety of cancer patients. Details are reported in this story from the University, where the original includes three more pictures. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Super Splendide] Virtual reality and hypnosis bring relief UdeM scientists are combining immersive imagery and hypnotic techniques to reduce pain and anxiety in patients who have cancer of the blood. By Virginie SofferJanuary 21, 2025 In a room at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montreal, a patient puts on a…

[A virtual reality presentation that uses presence to build empathy and understanding around the events of October 7, 2023 is described in this story from The Times of Israel. The experience is being provided around the world, including on college campuses in the U.S., to depoliticize the issues and counter antisemitism. See the original version of the story for four more images. More details are provided in coverage in the Pasadena Weekly and LA Downtown News; the latter includes this: “Produced by Stephen D. Smith, the former USC Shoah Foundation executive director, the project uses cutting-edge technology to ‘give survivors…

[Today’s posts are both news stories about new presence-evoking techniques being used in sports coverage. The story below from DesignTAXI describes how the Australian Open tennis tournament is using animated avatars of players to recreate match coverage in near-real-time on its YouTube channel. See the original version of the story for four embedded social media posts containing video examples. For more information, see coverage from AP via ABC News. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Australian Open] The Australian Open reinvents tennis coverage with Wii Sports-style animated livestreams By KeyboardKittyJanuary 16, 2025 The Australian Open 2025 has taken an unexpected yet wildly entertaining…

[Today’s posts are both news stories about new presence-evoking techniques being used in sports coverage. The story below from Sports Business Journal describes how ESPN is using virtual reality to provide television viewers with the first-person perspective of National Football League players during critical moments of play. For more information, see coverage in Sports Illustrated. –Matthew] How ESPN uses StatusPro Visualizer on ‘NFL Live’ By Joe LemireDecember 16, 2024 Telestration has long been the tool of choice for football analysts to explain actions on the field, but sometimes overhead annotation can’t match in-studio visualization. For the past three weeks, ESPN…

[As a person with low vision (due to congenital nystagmus), this story from Travel Tomorrow about a new type of glasses that use a combination of presence-evoking technologies to “replicate the functionality of a guide dog,” is especially meaningful. The original version of the story includes a 1:22 minute video (also on YouTube). Much more information about the .lumen glasses and the company developing and testing them is available from MIT Solve, including this description: “.lumen uses technologies from autonomous driving and robotics scaled down to a wearable system. In detail, it uses advanced sensorics, mostly vision-based, combined with he…

[This short story from The Drum provides a vivid example of how much widely available presence experiences have advanced since the days of VHS. The 30 second ad described is available in the original version of the story and on YouTube. The new Supernatural experience is available from Meta, and you can watch Jane Fonda’s Original Workout from the 1980s on YouTube. –Matthew] Jane Fonda takes her cardio legacy into the world of virtual reality with Meta Quest The actor and fitness icon blends retro charm with cutting-edge tech to redefine at-home cardio. By Audrey Kemp, LA ReporterDecember 18, 2024…

[China is planning to use humanoid robots, intended to evoke medium-as-social-actor presence, to care for its growing elderly population, as reported in this story from the South China Morning Post. The plans are at the national and local levels – note the reference to a report from Hubei province’s Wuhan that says robots “are expected to provide companionship, monitor health, and use 3D facial scanning and modelling technology to customise their appearance to resemble loved ones or even a younger version of the senior” (!). For a related story, see “Nvidia scientist praises Chinese humanoid robot, stoking interest” also from…

[Here is a long interview from Game Rant with the directors of a new media experience that combines advanced presence-evoking technologies to create a first-person story about the promise and perils of advanced technologies. The directors describe some of the challenges they faced in designing and producing Human Within, many of which involve maximizing, and avoiding breaks in, the user’s sense of presence. See the original version of the interview for ten more images and a video trailer (also available on YouTube). –Matthew] Human Within Interview: A Compelling Live-Action VR Experience [EXCLUSIVE] By Joey BrownJanuary 11, 2025 Signal Space Lab’s…

[This Newsweek story describes the latest example of the use of technology to purposely blur “the line between what is real and what is faked,” i.e., evoke a presence misperception (the more abrupt question in the title of this post comes from a 404 Media email newsletter promoting a related story from that organization). In addition to these stories see fact-checks from Snopes about the Hollywood sign and NewsMeter about that and other misrepresentations of the Los Angeles fires. –Matthew] [Image: Source: NewsMeter] How AI Convinced World Hollywood Sign Was Burning Down in LA Fire By Melissa Fleur Afshar, Life…

[AP News reports that a renowned television journalist with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) was able to return to broadcasting thanks to AI-based technologies; the story highlights both this type of positive application of presence-evoking technology and the concerns about negative applications. See the original story for a different image from the mentioned preview video and the 41 second video itself (also available directly from AP). For a related story, see an August 2021 ISPR Presence News post about how similar technology was used to restore the voice of actor Val Kilmer. –Matthew] ALS sidelined this Israeli TV journalist. AI is…