International Society
for Presence Research

Author: Matthew Lombard

  • Call: Opportunities and Challenges of Business Communication through AI (EUKO 2026)

    Published:

    Call for Papers: Opportunities and Challenges of Business Communication through AIEUKO 2026: European Cultures in Business Communication ConferenceOctober 22-24, 2026RWTH Aachen UniversityAachen, Germanyhttps://en.euko-network.net/https://en.euko-network.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2026/01/CfP_EUKO_2026_engl_final-3.pdf Deadline for submission of abstracts: March 15, 2026 The rapid development and dissemination of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the landscape of corporate communication across Europe.  From customer interaction and corporate messaging to automated content creation and data-driven decision-making, AI technologies are redefining how organizations communicate internally and externally. These changes raise fundamental questions about quality, trust, ethics, and the human role in communication processes, as well as about the influence of cultures and societies on the…

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  • AI robots generate caring, handwritten letters that seem to be from humans

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    [Although most of us have received advertising and other business mail written and even printed to mimic a personal letter, this story from Futurism describes how the AI company Handwrytten and its competitors are taking the tactic to a new level by offering a service in which robots compose and ‘hand’-write (even in the purchaser’s cursive style) what seem like personal letters such as thank you notes and birthday cards. The goal is to save the purchaser time and effort while leading recipients to overlook the role of technology in the process. –Matthew] [Image: Credits: Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins /…

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  • Call: Cinematography of Today Conference

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    Call for Papers: The Cinematography of Today ConferenceJune 24-26, 2026Universidade LusófonaLisbon, Portugalhttps://cinematographyinprogress.com/index.php/cito/announcement/view/32 Deadline for submission of abstracts: March 24, 2026 The Cinematography of Today conference invites scholars, educators, researchers, and practitioners to explore the evolving art, craft, and theory of cinematography. This three-day event seeks to foster dialogue between academic research and professional practice, addressing the aesthetic, technical, educational, and ethical dimensions that shape contemporary image-making. As digital and analog practices, immersive technologies, and artificial intelligence redefine the cinematographic landscape, this conference offers a space for reflection, experimentation, and exchange among cinematographers, educators, students, and researchers from around the world.…

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  • UCF undergrad students use VR and AI to expand medical education

    Published:

    [In what sounds like an impressive campus-wide interdisciplinary program at the University of Central Florida, faculty from the UCF College of Medicine mentored undergraduate students studying engineering and computer science as the students developed two innovative tools that use presence-evoking technologies to expand and improve medical education. Details about each project are described in the story below (see the original version for a second image). –Matthew] [Image: Senior computer science students pose with their clinical imaging app project and Knightro at the College of Engineering and Computer Science Fall 2025 Senior Design Showcase] Student Research Expands Medical Education in Virtual…

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  • Call: Workshop: Authenticity & AI in Moving Image

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    Call for Participation: Workshop: Authenticity & AI in Moving ImageMarch 24, 2026, 1:45–4pm + panel discussion 4:30-5:30pmHigh Holborn Building, University of the Arts London (map)https://crea-tec.weebly.com/authenticityai.html The rise of AI in video and film is forcing us to confront the very nature of authenticity. What makes your moving image ‘yours’ when a machine can generate videos that are, on the face of it, indistinguishable from a human creator? Recent developments in the area of Artificial Intelligence and media have brought a new focus on copyrights, process, technique and visual identity. Alongside the rich possibilities for new creative practices with video there…

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  • Experience immersive sound art installations at The Cardiff Miller Art Warehouse

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    [In a new review that appears in the Vernon Morning Star, a fine arts student describes the presence-evoking experiences available in an unusual art museum in a small town in British Columbia that features installations by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller (the reviewer uses the term presence to refer to a focus on one’s environment, mediated or not): “In a converted furniture warehouse in the North Okanagan, internationally renowned artists transform sound into an immersive experience of memory, time, and presence. … I found it resonated deeply with me that the exhibition prioritizes experience over linear narrative. Being there…

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  • Call: “Digital Design & Beyond: Rethinking Critical Digital Fashion Trajectories” for Fashion Highlight

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    Call for Papers: Digital Design & Beyond: Rethinking Critical Digital Fashion TrajectoriesFor Fashion Highlight Issue 8 (2026)https://riviste.fupress.net/index.php/fh/announcement/view/90 Guest Editors: Daria Casciani and Natalia Kataila Deadline for submission of proposals: May 31, 2026 Over the past decade, and with heightened urgency in the post-Covid period, fashion has undergone a profound digital realignment. No longer confined to discrete tools or isolated innovations, digitalisation has become a structuring condition of contemporary fashion practice. From 3D modeling suites and configurators to generative AI for modeling and product development, digital twins of avatars and garments for production and archival purposes, virtual showrooms, digital fashion for…

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  • Virtual reality simulator prepares drivers for snow squalls

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    [Jase Bernhardt, a professor at Hofstra University in New York state, has spearheaded the development of a virtual reality simulator to help drivers learn what to do when they encounter snow squalls. This short story is from WTAJ, the CBS television station in Altoona, Pennsylvania; see the original version for a 2:11 minute video report (which is also available on YouTube). You can watch a user’s view of the simulator in a 2:51 minute YouTube Short video.  More details about the project can be found in a CBS New York story from November 2025, a picture gallery in the York…

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  • Call: The Body and Embodiment in the Arts and Arts-Based Research Conference

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    Call for Papers: The Body and Embodiment in the Arts and Arts-Based ResearchA Transdisciplinary ConferenceJune 20, 2026: At the Association of Jungian Analysts’ Centre in London and OnlineJune 21, 2026: Online onlyhttps://labrc.co.uk/2026/01/25/body-and-embodiment/ Deadline for submissions: April 26, 2026 “The body is our general medium for having a world.”– Maurice Merleau-Ponty The London Arts-Based Research Centre (LABRC) invites proposals for its forthcoming conference, Embodied Aesthetics: The Body and Embodiment in the Arts and Arts-Based Research. This transdisciplinary event will explore the role of the body – as subject, medium, and site of inquiry – in artistic practice, performance, and arts-based research.…

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  • A new form of theater: Can Ian McKellen, 52 cameras and mixed reality reinvent a medium?

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    [Ian McKellen and three other actors are featured in a new mixed reality play in New York. The origins and characteristics of the use of presence-evoking mixed reality are described in the story from The Guardian below; see the original version for two more images and a two-minute video (also available on YouTube). The From the Mezzanine podcast also has a video short on YouTube. A New Yorker article about the veteran actor McKellen notes that even he experienced presence as an audience member: “’An Ark’ was so lifelike that he had instinctively reached out his hand when one of…

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  • Call: Studies for a meta-analysis of deepfake vs. authentic video effects

    Published:

    Call for Contributions: Information on studies for a meta-analysis of deepfake vs. authentic video effectsPosted February 21, 2026 by Bumju Jung on the International Communication Association (ICA) Public Channelhttps://link.icahdq.org/discussion/call-for-studies-for-a-meta-analysis-deepfakevs-authentic-video-effects Hello ICA colleagues, My name is Bumju Jung (@ U of Southern California). Dr. Lynn Miller and I are conducting a meta-analysis examining how deepfake, compared to authentic videos, shape credibility-related evaluations (e.g., perceived credibility, accuracy, authenticity, believability). First – Are we missing your study?If you have a study that matches the criteria below (published, in press, working paper, or unpublished), I would be grateful if you could contact me.…

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  • To stay in her home at 85, she let in AI robot ElliQ

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    [Here is a significantly abridged version of what turns out to be a very moving story from the New York Times about the positive impacts of medium-as-social-actor presence evoked by an AI-based robot called ElliQ, which was designed to help seniors stay healthy and independent. See the original, complete version of the story for 21 more pictures (a few of which are animated). For more about ElliQ, visit elliq.com. For a related story, see “AI robot ‘Navi’ helps seniors stay independent at Judson Senior Living: See it in action” from Cleveland’s NBC TV station WKYC. –Matthew] [Image: It took some…

    Read more: To stay in her home at 85, she let in AI robot ElliQ

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