[This interesting story from Fast Company captures the challenges and opportunities of being among the first creators figuring out how to best utilize the presence-evoking capabilities of immersive media, in this case, the Apple Vision Pro spatial computing device. See the original version of the story for five more pictures and a 1:06:55 minute video (also on YouTube). –Matthew] With Apple’s help, storytellers are figuring out Vision Pro The headset opens up immersive new opportunities for dramas, documentaries, music videos, and beyond. Some filmmakers and developers are diving right in. By Harry McCrackenDecember 17, 2025 More than any other Apple…

[The presence-evoking virtual reality experience “Taste of Exile” described in this story from Philadelphia’s WHYY “immerses participants in an animated meal prepared by immigrant chefs… to explore the immigrant experience of displacement and resilience.” Note the creator’s interesting comments analogizing the displacement and disassociation of VR and immigration. See the original version of the story for two more images; you can watch a 2:11 minute video of a prototype of the experience on Vimeo. For more information and context, see the essays at the link in the story and visit the websites of Illya Mousavijad, Paloma Martinez-Cruz  and Cristina Martinez.…

[This story from the Los Angeles Times describes a virtual reality film being created by a team led by our colleague Nonny de la Peña to document the emotional effects of devastating fires that occurred in that city a year ago. Note the indirect and direct references to presence. See the original version of the story for three large, vivid images.  –Matthew] [Image: Musician David Low plays the cello in a scene from the virtual reality film “Out of the Ashes,” a work in progress that aims to capture the devastation, rebuilding and emotional toll of Palisades and Eaton fires.…

[A team of researchers at the University of Florida studied audience reactions to different types of cultural experiences in presence-evoking virtual reality, with some interesting results. In addition to the link in the second paragraph below, you can read the research report at ResearchGate (at this writing at least). –Matthew] Bringing Van Gogh to life: How VR could redefine the way we experience art and culture By Alisha Katz, APRJanuary 7, 2026 Tampa crowds are currently sailing underneath Vincent van Gogh’s twinkling “Starry Night” and drifting through his golden “Wheat Fields” in the 360-degree digital art exhibition, “Van Gogh: The…

[This story from the PC gaming website Rock Paper Shotgun describes the presence-enhancing effects of a new free, open-source VR mod that turns 2D images into 3D interactions for thousands of existing games, The author reports that with the mod “it really starts feeling like you’re there in the thick of it, blasting raiders and sneaking through space stations,” and that with it he found himself “having to remind myself it was just a game.” See the original version of the story for two more images and a 2:29 minute video (also available on YouTube). –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Gearbox Software]…

[A new study has demonstrated mostly positive effects of using virtual reality to simulate a near death experience. Details are in this story from Texas A&M University (also available from Medical Xpress). See also related ISPR Presence News posts from October 2022 and August 2017. –Matthew] [Image: Top left: Out-of-Body Experience, top right: Lights and Dark Tunnel, bottom left: Peaceful Landscape, bottom right: Encountering Friends and Family. Credit: Frontiers in Virtual Reality (2025). DOI: 10.3389/frvir.2025.1644131. Source: Medical Xpress] Texas A&M University researchers use virtual reality to reduce anxiety about death Pilot study finds immersive VR experience can significantly lower fear of death…

[A new study demonstrates the positive impact of using presence-evoking virtual reality to provide users with the experience of others, in this case providing men with the experience of being a woman subject to verbal harassment. The story below is from Phys.org, where it includes two more images (the story is also available via the University of Bologna’s Unibo Magazine). See a May 2025 ISPR Presence News post for an earlier report on the project and its application in a public information campaign.  –Matthew] [Image: In the first scene, the female avatar was in her bedroom, standing in front of…

[This story and interview from the Kyiv Post describes how Russia’s war on Ukraine motivated a Ukrainian startup company to develop a rehabilitation device that uses presence-evoking virtual reality to treat the many patients suffering with phantom limb pain after amputations. See the original story for four more pictures, and the VRNOW Lab website for more information. –Matthew] [Image: A patient undergoes virtual reality-based rehabilitation using VRNOW Lab’s system to treat phantom limb pain following amputation. Credit: Photo by VRNOW Lab] Ukrainian MedTech Startup Deploys VR System to Treat Phantom Limb Pain Kyiv Post interviews founder of Ukrainian startup VRNOW,…

[The story below describes (and links to more resources about) five ways presence-evoking virtual reality can “help build future-proof farms and safeguard our food supply for a growing population.” It’s an “advertisement feature” published on the BBC Science Focus website with EIT Food, specifically the EIT Food Future Farm Lab. EIT Food is a “knowledge and innovation community dedicated to making our food system more sustainable”; EIT stands for the European Institute of Innovation & Technology, which is a body of the European Union. See the original version of the story for five more images. –Matthew] Virtual reality farming is…

[This story from Social Media Today highlights recent AI bot products from Google, YouTube and Meta that take us one step closer to interacting not with each other but with each other’s artificially intelligent agent. I’d argue that social media platforms (at least how they’re generally used) already degrades “real connection,” but as the author suggests, the worry is that even when it evokes some sense of social presence, “replacing real humans with robots, in a format that simulates that engagement, seems like a step back.” –Matthew] YouTube Introduces AI Chatbots Based on Popular Creators By Andrew HutchinsonDecember 16, 2025…

[Although it highlights only a particular platform, this article from FindArticles provides an interesting perspective on the evolution of communication media and specifically AI companions (note use of the term presence in the first paragraph). See also a story titled “Feeling Lonely? An Attentive Listener Is an AI Prompt Away” from the Harvard Business School. –Matthew] Can AI Companions Redefine How We Connect? By Kathlyn JacobsonDecember 20, 2025 By 2025 the intersection of artificial intelligence and emotion has moved from niche curiosity to cultural phenomenon. What began as simple chatbots responding to commands has evolved into a new market built…

[It’ll be expensive, but a device called Escents that adds smells to the presence experiences provided by virtual and augmented reality is now available for pre-order, with delivery early next year. Details, including some of the applications suggested by the creators. are in the story from Heise below. More context is available in the August 2023 ISPR Presence News post titled “UK startup Scentient will help you smell your way out of the uncanny valley,” the Scentient website, and an 8:12 minute 2024 video report from Great Big Story on YouTube. –Matthew] Smelling for more immersion: “Escents” brings scents into…