[ScienceAlert reports on how a visual effects artist extracted a new subjective point-of-view image from an iconic photo taken on the moon over a half-century ago, creating a presence-evoking image and even a second, immersive 360 degree version of what Buzz Aldrin saw as the photo was taken. See the original story and especially the artist’s Reddit post and its links, for more details. DesignTAXI’s coverage adds this: “This point of view has left social media users astounded, if not a little spooked. ‘It’s kind of eerie… It’s literally people 52 years in the future using modern technology to catch…

[This short, funny story from Kotaku reports on the upcoming release of a game that simulates mowing British lawns and in the process highlights the impressive evolution of similar simulations and the benefits of ‘thinking outside the box’ when choosing activities to reproduce in presence-evoking virtual environments. See the original story for a second picture and a 1:05 minute trailer (also available via YouTube); more images and another video are on the product’s Steam store page. –Matthew] [Image: A very exciting screenshot of Lawn Mower Simulator. Credit: Skyhook Games / Curve Digital] Lawn Mowing Simulator Takes Cutting The Grass Very…

[The use of artificial intelligence technology in a new documentary to create the illusion of the late Anthony Bourdain’s voice has raised a controversy with important implications regarding the ethics of presence. This story from The New Yorker provides the facts and explores the reasons some are upset – including their previous presence experiences in the form of parasocial relationships with Bourdain – and the evolving standards and techniques for disclosing illusions to audiences. –Matthew] [Image: The artificial voice may trouble people in large part because of the close connection they feel with Bourdain, shown here in 2011. Credit: Jose…

[This short story from The News Wheel describes a new telepresence robot and its role in providing virtual access to U.S. soccer matches for children who otherwise can’t attend. See the original version for a second picture and a 0:47 minute video (also available on YouTube) and U.S. Soccer press releases here and here for more information. And see an OhmniLabs tweet for a photo of “Luna and CHAMP meeting with Megan Rapinoe at USWNT’s Send-Off Series game versus Mexico.” –Matthew] [Image: Luna Perrone got to meet Alex Morgan through the use of the CHAMP robot. Credit: Volkswagen] VW and…

[The results so far aren’t particularly surprising and don’t explicitly involve presence, but the ambitious (inter-generational, cross-university, multi-method, longitudinal) study described in this story from Lafayette College, and especially in the linked now-published and free/accessible article in the journal Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies and other detailed reports, provide potentially valuable insights into ways that presence via video chat helps, and can best help, alleviate perceived isolation in family members.  –Matthew] [Image: The young daughter of Prof. Lauren Myers reacts to her grandparents during a video chat.] Video Chat Supports Family Connections By Shannon Sigafoos July 13, 2021 Throughout the…

[A new study adds to the evidence for the potential of VR and presence to reduce perceived pain during medical procedures, in this case using a less interactive stimulus that’s designed for older adult patients who are laying down. All of the press coverage so far, including this story from News-Medical.Net, is based on a press release which unfortunately doesn’t include an image of the stimulus. For a related development see the new open access publication “Efficacy of Smartphone Active and Passive Virtual Reality Distraction vs Standard Care on Burn Pain Among Pediatric Patients” in JAMA Network Open. –Matthew] [Image:…

[Most people most of the time don’t think about the fact that they’re experiencing the world only through their senses and perceptual processing systems rather than directly (what some have called first order mediation), but naturally occurring and especially human-created optical illusions (a form of technology defined broadly) can be powerful reminders and represent compelling (tele)presence illusions. The post below from the Pascal’s Pensées, or Pascal’s Thoughts, blog (“Contemplations from the trenches of Neuroscience, Psychology, Metaphysics and Life”) introduces an effective example. See the original version of the post for larger images and a detailed technical report about the illusion.…

[There doesn’t seem to be much press coverage yet and this VRScout story and the company’s website provide few details, but the Arcadia concept is intriguing. See the original story for another image and a 3:48 minute video (also available via YouTube). –Matthew] Arcadia Is A Mixed Reality Competition For Athletes & Gamers The “world’s first stadium-size mixed reality arena” will begin searching for its first-ever ‘Arcadia Champion’ later this year. July 14, 2021 by Kyle Melnick After three years of secret development, Arcadia, an ambitious stadium-size mixed reality competition, will soon host its Arcadia Trials in an effort to…

[The University of Maryland’s Maryland Today reports on a new study that correlated EEG and real-time self-reports of cybersickness during a virtual reality experience (the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire was also administered after the session). More details are in the published article in Virtual Reality; here’s the final paragraph: Our findings in this paper are just a first step to the many opportunities that present themselves in using EEG to study cybersickness in virtual environments. Some of the more important amongst these include a better understanding of the sources of cybersickness, the relationship of the duration of immersion to cybersickness, and…

[This New York Times story explores the concept and several early examples of “the metaverse”; among many other things it highlights the huge amounts of corporate and individual incomes already involved in the phenomenon and includes this interesting example of inverse presence: “Mr. [Craig ] Donato [chief business officer of Roblox] said that during the pandemic he spent so much time meeting in the company’s virtual office that upon returning to the physical space, he had to remind himself that he could not do the same things as his Roblox character. ‘I was like, “Gosh, I have to make sure…

[This is a short piece from Psychology Today about the potential for using presence-evoking technology-for dating; it highlights both benefits and some ethical concerns. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Olena Yakobchuk/Shutterstock] Dating in the Digital Age How Virtual Reality Could Change the Way We Date Will the first dates of the future take place in a headset? July 9, 2021 By Liesel Sharabi Ph.D. Reviewed by Devon Frye One of the biggest problems with online dating is that the people we meet often fail to live up to expectations. People sometimes lie and exaggerate to make their virtual self look appealing and,…

[The stories from The New York Times and SoraNews24 below contain different details about a new, popular presence illusion outside a busy subway station in Tokyo. Each story contains short videos of the giant “Shinjuku east exit cat” along with some other examples of illusions created the billboard display technology. –Matthew] A Digital Cat Is Melting Hearts (and Napping a Lot) in Japan The calico prances and dozes on a 26-by-62-foot LED billboard in Tokyo. It has drawn crowds in real life and sparked joy on social media. By Hikari Hida and Mike Ives July 8, 2021 Ryoko Kikuchi was…