Month: March 2025

Call: 17th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2025)

Published:

March 31, 2025

Call for Papers: The 17th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2025)September 10-12, 2025Naples, Italyhttps://icsr2025.eu/https://icsr2025.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/CFPnew_ICSRAI_2025_28Marzo.pdf Deadlines for submissions: April 18, 2025 for full and special session papers; May 16, 2025 for short papers It is with great pleasure that we invite you to the International Conference on Social Robotics + AI, taking place in the vibrant and historic city of Naples, Italy, from September 10 to 12, 2025. Now in its 17th edition, this prestigious event will bring together leading experts, researchers, and professionals from around the world to discuss the latest advancements in “Social Robotics and Artificial Intelligence”.…
Read more: Call: 17th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2025)
At-home date nights are better in VR (no, seriously)

Published:

March 31, 2025

[The author of this story from Android Central uses two vivid examples as he describes the benefits of using presence-evoking virtual and mixed reality for at-home date nights. He writes that “there’s something amazing about being able to go somewhere with your significant other after a busy day without having to hire a babysitter for the kids.” See the original version for five more pictures and two videos. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central] At-home date nights are better in VR (no, seriously) It can be tough to be creative when you have kids, but VR makes it…
Read more: At-home date nights are better in VR (no, seriously)
Call: ICIDS 2025 – 18th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling

Published:

March 28, 2025

Call for Papers: ICIDS 202518th International Conference on Interactive Digital StorytellingTheme: KALEIDOSCOPIC MACHINESDecember 1-5, 2025Maltahttps://icids2025.ardin.online/ Submission deadline: June 8, 2025 This year’s ICIDS (International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling) will return to Europe. The hosting country is the Mediterranean island of Malta, with a rich history featuring most of the European powers and reaching back to some of the earliest civilizations, with Neolithic remains dating back to 4000 BC. This history is characterized by decisive battles which shaped world history and by foreign rule due to the country’s strategic position between Africa, Europe and the Middle East.…
Read more: Call: ICIDS 2025 – 18th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling
Don’t try this presence experiment: Woodworker builds real table while wearing Meta Quest 3 HMD without losing any fingers

Published:

March 28, 2025

[Here’s a short story (for all of us but particularly our colleague and friend Chad Edwards in case he missed it). It’ s from PC Gamer and describes how an expert woodworker was able to build a table while using the passthrough feature of a VR headset without injuring himself, arguably demonstrating the progress mixed reality tech has made in enabling accurate and precise perceptions during presence experiences. Some of the comments below the 20:12 minute YouTube video available in the original story. and the comments at Hackaday, note that XR glasses are or will be superior for this kind…
Read more: Don’t try this presence experiment: Woodworker builds real table while wearing Meta Quest 3 HMD without losing any fingers
Call: Beautiful Screens conference

Published:

March 27, 2025

Call for Papers: ‘Beautiful Screens’A CREAM, University of Westminster ConferenceJune 19-20, 2025University of Westminster, Marylebone Campus, Londonhttps://cstonline.net/cfp-beautiful-screens-conference-june-19-20-2025-university-of-westminster-uk-deadline-april-28-2025/ Deadline for submitting abstracts of papers: April 28, 2025 Organisers:Dr. Christopher Hogg – C.Hogg@westminster.ac.uk (University of Westminster)Dr. Kate McNicholas Smith – K.McNicholassmith@westminster.ac.uk (University of Westminster)Dr. Douglas McNaughton – D.Mcnaughton@brighton.ac.uk (University of Brighton) OVERVIEW Screen media are inextricably linked to notions of beauty, and never more so than in a contemporary age of technological expansions and transformations, and heavily mediated identities and social interactions. In everything from ‘Instagram face’, to the rapidly evolving aesthetics of screen storytelling and television design, to YouTube makeup tutorials,…
Read more: Call: Beautiful Screens conference
OpenAI and MIT Media Lab release research on affective engagement with ChatGPT and emotional well-being

Published:

March 27, 2025

[An ambitious collaborative research project by the company that developed and operates the general purpose ChatGPT AI service, and the MIT Media Lab, has produced some interesting presence-related results. The summary below from MIT Technology Review is followed by a more pointed assessment from Futurism that concludes that “the longer you use the chatbot, the more likely you are to become emotionally dependent upon it”). For a more detailed summary of the project, see the blog post from OpenAI and Media Lab. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Photo Illustration by Sarah Rogers/MITTR | Photo Getty] OpenAI has released its first research into…
Read more: OpenAI and MIT Media Lab release research on affective engagement with ChatGPT and emotional well-being
Job: Postdoc: “VR and Immersive Technologies – Postcolonial and Creative Approaches” at Utrecht University

Published:

March 26, 2025

Call for Applications: Postdoctoral position: VR and Immersive Technologies – Postcolonial and Creative ApproachesFaculty of HumanitiesDepartment of Media and Culture StudiesUtrecht UniversityNetherlandshttps://www.uu.nl/en/organisation/working-at-utrecht-university/jobs/postdoc-vr-and-immersive-technologies-postcolonial-and-creative-approaches Deadline for submission of applications: April 23, 2025 (Apply now) In this postdoctoral position, you are part of the NWO project “VR As Empathy Machine. Media, Migration and Humanitarian Predicament”. You focus on postcolonial, feminist, media theories, and design practices with a specific interest in the past and future of immersive technologies. In particular, you engage with the relation between viewers and mediated others through embodied technologies. YOUR JOB Virtual Reality (VR) is a booming industry and is…
Read more: Job: Postdoc: “VR and Immersive Technologies – Postcolonial and Creative Approaches” at Utrecht University
NOAA uses VR and presence to teach the public about hurricane and weather safety

Published:

March 26, 2025

[Our colleague and friend Grace Ahn is one of the lead researchers working with the U.S. government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric association (NOAA) to develop “an immersive and simulation” for virtual reality to help members of the public learn about and prepare for the dangers of storm surges. The NOAA press release below provides details, and is followed by more information from a University of Georgia press release. –Matthew] [Image: People at a public sporting event try out the “Weather the Storm” storm surge VR simulation. Credit: NOAA/Joshua Alland] Bringing storm surge to virtual reality New product to teach public…
Read more: NOAA uses VR and presence to teach the public about hurricane and weather safety
Call: Interactive AI for Preventive Health: Personalization, Gamification, and Ethics (IAI4PH) 2025 at EICS 2025

Published:

March 25, 2025

Call for Papers: Interactive AI for Preventive Health: Personalization, Gamification, and Ethics (IAI4PH) 2025Co-located with EICS 2025, The 17th ACM SIGCHI Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing SystemsJune 24, 2025Trier, Germanyhttps://sites.google.com/view/aiforpreventivehealth/home EICS 2025:June 23-27, 2025https://eics.acm.org/2025/ Deadline for submissions: May 3, 2025Submission system: Easychair Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing preventive healthcare by enabling proactive, personalized, and engaging health management. Through interactive AI systems—leveraging wearables, ambient sensing, and adaptive interfaces—individuals can receive real-time insights that encourage healthier behaviors and reduce healthcare burdens. However, ensuring engagement, trust, and ethical integrity remains crucial. This workshop at EICS 2025 aims to advance knowledge in designing interactive…
Read more: Call: Interactive AI for Preventive Health: Personalization, Gamification, and Ethics (IAI4PH) 2025 at EICS 2025
The lost monuments of Versailles are revived in a new VR experience

Published:

March 25, 2025

[As Artnet reports, in addition to experiencing the surviving palace and grounds, a presence-evoking virtual version of long-lost monuments at the Palace of Versailles is now available to visitors. See the original story for four different pictures and the Palace website for more information about the Lost Gardens of the Sun King VR experience. –Matthew] [Image: Source: Château de Versailles] The Lost Monuments of Versailles Are Revived in a New V.R. Experience Visitors will discover digital reconstructions of the palace’s lost menagerie for exotic animals and its iconic hedge maze, known as the labyrinth. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, European News ReporterFebruary…
Read more: The lost monuments of Versailles are revived in a new VR experience
Call: “Beyond Play: The Transformative Power of Digital Gaming in a Deeply Mediatized Society” issue of Gamevironments

Published:

March 24, 2025

Call for Papers: Beyond Play: The Transformative Power of Digital Gaming in a Deeply Mediatized SocietySpecial issue of the Diamond Open Access journal Gamevironmentshttps://journals.suub.uni-bremen.de/index.php/gamevironments/openquests Guest editors: Kerstin Radde-Antweiler, Karsten D. Wolf and Christian Schwarzenegger Deadline for submissions of abstracts and bios: May 31, 2025 (full text submissions due December 15, 2025 Digital games and gaming are carriers, accelerators and subjects of change in media, culture and society. In this capacity they serve as an interlink between media industries, digital technologies, social practices, cultural norms and values, making them ideal cases to analyze contemporary transformation processes in the context of (deep)…
Read more: Call: “Beyond Play: The Transformative Power of Digital Gaming in a Deeply Mediatized Society” issue of Gamevironments
VR and AI could transform behavioral assessments and interventions in U.S. schools

Published:

March 24, 2025

[Education researcher Jared Izumi at Chapman University in Southern California is exploring the potential benefits of using presence-evoking technologies to both assess and treat behavioral problems in children. This story from the University provides details (and the original version includes a photo of Izumi; more information about him and his work can be found on his faculty bio webpage). –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Generated by Adobe Firefly] Virtual Reality and AI Could Transform Behavioral Assessments in U.S. Schools Assistant Professor Jared Izumi is developing a virtual reality program that could eliminate bias from child behavioral assessments. By Benjamin BrazilMarch 18, 2025…
Read more: VR and AI could transform behavioral assessments and interventions in U.S. schools

International Society
for Presence Research

Month: March 2025

Call: 17th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2025)

At-home date nights are better in VR (no, seriously)

Call: ICIDS 2025 – 18th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling

Don’t try this presence experiment: Woodworker builds real table while wearing Meta Quest 3 HMD without losing any fingers

Call: Beautiful Screens conference

OpenAI and MIT Media Lab release research on affective engagement with ChatGPT and emotional well-being

Job: Postdoc: “VR and Immersive Technologies – Postcolonial and Creative Approaches” at Utrecht University

NOAA uses VR and presence to teach the public about hurricane and weather safety

Call: Interactive AI for Preventive Health: Personalization, Gamification, and Ethics (IAI4PH) 2025 at EICS 2025

The lost monuments of Versailles are revived in a new VR experience

Call: “Beyond Play: The Transformative Power of Digital Gaming in a Deeply Mediatized Society” issue of Gamevironments

VR and AI could transform behavioral assessments and interventions in U.S. schools

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