[This entertaining first-person report from Laptop Magazine describes the author’s pursuit of adrenaline rushes in virtual reality; see the original story for seven more images. The author asks “Why isn’t there a bungee-jumping app?” While it’s not about an app, see the SoraNews24 story “New virtual reality attraction allows thrill-seekers to bungee jump off Tokyo Tower.” –Matthew] I acted like a reckless, immortal idiot in VR for a week — here’s what happened I searched for the ultimate adrenaline rush via Oculus Quest 2 By Kimberly Gedeon April 11, 2021 The pure chaos, lawlessness and anarchy of virtual reality (VR)…

[Although not photorealistic, the 3D display technology described in this story from Digital Trends produces what look like engaging presence illusions; see the original story for two more images and a 2:48 minute video (also available via YouTube). A story in Singularity Hub notes that “Dragon O has been used in a Lancome perfume launch, a game called Virus Killer, a nightclub in Berlin, and events in Shenzhen, Barcelona, and Munich.” See the LED Pulse website for much more information. –Matthew] This room-sized ‘hologram’ display generates enormous 3D images By Luke Dormehl April 1, 2021 Picture a beaded string curtain,…

[Because Zoom dominates the global market in remote meeting platforms (see a recent survey by EmailToolTester), it’s big news that the company has rolled out a new feature designed to make meetings feel more like they’re taking place in a familiar space than a grid of boxes. Engadget’s coverage starts this way: “When a feature works, chances are others will co-opt it. Last year, Microsoft followed in Zoom’s footsteps by adding virtual backgrounds to its Teams app. As a testament to the feature’s popularity, Google did the same by bringing the option to Education users on Google Meet. With competition…

[This blog post in AviationPros (by a company with vested interest) describes the many ways the aviation industry is using presence-evoking technologies to improve the safety and comfort of travelers. It’s been lightly edited to remove typos and add information for non-experts.  –Matthew] Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Solutions for the Aviation Industry Virtual and Augmented reality has become a great asset for aviation companies to provide better service and train their staff in a more accurate way. By Tecknotrove Systems April 22, 2021 Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technology is evolving at a rapid rate and it…

[Texas A&M Today reports on what looks like a fun interdisciplinary team project to create engaging presence experiences for a good cause, to introduce young people to the excitement of engineering. As the last sentence says, “The retro rocket ride, built by students for students, will be a memorable example of the exciting things one can do, create and be with an education in STEM.” See the original story for two more images and a six minute video (also available via YouTube). –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Team Retro Rocket] Aggies Design Virtual Reality Flight Simulator For Outreach Texas A&M students are…

[Disney Research has developed sophisticated eye-contact behaviors to make humanoid robots seem more human. For a demonstration, see the one-minute video featured in the original version of this story from Popular Mechanics (the video is also available via YouTube). And apologies for the self-promotion but for more on medium-as-social-actor presence, see the new paper “Social Responses to Media Technologies in the 21st Century: The Media are Social Actors Paradigm” by Kun Xu and me in the journal Human-Machine Communication. –Matthew] [Image: Source: The Verge] Watch This Disney Robot Make the Most Convincing Eye Contact Ever It’s incredibly lifelike. And incredibly…

[Aside from enhancing the sense of presence for gaming and other applications, most of us can only imagine the tremendous value of the kind of technology described in this story from Tech Xplore for people who aren’t able to walk. See the original version of the story for a 40 second video and follow the link at the end to read the new paper. –Matthew] [Image: One of the research participants using the VR walking simulator and their corresponding movements in VR. Credit: Toyohashi University of Technology/The University of Tokyo] Researchers’ VR walking simulator feels surprisingly close to the real…

[Sexual intimacy is a very logical application area for presence-evoking technology that scholars too often ignore, but it’s the focus of this Business Insider report about the work of Angelina Aleksandrovich. Coverage by Reuters includes these additional details: “In an industrial unit in North London two volunteers demonstrate her prototype experience combining virtual reality (VR), augmented reality and even smell, delivered through a collar worn around the neck, a head set, and hand-held sensors. The volunteers see each other as outline human forms through their headsets and can caress each other without ever actually touching. The experience involves haptic stimulators…

[This story from Florida International University describes an ambitious new international and interdisciplinary project that will investigate the impacts of using virtual reality (and presence) to bring people across the world together to learn languages and share cultures. –Matthew] FIU professors awarded Stevens Initiative grant to build virtual reality experience in support of second language acquisition By Alexandra Bassil April 7, 2021 With funding from a $543,439 grant awarded by the Stevens Initiative, FIU researchers will use virtual reality (VR) to create an English-Arabic language learning community: “Virtual Tabadul” (meaning exchange in Arabic). The Tabadul project will gather evidence-based research…

[You have to watch the 2:11 minute video to really appreciate Marc Teyssier’s anthropomorphic webcam, which purposely evokes uncanny valley responses to prompt us to think about a variety of issues related to our relationships with technology. This story is from IGN and much more information, including the video, photos and a link to a CHI 2021 paper, are available on Teyssier’s website. –Matthew] This Webcam Looks Like a Human Eye and Even Blinks at You A webcam with a mind, err, eye of its own. By Wesley LeBlanc April 14, 2021 A new prototype webcam looks like a realistic…

[This story from Florida State University News describes Professor Andrew Opel’s use of immersive media to teach Immersive Media Production and includes both his and his students’ impressions about the experience. See the original version of the story for two more images. If you have related experiences using presence-evoking media to teach, please add a comment to this post and/or send me an email at lombard@temple.edu –Matthew] [Image: Students in Professor Andy Opel’s Immersive Media Production class were issued Oculus Quest 2 headsets this semester and used virtual reality (VR) to simulate a classroom space. Using the EngageVR platform, students…

[A new study by Drexel University researchers explores the potentially valuable application of presence-evoking technology in treating inhibitory control deficits such as those in binge-eating disorder. The study is described in this story from PsyPost. The journal article by the researchers includes this: “Delivering ICT through virtual reality (VR) confers many important advantages over traditional ICTs. First, the more realistic imagery of VR better approximates encountering palatable foods in the natural environment. In samples of individuals with eating disorders (EDs), exposure to 3D images, compared to 2D images, induce greater desires to consume the food (Perpiñá et al., 2013). Additionally…