International Society
for Presence Research

Author: Matthew Lombard

  • Call: TEI 2024, 18th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction

    Published:

    Call for Papers TEI 2024: 18th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction February 11-14, 2024 Cork, Ireland https://tei.acm.org/2024/ Abstract submission deadline: July 25, 2023 Full submission deadline: August 1, 2023 Dear colleagues, We are happy to announce that the call for papers for TEI 2024 is now out! TEI 2024 is the 18th annual conference presenting the latest results in tangible, embedded, and embodied interaction. It brings together researchers, practitioners, businesses, artists, designers and students from various disciplines, including engineering, interaction design, computer science, product design, media studies and the arts. The conference theme will be “On the…

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  • What will happen to society when “AI lovers” fool millions of people?

    Published:

    [This essay from Big Think uses recent developments in conversational AI and science-fiction portrayals to warn us about the perils of a type of medium-as-social-actor presence experience in which humans emotionally bond with disembodied or even embodied human-like algorithms: “The danger is not of an AI falling in love with a human — that is a meaningless proposition. The danger comes from humans falling in love with an algorithm that behaves so much like a human that we deem it to be real, capable of feeling and reciprocating emotions.” –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Annelisa Leinbach / Big Think; Adobe Stock] What…

    Read more: What will happen to society when “AI lovers” fool millions of people?

  • Call: The world’s very first fully AI-generated conference

    Published:

    [This call for papers was posted on Facebook by James Mackay on April 1. Although it’s not “real” (!), some version of an AI-generated conference certainly could provide interesting illustrations of media as social actor presence. –Matthew] Announcing the world’s very first fully AI-generated conference – please consider submitting! Submissions are invited for the world’s first fully AI conference in July 2023. This gathering intends to explore the potential of “artificially intelligent co-pilots” to increase the efficiency of academia by removing human academics from the process as much as possible. Papers may be on any topic, in any discipline –…

    Read more: Call: The world’s very first fully AI-generated conference

  • Inside the cozy but creepy world of VR sleep rooms

    Published:

    [This story from MIT Technology Review describes and offers a first-person report on how people are using both spatial and social presence to find sleep and company (even “cuddling”) in virtual reality. For more on this topic see the 2021 post in Ryan Schultz’ blog “Exploring sleep worlds in VRChat” and the VRchat subreddit.  –Matthew] [Image: Stephanie Arnett/MIT TR. Credit: Envato, Istock (Butter)] Inside the cozy but creepy world of VR sleep rooms Going to sleep in virtual reality can alleviate insomnia and loneliness—if you can avoid being harassed by kids. By Tanya Basu March 29, 2023 Lo-fi chill music…

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  • Call: “Governing Artificial Intelligence” Mancept Workshops 2023 panel

    Published:

    Call for Abstracts: Governing Artificial Intelligence Mancept Workshops September 11-13, 2023 University of Manchester, UK and Online https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/mancept/mancept-workshops/ Convenor: Markus Furendal (Department of Political Science, Stockholm University) Submission deadline: May 21, 2023 As the development of increasingly capable Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues at a striking speed, questions around the social and ethical impact of AI technology – and how it ought to be shaped politically – are more pressing than ever. For instance, as government agencies and public institutions turn to automated or AI-assisted bureaucratic decision-making, AI begins to wield public authority. As complex generative AI systems begin creating text…

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  • Peril and promise of AI-evoked medium-as-social-actor presence

    Published:

    [As you probably have noted, the news and commentary about the evolution of conversational AI has been accelerating. This week “Pause Giant AI Experiments: An Open Letter” (which at this writing has nearly 1900 “vetted” signatories) argued: “AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity, as shown by extensive research[1] and acknowledged by top AI labs.[2] As stated in the widely-endorsed Asilomar AI Principles, Advanced AI could represent a profound change in the history of life on Earth, and should be planned for and managed with commensurate care and resources. Unfortunately, this level of planning…

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  • Call: EuroXR 2023: 20th EuroXR International Conference

    Published:

    Call for Contributions The 20th EuroXR International Conference – EuroXR 2023 November 28-30, 2023 Rotterdam, Netherlands https://www.euroxr-association.org/conference2023 Submission deadline for scientific papers: April 24, 2023 The EuroXR Association (https://www.euroxr-association.org/) would like to invite researchers and practitioners in the field of XR to contribute to the 20th EuroXR International Conference – EuroXR 2023. This year, the EuroXR Conference will be collocated with Immersive Tech Week (formerly VRDays). It will be held with in-person attendance so that participants will get a more satisfying and enriching experience. We seek original, high-quality contributions in all areas related to virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality,…

    Read more: Call: EuroXR 2023: 20th EuroXR International Conference

  • Face a virtual audience, hone speaking skills in new U. of Hawaii at Manoa VR lab

    Published:

    [The use of presence-evoking virtual reality to practice and reduce anxiety about public speaking isn’t new, but this story from University of Hawaiʻi News describes some of the benefits as it introduces a new NSF-funded VR Lab at the university developed specifically for helping faculty and students communicate more effectively. See the original story for two more pictures and a 1:25 minute video (also available on YouTube), and see the Lab’s website for a 4:20 minute first-person video (also on YouTube) that nicely illustrates the experience of visiting the Lab. A 1:51 minute 2022 HTC VIVE TALK provides more general…

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  • Call: New Coordinates for Creative Hybrid Space-Experiences (two volume monograph)

    Published:

    [From Adrian Kvokacka (adrian.kvokacka@FF.UNIPO.SK)] Dear All, I am pleased to share two CFPs for the collective monograph entitled ‘New Coordinates for Creative Hybrid Space-Experiences: Environments, communities, identities, and art’ and ‘Experiences in Hybrid Spaces: Creation, Reception, Understanding’. Basic Guidelines: Deadline for submissions: August 31, 2023 Language of submissions: English (British) Length of submissions: Up to 6000 words (references included) Reference style: Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed.) Format: Word (accompanied with an exported pdf file) All submissions should be sent to: cfp@caphe.space The calls are available below and also at the links: Volume I.: https://shorturl.at/erwU4 Volume II.: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Uy1XyzIiIWjqPi905iaULiWEJ9JZ3gwT/view?usp=share_link On behalf…

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  • People are creating records of fake historical events using AI

    Published:

    [This story from Motherboard describes a worrisome application of the fast-evolving ability of AI to generate convincingly realistic presence illusions, in this case of important but completely fictional events. Technology expert Shelly Palmer posted this reaction to the story on his blog: “In George Orwell’s 1984, the book’s hero, Winston Smith, is a minor party functionary living in a London that is still shattered by a nuclear war that took place not long after World War II. He belongs to the Outer Party, and his job is to rewrite history in the Ministry of Truth, bringing it in line with…

    Read more: People are creating records of fake historical events using AI

  • Call: ACM Symposium on Spatial User Interaction (SUI) 2023

    Published:

    Call for Papers ACM SUI 2023 The 11th ACM International Symposium on Spatial User Interaction Sydney, Australia October 13-15, 2023 https://sui.acm.org/2023/ Submission deadlines: Papers: June 23, 2023 Posters and demos: August 20, 2023 Workshops and special topic sessions: April 16, 2023 ACM SUI brings together top researchers and practitioners from around the world who focus on spatial interaction for Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, and for ubiquitous, intelligent/smart and real environments. We invite contributions from a wide range of fields including design, social science, arts and creative Industries, and other application domains. This year we introduce a new track…

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  • New virtual reality ‘death simulator’ lets users see what happens to them after they die

    Published:

    [This short story from Firstpost reports on a potentially disturbing but thought-provoking new art installation that provides a simulated first-person experience of death. More information about the installation and the artist who created it is available from the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV)’s Melbourne Now website. A 7:08 minute video, “Facing the Fear of Death in Virtual Reality,” is available on YouTube. And information about other highlights of the Melbourne Now event, including some related to presence, is available from the Australian Arts Review and the Herald Sun. A related, earlier simulation by “Beijing’s biggest funeral parlor” is described in…

    Read more: New virtual reality ‘death simulator’ lets users see what happens to them after they die

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