Author: Matthew Lombard

Call: First Workshop on AI for Human-Game Interaction, at ECAI 2025

Published:

April 2, 2025

Call for Papers: AI4HGI Workshop @ECAI 2025The First Workshop on Artificial Intelligence for Human-Game InteractionCo-located with the 28th European Conference of Artificial Intelligence (ECAI ’25)October 25-30, 2025Bologna, ItalyWorkshop: https://ai4hgi.github.io/Conference: https://ecai2025.org/ Deadline for submissions: June 18, 2025 For any information: sabrina.villata@unito.it ABSTRACT Digital games have become one of the most influential forms of entertainment and interactive media, extending their impact beyond leisure into education, health, behavior change, and more. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly vital role in shaping these experiences, enabling adaptive gameplay, dynamic content generation, and the creation of intelligent non-player characters. AI not only enhances player immersion…
Read more: Call: First Workshop on AI for Human-Game Interaction, at ECAI 2025
A virtual reality experience takes Venezuelans in South Florida to their homeland

Published:

April 2, 2025

[Venezuelans in Dural, Florida and around the world are visiting their homeland by viewing a 360 degree high-definition video in virtual reality, as reported in this story from WLRN Public Media. Note especially the first-person reporting at the end by the author herself. The original story includes an audio version, a second image, a nine-image photo gallery from Instagram, and the 10:24 minute video from YouTube. (Personal note: I wish I could discuss this story and project with my former student, colleague and friend Gisela Gil-Egui and her husband Jose Labrador.) –Matthew] [Image: Friends at the “Teleport to Venezuela” event…
Read more: A virtual reality experience takes Venezuelans in South Florida to their homeland
Call: “Shaping the Future of Interaction: Integrating AI, Human Factors, and Immersive Technologies in HCI” at IEEE MetroXRAINE 2025

Published:

April 1, 2025

Call for Papers: Thematic Session on: “Shaping the Future of Interaction: Integrating AI, Human Factors, and Immersive Technologies in HCI”2025 IEEE International Conference on Metrology for eXtended Reality, Artificial Intelligence, and Neural Engineering (IEEE MetroXRAINE 2025)October 22-24, 2025Ancona, ItalySession: https://metroxraine.org/thematic-session-7Conference: https://metroxraine.org/ Submission deadline for short abstracts (1-2 pages): April 7, 2025 [hard deadline] THEMATIC SESSION DESCRIPTION Nowadays the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with modern Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) technologies and eXtended Reality (XR), offers unprecedented opportunities for innovation. This thematic session aims to explore how AI while acting as a catalyst, interacts with broader HCI methods to enhance user experiences,…
Read more: Call: “Shaping the Future of Interaction: Integrating AI, Human Factors, and Immersive Technologies in HCI” at IEEE MetroXRAINE 2025
First therapy chatbot trial yields mental health benefits and evidence of MASA presence

Published:

April 1, 2025

[Dartmouth University researchers have published a systematic clinical study of the effectiveness of an AI-powered therapist called Therabot, which they trained using “original training set the researchers developed from current, evidence-based best practices for psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy.” The impressive reductions in reported symptoms of depression, anxiety and concerns about body image and weight come with some important caveats, but a key result concerns medium-as-social-actor presence: Senior author Nicholas Jacobson notes that “We did not expect that people would almost treat the software like a friend. It says to me that they were actually forming relationships with Therabot.” See…
Read more: First therapy chatbot trial yields mental health benefits and evidence of MASA presence
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

International Society
for Presence Research

Author: Matthew Lombard

Call: First Workshop on AI for Human-Game Interaction, at ECAI 2025

A virtual reality experience takes Venezuelans in South Florida to their homeland

Call: “Shaping the Future of Interaction: Integrating AI, Human Factors, and Immersive Technologies in HCI” at IEEE MetroXRAINE 2025

First therapy chatbot trial yields mental health benefits and evidence of MASA presence

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

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