[A new technology from the genealogy company MyHeritage not only enhances and colorizes photos but animates faces to seemingly bring people to life, raising many interesting questions about the ethics and evolution of presence. This story is from Gizmodo, where the original includes several examples of what the new Deep Nostalgia feature can do. A press release on the day it launched (February 25) is available from Business Wire, and a blog post on the MyHeritage website features many user reactions after noting that “Over 1 million photos were animated in the first 48 hours alone. Today we expect to…

[This story from the New Statesman provides some interesting examples of how and why people have been using virtual reality during the pandemic and the role of (especially social) presence in their experiences. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Charley Gallay/Getty Images For Samsung] How the pandemic made virtual reality mainstream As lockdowns encourage people to turn to technology for social connection, distraction and exercise, VR no longer seems an overpriced or mystifying pastime. By Sarah Manavis 25 February 2021 When I logged on to the fitness app Strava three weeks into the current lockdown, I was shocked to see that one of…

[The technology that enables the creation and use of digital humans capable of evoking social presence is evolving quickly; as PetaPixel reports, one company has debuted a service that lets anyone “create a fully digital clone of themselves” which (who?) can then be made to appear “on “camera” saying anything in any language. The implications are both fascinating and, as the author notes, “daunting.” See the original story for the two short videos mentioned and see the Hour One website for examples and links to other press coverage. –Matthew] AI Can Now Turn You Into a Fully Digital, Realistic Talking…

[Even before entering academia I was intrigued with how non-interactive media including television and radio can evoke effective presence illusions, so I find this story from The New York Times particularly interesting. In his popular blog Kottke.org Jason Kottke notes that the videos described in the story are “related to slow TV and other meditative videos [he’s] posted over the years (e.g. the idling Arctic icebreaker & Tibetan singing bowl music.” See the original NYT story for five video examples and an additional image. –Matthew] The Soothing, Digital Rooms of YouTube Ambience videos pair relaxing soundscapes with animated scenery to…

[This story from NPR describes a new in-flight form of virtual reality training for pilots; the original story includes a 3-minute audio version, related links, and three more images, one of which has a caption that quotes pilot Jonathan Johnson saying “the VR technology was ‘like no other [training] flight I’ve flown’ and pilot Jerry Griffin saying ‘It doesn’t get any realer than that.’” –Matthew] [Image: The virtual reality system uses a clear plastic film strapped to the pilot’s helmet. Seen here, Jonathan Johnson’s view is obscured by “clouds.” What the pilot “sees” is controlled by an iPad. Credit: Russell…

[The most widely-cited story about Panasonic’s new companion robot NICOBO, which is sure to evoke medium-as-social-actor presence, is from Gizmodo, where it begins with this: “In a time when even basic human interactions are discouraged for safety reasons, there’s an even greater demand for alternate sources of companionship. But if you’re not ready for the responsibilities of a dog or a cat, Panasonic has introduced yet another companion robot that dutifully pays attention to you through bouts of flatulence—just like a real pet.” Designboom’s coverage adds this: “In order to realize the ‘new form of happiness,’ we have focused on…

[With the benefits of and need for hugs taking on new importance during the pandemic, this story from Tech Xplore is particularly interesting. It’s about a new and improved successor to the earlier hugging robot HuggieBot 1.0 and plans for a commercial version that will allow people to hug each other via the robot. See the original version of the story for a second image, and for more information see the new paper it mentions, a June 2018 ISPR Presence News post about the first iteration of HuggieBot, and Alexis Block’s website. –Matthew] HuggieBot 2.0: A soft and human-size robot…

[An interesting and apparently successful astronomical presence illusion is the subject of this short item from DesignTAXI, where the original includes two videos and an embedded tweet. Cosmopolitan Middle East has more images and the illusion merited coverage at Snopes, where there’s more information. –Matthew] [Image: Source: IBB Online] ‘Double Moon’ In Dubai Baffles Onlookers, Turns Out To Be A Stellar Stunt By Izza Sofia 17 February 2021 Residents in Dubai were surprised when they witnessed two moons appearing in the night skies last week. Snaps of the moons in the skies made their way online with many thinking the apocalypse…

[Presence scholars and technology enthusiasts have to remember the darker potential of presence, frequently portrayed in entertaining science fiction, to become an excuse to stop working to improve our nonmediated lives and world, and leave them in the control of people and organizations with selfish, economically driven agendas. This Wired story makes that possibility depressingly ‘real.’ –Matthew] Billionaires See VR as a Way to Avoid Radical Social Change Tech oligarchs are encouraging the creation of virtual worlds as a cheap way to avoid problems in the real one. By Matthew Gault February 15, 2021 The future of virtual reality is…

[This story about the development and use of a new augmented reality application to enhance presence in online teaching and learning during pandemic lockdowns and beyond comes from THE (Times Higher Education). The original story includes related links, and for more information see the websites for ARstorydecks, particularly the lesson plans page; Royal Holloway’s master’s program in Immersive Storytelling; and the StoryFutures Academy Train the Trainer initiative. –Matthew] Shakespeare in your living room: How AR can transform teaching It won’t be long before we’re all looking to immersive technology to further students’ learning, says By Mary Matheson January 21, 2021…

[Watching two recent major events in the U.S. on television reminded me of how non-interactive media can evoke a powerful sense of being there. The first was the live inauguration of President Biden and the various related activities that day, and the second is described well in this CNN story from last week about how the impeachment managers in the second trial of Donald Trump used a variety of video, audio and connecting narrative to recreate the harrowing experience of the insurrection at the Capitol. See the original story for several examples. –Matthew] [Image: An image from the security video…

[This Washington Post story reviews some of the available and soon-to-be available technologies for meeting via holograms. See the original story for an additional image and a 1:10:49 minute video of the “First Holograminar organized by WISeKey and ARHT Media Inc” on YouTube. DVE Holographics also enables holo-meetings, and for a related technology see the website of IKIN Inc. –Matthew] [Image: ARHT Media brought holographic speakers from Australia, Greece and Germany together on one stage. Credit: ARHT Media/Imverse] Will holograms be the next innovation in the post-pandemic workplace? Start-ups are introducing next-generation virtual meeting software By Dalvin Brown February 9, 2021…