[I strongly endorse the views expressed in the commentary below from the Editor in Chief of MediaPost, an experienced media and technology journalist. As generative artificial intelligence approaches and passes an “inflection point blurring the lines of media reality,” when AI is “ubiquitous and can distort things in ways that defy classic cognitive reasoning” and nobody should assume that what they see and hear during media experiences is real, the need for media studies courses and other forms of training in media literacy for young people (and arguably many more of us) becomes critically important. –Matthew] Commentary Generation AI By…

[An ambitious and intriguing new published study by a research team coordinated by our colleague and friend Giuseppe Riva explores the potential of virtual reality to replicate and replace the perceptual and therapeutic effects of psychedelic drugs. The story from PsyPost below describes the project extremely well; in addition to the team’s article in Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, for more thought-provoking information and context see earlier ISPR Presence News posts “Can virtual reality replace psychedelic drugs?“ (August 2019) and “VR is as good as psychedelics at helping people reach transcendence” (August 2022). –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Adobe Stock] Cyberdelics: Virtual reality…

[As some readers will know, I’m a big fan of Halloween, so I especially like it when stories appear each year about elaborate holiday displays that prompt passersby to respond as if the depicted event is real. This story is from People, where it includes a different image and a short video. See coverage from USA Today for another video, a photo gallery, and more information including this: “[Sam] Lee said it has taken him years to nail down the most realistic fire house. When asked how he does it, he declined to share the details. ‘’You can easily Google…

[The “five questions” profile of philosophy professor and department chair Erick José Ramirez at Santa Clara University in California demonstrates some of the many important intersections of presence and philosophy. See the original version for a second image and follow the links within and at the end of the profile for more information. –Matthew] Five questions with … Erick José Ramirez A window into how scholarship at SCU connects academic excellence with a commitment to the common good. By Lisa RobinsonSeptember 25, 2025 Five Questions With … is a series of profiles that invites professors to share insights into their…

[The story below from Wayne State University describes a study that uses virtual reality and presence to first investigate “physiological, mental and emotional responses to social challenges to identify patterns of fear learning and threat perception that could be modified” and then develop a “low-cost, VR-based intervention … to help teens build social skills in a safe and realistic environment.” For more information about the project, follow the links at the end of the story and visit the website of the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute at Wayne State. –Matthew] [Image: Participants experience potentially stressful situations through virtual reality as physiological…

[Projects that use presence-evoking technologies to help people envision the long-term damaging impacts of climate change aren’t new, but the collaborative project reported in this story from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources also helps people develop and envision potential solutions that adapt to the climate change impacts. –Matthew] [Image: Point Lookout State Park Complex Manager Dawn Letts tries out one of the University of Maryland virtual reality projects for Point Lookout. Credit: Photo by Catherine Madsen/UMD Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability] Using Virtual Reality, Students Help Visualize Climate Change Solutions at Point Lookout State Park University of Maryland…

[In this essay from The Conversation, Indiana University professor of Human-Centered Computing Ekaterina Muravevskaia describes her all-too-timely work addressing the “promise and challenge” of using presence-evoking technologies to help children learn the and practice empathy. See the original version of the essay for a second image and a video (also available on YouTube). –Matthew] [Image: Technology can be isolating, but it can also help kids learn emotional connection. Credit: Dusan Stankovic/E+ via Getty Images] How VR and AI could help the next generation grow kinder and more connected By Ekaterina Muravevskaia, Assistant Professor of Human-Centered Computing, Indiana UniversityOctober 2, 2025…

[The insights and predictions of experts who have long and deep experience in any field are often extremely interesting and valuable. For example, here’s a short summary of the perspectives on XR from virtual and extended reality expert Bob Stone by the publisher of XR Today. –Matthew] From NASA to the Metaverse – and Why Professor Bob Stone Still Isn’t Impressed Bob Stone reflects on the rollercoaster evolution of XR – hype, heritage, and hard truths. By Rob Scott, PublisherOctober 2, 2025 In 1987, standing on solid ground at NASA Ames, Bob Stone felt his stomach churn as he ascended…

[The just-released next generation of OpenAI’s Sora software is said to represent a leap forward in the ability of AI to quickly, easily and inexpensively create realistic videos. The story below from Technology Magazine provides the key details. Most press coverage notes both the promise and peril of the newly-capable presence-evoking technology. For example, Katie Notopoulos writes this in Business Insider: “In the last few years, I’ve used generative AI apps, like ChatGPT, in lots of ways — most of which aren’t particularly exciting or interesting. Things like basic searches or work productivity stuff. AI feels like a useful tool, but…

[The short news story below from North Carolina State University describes a new study that assessed and compared the impacts of using a voice-only or embodied AI-based agent that guides computer science programming students through a series of learning tasks in a virtual reality environment. The paper is scheduled to be presented on a panel titled “Human-AI Collaborative Programming” at the 2025 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC) and is available via ResearchGate. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Julien Tromeur] ‘Embodied’ AI in Virtual Reality Improve Programming Student Confidence By Matt ShipmanOctober 1, 2025 Researchers have found that giving…

[In this compelling essay from The Conversation, a professor of Heritage and Digital Humanities at the University of Essex describes four ways presence-evoking virtual reality can help people and their communities heal after natural (and potentially other) disasters. The conclusions are based on research (see the link to a June 2025 article in the International Journal of Heritage Studies); note especially the important insights the researchers gained from the experience in the last two paragraphs below. See the original version of the essay for two more pictures and two videos. –Matthew] [Image: Amatrice in central Italy was badly damaged by…

[A new artificially intelligent ‘actress’ and the goals of the company that created her are generating new controversy in the creative industries. The story below from Variety describes the situation; more details follow in an excerpt from coverage in Deadline. For more details about the controversy and backtracking by the company, see a story in /Film with a critical assessment – that story concludes with this: “AI image generation technology has created a sizable investment bubble, and studios still seem to be going ham with it, even as the public increasingly hates it. When the bubble bursts, Tilly will die.…