International Society
for Presence Research

Author: Matthew Lombard

  • Call: Hallucinate, unbox, restart: A winter school for slowing down inside the synthetic everyday

    Published:

    Call for Participation: Hallucinate, unbox, restart: A winter school for slowing down inside the synthetic everydayOrganized by Game of TechOctober 27-29, 2026Naples, Italyhttps://www.gameoftech.eu/eventi/winterschool2026/ Deadline for submission of applications: August 31, 2026 The recent proliferation of generative AI systems has been accompanied by the entrenchment of a particular imaginary – one that frames and accept AI as a black box. This has a twofold implication. On one hand, it legitimates the design of AI structures, codes, and networks as hyper-opaque, restricting full comprehension of its operations and naturalizing this failure. On the other hand, this embedded opacity also makes it harder…

    Read more: Call: Hallucinate, unbox, restart: A winter school for slowing down inside the synthetic everyday

  • AI agents create fake identities and deceive humans

    Published:

    [Evolving technologies including generative AI have made it easier and increasingly effective for bad human actors to create and distribute messages that purposely deceive, manipulate and harm other humans (for example, altered or created images, voice cloned phone calls, deepfake videos, etc.). Now we also need to worry about non-human actors using presence (i.e., misleading us about the role of technology in our experience) pursuing the same goals on their own. The abridged version below of a post on the blog of the UK government’s AI Security Institute (AISI) describes how in a recent test new AI models demonstrated the…

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  • Call: Digital Religion V: Interfaces of Discourse, Society, and Politics

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    [Note: In addition to the Call below, see the one for “Soul Sync: Exploring Technological Resonance in Religious and Spiritual Energy,” a workshop at the 2026 Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (NordiCHI 2026); note that that workshop has an August 10, 2026 submission deadline. –Matthew] Call for Papers: Digital Religion V: Interfaces of Discourse, Society, and PoliticsInternational ConferenceNovember 19-21, 2026University of Lodz, Department of Pragmatics, Polandhttps://www.ethicsinmedia.eu/digital-religion-2026 Deadline for submission of abstracts and bios: September 30, 2026 Positioned within contemporary struggles over public meaning, social affiliation and political legitimacy, digital religion is articulated through mediated practices in which claims about faith,…

    Read more: Call: Digital Religion V: Interfaces of Discourse, Society, and Politics

  • VR holds promise of filling medicines manufacturing workforce gaps

    Published:

    [This essay from The Pharmaceutical Journal describes many of the potential benefits of using presence-evoking technologies rather than just in-person experiences for recruiting and training workers, in this case in the context of manufacturing medicines in the UK. See the original version for a collage of three more images. –Matthew] [Image: An example of an immersive virtual reality experience to introduce students to the world of cell and gene therapy manufacturing] Virtual reality holds the promise of filling medicines manufacturing workforce gaps Will virtual reality technology enable the UK to meet the demands of training in the pharmaceutical industry and…

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  • Call: Digital Identities – Virtual Masks: Self-representation on Digital Media

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    Calls for Papers: Digital Identities – Virtual Masks: Social, Cultural, Economic and AI Aspects of Self-representation on Digital MediaFor a special issue of Communication Papershttps://communicationpapers.revistes.udg.edu/announcement/view/27 Guest Editors:Viktorija Car, University of Split, Communication and Media Antea Boko, University of Split, Communication and Media Deadline for submission of full papers: February 15, 2027 Digital identity is not only a digital version of physical identity but is a unique and complex construct that Robles-Carrillo (2024, p. 20) defines as “an attribute composed of information and data that enables identification, authentication, and authorization for access and participation in the digital world.” Summarizing the main…

    Read more: Call: Digital Identities – Virtual Masks: Self-representation on Digital Media

  • Your next car could become an immersive gaming arena

    Published:

    [Cars are increasingly being designed to create presence-evoking experiences, as reported in this story from StereoNET (where the original includes six more images). For more details see the press release via Business Wire. –Matthew] Your Next Car Could Become an Immersive Gaming Arena Cinemo and SmashLabs are developing an in-car gaming platform that brings vehicle audio, lighting, haptics and even climate systems into the action. By Jason SextonJuly 28, 2026 Cars already stream music, movies (and in some cases), games, but Cinemo and SmashLabs want to take the next step by making the vehicle itself part of the entertainment.…

    Read more: Your next car could become an immersive gaming arena

  • Call: Artificial others: Bridges or barriers? Discursive perspectives on robots in polarised societies

    Published:

    Call for Papers: Panel Title: Artificial Others: Bridges or Barriers? Discursive Perspectives on Robots in Polarised Societies20th International Pragmatics Conference (IPC20 Helsinki 2027)June 27 -July 2, 2027University of Helsinki, Finlandhttp://commlist.org/archive/all/2026-all/msg01016.html Panel organizers: Emma Lupano, Bettina Mottura, Natalia Riva Deadline for submission of abstracts: September 15, 2026 Bridges are not built only between people. They are also imagined through the figures, technologies, and social actors that societies create to negotiate difference. Among these figures, humanoid robots and biomimetic agents occupy a revealing position: they are simultaneously technological artefacts, cultural objects, and discursive constructions. In a period marked by growing social and…

    Read more: Call: Artificial others: Bridges or barriers? Discursive perspectives on robots in polarised societies

  • How VR and presence can transform behavioral science

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    [In a new paper, a large international team of researchers argues that the ability of virtual reality “to immerse [study] participants in hyper-realistic environments and control that environment down to the most minute detail”- and evoke presence and responses similar to those in nonmediated settings – means VR has immense potential to advance research on human behavior. But the team writes that that can only happen if researchers adopt rigorous and standardized practices such as the protocols they propose. The news release below from Dublin City University (and also available from University College London (UCL); the University of California, Merced…

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  • Call: Intercultural Communication in the Age of AI

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    Call for Papers: Intercultural Communication in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Negotiating Identity, Culture, and Digital InteractionFor a Special Issue of the Journal of Intercultural Communication Researchhttps://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/artificial_intelligence/ Special issue editors:Prof. Nashwa Elyamany, Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (AASTMT) – [email protected]. Noorhan Abbas, University of Leeds, UK – [email protected] Deadline for submissions: December 31, 2026 Artificial intelligence is transforming how people communicate across cultural, linguistic, and geographical boundaries. Intercultural encounters are increasingly mediated by generative AI, automated translation, recommendation systems, conversational agents, social media platforms, virtual influencers, and immersive digital environments. These technologies do more than support communication.…

    Read more: Call: Intercultural Communication in the Age of AI

  • Virtual reality in sports: Not dead, just still ahead of its time

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    [The decades-long pursuit of, and prognostication about, mainstream commercial success for presence-evoking virtual reality continues; here’s a cautiously optimistic assessment by two experts on VR and sport from the Sports Business Journal. In addition to the link in the story, visit the Dayholi website for more about that VR company and the SailGP website for more about that sailing league’s VR and XR innovations. –Matthew] [Image: Tech-driven SailGP events keep spectators engaged with real-time, graphical overlays of the competition. Credit: Getty Images] Opinion Virtual reality: Not dead, just still ahead of its time By Rick Burton, the David B. Falk…

    Read more: Virtual reality in sports: Not dead, just still ahead of its time

  • Call: AI in Business and Strategic Communication

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    Call for Papers: AI in Business and Strategic Communication: Organizational Transformations, Stakeholder Relationships, and Emerging Communication PracticesA special issue of Communication and Changehttps://link.springer.com/journal/44382/updates/53007998 Guest Editors:Dr. Hua Jiang, Syracuse University, USADr. Yi Luo, Montclair State University, USADr. Arunima Krishna, Boston University, USA Deadline for submission of extended abstracts: September 15, 2026Deadline for submission of full papers: March 15, 2027 OVERVIEW: Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the landscape of business and strategic communication across industries, organizations, and global contexts. From generative AI and conversational agents to predictive analytics and automated content systems, AI technologies are transforming how organizations communicate with stakeholders, manage…

    Read more: Call: AI in Business and Strategic Communication

  • Eating disorder treatment: VR conversations with avatar of internal ‘demon voice’

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    [A promising application of presence-evoking technologies externalizes the destructive inner voice people with eating disorders (and other conditions) hear as a digital avatar, allowing patients to confront and banish the voice. This abridged version of a story from The Sunday Times describes the treatment process; note references to the patients suspending disbelief, feeling transported, and the experience seeming real. See the original version of the story for five more pictures and links to other related stories. The research report for the study is available via medRxiv. –Matthew] [Image: Illustration by lou kiss] I cured my eating disorder using virtual reality…

    Read more: Eating disorder treatment: VR conversations with avatar of internal ‘demon voice’

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