International Society
for Presence Research

Month: April 2026

  • Call: Bodies in Digital Transition (BDT) Student Research Conference

    Published:

    Call for Papers: Bodies in Digital TransitionA Student Research Conference presented by DiSCo (Digital Studies Collective) Network and Funded by the AHRC CHASE ConsortiumSeptember 8-9, 2026Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College Londonhttps://digitalstudiescollective.org/bodies-in-digital-transition Key Speakers: Dr Alfie Bown, Senior Lecturer in Digital Media Culture and Technology, King’s College London Professor Ali Hossaini (Creative Practice Workshop leader), Professor in Digital Media and Culture, SOAS University of London / Visiting Senior Research Fellow in Engineering, King’s College London Deadline for abstracts: June 26, 2026 Machines glow, pulse, perform and think through metal, light, code, and living matter. The second Bodies in Digital Transition…

    Read more: Call: Bodies in Digital Transition (BDT) Student Research Conference

  • Multiverse platform wants you to watch AI clones live the life you could’ve had

    Published:

    [A company called EchoLabs is developing what sounds like a presence-evoking experience familiar in science fiction stories. Details are in this story from Cybernews (where the original version includes a second image and an embedded social media post). In addition to the film examples mentioned in the story, see Wikipedia’s entry for the “Parallels” episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Cybernews] Multiverse platform wants you to watch AI clones live the life you could’ve had An unknown company is attempting to make your life’s “what ifs” a reality. While it may seem that you can follow…

    Read more: Multiverse platform wants you to watch AI clones live the life you could’ve had

  • Call: Styles of Perception: From Historical Perspectives to the Digital Age

    Published:

    Call for Papers: Postgraduate Philosophy ConferenceStyles of Perception. From Historical Perspectives to the Digital AgeJune 30 – July 1, 2026University of YorkYork, Englandhttps://sites.google.com/view/stylesofperception/home Deadline for submission of abstracts: May 1, 2026 What does the way you perceive the world say about yourself? While one might be tempted to treat perception as a passive reception of external stimuli, contemporary approaches conceive it as a form of activity. In other words, when we open our eyes, the way the world unfolds in front of us is not a mere matter of physiology or receptors. The activity of perception is an activity of…

    Read more: Call: Styles of Perception: From Historical Perspectives to the Digital Age

  • New VR training for bricklayers

    Published:

    [This story from New Jersey Business Magazine describes the familiar benefits of using presence-evoking virtual reality to engage and train people to work in a wide variety of professions. In this case, the new training is designed for those learning the necessary skills and habits of bricklayers. –Matthew] BACNJ Launches Virtual Reality Training for Bricklayers April 9, 2026 The Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers of New Jersey (BACNJ) have announce a new initiative that integrates virtual reality into workforce training. The program, which uses state-of-the-art virtual reality goggles to provide immersive, hands-on training experiences, allows apprentices and prospective students to safely…

    Read more: New VR training for bricklayers

  • Call: Workshop on Health, Wellbeing and Human-AI Interaction at HHAII 2026

    Published:

    Call for Papers: Workshop on Health, Wellbeing and Human-AI Interaction (HAII)At the 5th International Conference on Hybrid Human-Artificial Intelligence (HHAII 2026)July 6-10, 2026Brussels, BelgiumWorkshop: https://hhai-conference.org/2026/elementor-6795/Conference: https://hhai-conference.org/2026/ Deadline for submissions: May 1, 2026 We invite paper contributions to an in-person workshop on the Health, Wellbeing and Human-AI Interaction (HAII) as part of the Hybrid-Human AI (HHAI2026) Conference in 6-10 July 2026 in Brussels. Artificial Intelligence is rapidly translating into health and care and has increasing relevance to individual wellbeing. It brings potentially transformative benefits together with new challenges. Example applications range from AI-assisted diagnosis and treatment support to wellness chatbots and…

    Read more: Call: Workshop on Health, Wellbeing and Human-AI Interaction at HHAII 2026

  • Positive impacts of presence and AI in telerobotic surgery

    Published:

    [While there is good reason to be concerned about and address potential negative impacts of presence, especially when fast-evolving technologies including artificial intelligence are involved, there are also many potential positive impacts. This story from R&D World describes some extremely important positive impacts in the context of telerobotic surgery. See the original version of the story for a larger version of the graphic below and five additional images. –Matthew] [Image: Intuitive’s telecollaboration roadmap spans today’s remote case observation and telementoring to a future vision of intraoperative consultation, where a remote surgeon could join a live case from a second console.…

    Read more: Positive impacts of presence and AI in telerobotic surgery

  • Call: “Human Expertise and Agency in AI-Supported Work” at CHIWork 2026

    Published:

    Workshop on Human Expertise and Agency in AI-Supported WorkAt CHIWork 2026, the 5th Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for WorkJune 22, 2026Linz, Austria [remote participation is possible – see CFP in AI-SGES]Workshop website: https://agency-and-skill.github.io/Conference website: https://chiwork.org/26/ Deadline for submissions: May 4, 2026 A half-day, in-person workshop on June 22, 2026 in Linz, Austria, co-located with CHIWORK’26, the 5th Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work. As algorithms suggest diagnoses, draft legal arguments, grade assignments, or review code, professions are not only supported, they are reshaped: Skills are redistributed, judgments recalibrated, and responsibility renegotiated. While short-term performance improvements are frequently documented, much less…

    Read more: Call: “Human Expertise and Agency in AI-Supported Work” at CHIWork 2026

  • AI-generated country music threatens genre’s authenticity

    Published:

    [As AI-generated media content becomes increasingly common and similar to content created by humans, it becomes more challenging for consumers to distinguish between the two, and especially for casual consumers, it may become less important. As Vice reports, a vivid example of this is occurring in country music. See the linked ABC News KTEN story for additional details. –Matthew] [Image: “Whiskey & Water,” a song by Cain Walker featuring Cade Winslow, is one of many AI-generated country music tunes. Credit: Timothy A. Clary / AFP. Source: RFI.] This Genre Considers Authenticity a Core Value, but Is Leading in AI-Generated Music…

    Read more: AI-generated country music threatens genre’s authenticity

  • Call: Symposium on XR Research in Theatre and Performance

    Published:

    Call for Contributions: XR-Research SymposiumJune 17, 2026Rose Bruford CollegeSidcup, Southeast Londonhttps://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa-jisc.exe?A2=ART-TECHNOLOGY;f0beb81a.2604 Deadline for submission of proposals: May 4, 2026 Rose Bruford College is hosting a symposium to bring together academics, artists and technologists using XR technologies for research in theatre and performance. The use of XR (augmented/mixed/virtual reality) tools and techniques is now well-established in many fields of artistic practice and academic enquiry, from their use to make various kinds of digital performance to VR reconstructions of historic theatres. Through this one-day symposium, we want to bring together academics and practitioners to share, discuss and explore how XR can be…

    Read more: Call: Symposium on XR Research in Theatre and Performance

  • Las Vegas Sphere turns into huge Moon to celebrate NASA mission

    Published:

    [In a dramatic presence-evoking display, and celebration, of this week’s space flight to the furthest distance from Earth humans have ever travelled, The Sphere in Las Vegas ‘turned into’ the Moon, with NASA’s Artemis II spacecraft orbiting above its surface. See the original version of this short story from Futurism for larger versions of the two images below and follow the links within the story for more information, images and videos. –Matthew] Las Vegas Sphere Turns Into Huge Moon to Celebrate NASA Mission “Good luck, Godspeed Artemis II. Let’s go.” By Victor TangermannApril 9, 2026 NASA’s historic Artemis 2 mission…

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  • Call: Chapters for Teaching the Game, 2nd Edition

    Published:

    Call for Book Chapter Proposals: Teaching the Game, Second EditionPlay Story Presshttps://playstorypress.org/2026/04/07/call-for-proposal-teaching-the-game-second-edition/ Deadline for submission of abstracts: May 1, 2026 (chapters due June 15, 2026) We are pleased to share this call for book chapter proposals for the second edition of Teaching the Game, to be published open access by Play Story Press. Abstracts are due May 1, 2026 . Authors will be notified by May 15, 2026. Accepted chapters will be due by June 15, 2026. Full details are below, but please feel free to contact us with questions or to submit your proposal at rferdig@gmail.com.…

    Read more: Call: Chapters for Teaching the Game, 2nd Edition

  • Fallguard project uses AI to predict and prevent VR user falls

    Published:

    [Two first-year undergraduate students are working with an assistant professor of computer science at Kennesaw State University in Georgia to develop an AI-based system that predicts when a virtual reality user is about to fall and warns them to prevent it. The warnings come in the form of sounds or prompts (perhaps eventually they can be incorporated into the experience to avoid breaking presence, as with in-story verbal cautions from characters). The Fallguard is one of several projects in the University’s First-Year Scholars Program; a summary of others is here. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Darnell Wilburn] First-year students leverage AI technology…

    Read more: Fallguard project uses AI to predict and prevent VR user falls

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