Author: Matthew Lombard


  • Why brain implants are more than a sci-fi fantasy

    [The potential applications and benefits of brain-computer interfaces go far beyond presence, but most of them do involve overlooking the role of technology in perception (at least over time). This abridged version of a clear and balanced story about BCIs is from Bloomberg via the Japan Times, where the original includes two more images. Note especially the last two sections, about uses beyond medicine (including allowing consumers “to question AI chatbots with their thoughts and receive the answers through their headphones,” and soldiers to pilot drones with their thoughts), and the barriers to successful widespread adoption of the technology. –Matthew]…

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  • Call: 13th Workshop on Interfaces and Human Decision Making for Recommender Systems

    Call for Papers: 13th Joint Workshop on Interfaces and Human Decision Making for Recommender Systems – IntRS’26Held in conjunction with the 20th ACM Conference on Recommender SystemsSeptember 28–October 2 2026Minneapolis, Minnesota, USAIntRS’26 Workshop: https://sites.google.com/view/intrs26/ACM Conference on Recommender Systems: https://recsys.acm.org/recsys26 Important Dates:Submission deadline: July 20, 2026Author notification: August 14, 2026Camera-ready version: August 28, 2026 Research on Human-AI collaboration involves several critical areas of investigation, such as Human-in-the-loop, Symbiotic AI, Explainable AI, User-centered design, and Intelligent Interfaces. Overall, this area of research is aimed at developing systems that can work effectively with human users, considering their preferences, cognitive abilities, and ethical values.…

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  • VR, AI are transforming the classroom experience in South Florida

    [A virtual school founded in 2021 in South Florida offers all of its courses in virtual reality, as reported in this story from WPLG Local 10 in Miami. See the original version for a 2:56 minute video report. For more information and press coverage see the Optima Academy Online website; there’s also some relevant discussion on the homeschool subreddit. –Matthew] Virtual reality and AI are transforming the classroom experience in South Florida By Saira Anwer, ReporterMay 15, 2026 School is getting a high-tech makeover in South Florida, where students are stepping into virtual classrooms powered by artificial intelligence and virtual…

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  • Call: Patching Up for the journal Intermediality

    Call for Papers: Patching Up / RapiécerIssue n° 50 (Fall 2027)Intermediality. History and Theory of the Arts, Literature, and Technologieshttp://intermedialites.com/en/call-for-papers-no-50-patching-up-rapiecer/ Editors:Karine Bellerive, Université du Québec à Montréal and Université de SherbrookeSandrine Lambert, Concordia University No payment from the authors will be required Deadline to submit proposals: June 15, 2026Announcement of selected proposals: July 10, 2026Submission of completed texts for peer review: November 15, 2026Publication of the texts approved by the Editorial Committee: Fall 2027 Patching up means adding pieces—patches—to maintain, repair, and extend the life of something; at times, it goes beyond simply filling a gap to become a creative…

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  • You’re an ‘avatar in a VR game,’ scientist claims

    [Although it can be hard to detect (optical illusions provide a glimpse), it’s clear that we don’t perceive the reality around us directly, but a subjective version of it constructed by our senses and brain. Consistent with philosophy’s simulation argument that what we perceive as reality is likely a sophisticated computer simulation, the fascinating story below from Popular Mechanics via Yahoo! News uses a relatable presence metaphor, the logic of evolutionary game theory, and recent developments in the field of physics to argue for an “interface theory” of perception in which we can only experience the interface, not the complex…

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  • Call: Philosophy of Photography

    Call for Papers: General call for the journal Philosophy of Photographyhttps://www.intellectbooks.com/philosophy-of-photography#call-for-papers Philosophy of Photography is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to the understanding of photography, published twice yearly since 2010. The journal provides a forum for debate on theoretical issues arising from the historical, political, cultural, scientific and critical matrix of ideas, practices and techniques that constitute photography as a multifaceted and changeable form. In a contemporary context remarkable for its diversity, rate of transformation and political challenges, the conjunction of the terms ‘philosophy’ and ‘photography’ in the journal’s title is intended to act as a provocation to serious reflection on…

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  • Reimagining interior space through the illusion of nature

    [The evolution of screen-related technologies has expanded the potential of virtual windows and skylights to evoke presence, as described in this story from Global Design News. See the original version of the story for five more images. For more about the Prospect-Refuge theory mentioned near the end, see a March 2025 article in the environmental psychology journal ArchPsych. –Matthew] OpenView Luminous Virtual Windows by Sky Factory: Reimagining Interior Space Through the Illusion of Nature May 8, 2026 Fairfield, Iowa, USA – OpenView Luminous Virtual Windows transform enclosed interiors into immersive environments filled with light, depth, and the sensation of open…

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  • Call: ICIDS 2026 – 19th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling

    Call for Papers: ICIDS 202619th International Conference on Interactive Digital StorytellingTHEME: Adapt | abilitiesNovember 30 – December 4, 2026Ramkhamhaeng University, Bangkok, Thailand and onlinehttps://icids2026.ardin.online/ Deadlines for submissions:Long and Short Papers: June 22, 2026Late-breaking Works: September 14, 2026 This year’s ICIDS (International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling) will return to Southeast Asia, having last been hosted in the region in Singapore in 2014. The hosting city is Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, a country with a rich history as a cultural crossroads, where diverse traditions from across its varied landscapes have intertwined to create a complex and non-homogeneous society.…

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  • Why deepfake political ads are fooling older Americans

    [This story from the conservative newspaper The Washington Times describes multiple factors that are said to magnify the negative impacts of presence-evoking political ads on television and social media for older voters. See the original version of the story for a 7:19 minute video report. Note that Thomas Massie and John Cornyn both lost their re-election campaigns. –Matthew] ‘More real than real’: Why deep-fake political ads are fooling older Americans By Seth McLaughlinMay 18, 2026 When Rep. Thomas Massie raised the alarm about an artificial intelligence-generated attack ad that falsely shows him in a romantic scenario with two liberal Democratic…

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  • Call: Parasocial Grief (book chapters)

    Call for Book Chapters: Parasocial Griefhttps://telegra.ph/CALL-FOR-SUBMISSIONS-Call-for-Book-Chapters-Parasocial-Grief-05-01 Editors: Katie Thomas (Virginia Tech) and Alex Boesch (Ohio University) Deadline for proposals: July 30, 2026 We are seeking chapter proposals for an edited academic volume exploring the multifaceted phenomenon of parasocial grief. This book examines how individuals experience grief in relation to parasocial relationships/breakups with media figures, fictional characters, influencers, and other public personalities. This volume has interest from a publisher and seeks to advance scholarly understanding of parasocial relationships by centering grief as a meaningful and underexplored dimension of media engagement. Parasocial grief may emerge in response to a range of experiences,…

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  • I chatted with Google’s lifesize, hyperreal AI companion

    [An ISPR Presence News post a few months ago provided a first-person report on the impressive ability of the Google Beam system to evoke social presence with another person; the story below from CNET provides a similar report on the system’s ability to evoke presence with an AI-generated simulation of another person. The author also considers a variety of applications and implications of the technology. –Matthew] [Image: Google Beam just got an experimental video AI agent. I don’t know what its name is. Oh and that’s an AI generated image of my cameraman and myself in the room. Credit: Scott…

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  • Call: At the Crossroads of Mind and Machine: Neuroethics Reshaped by LLMs

    Call for Papers: At the Crossroads of Mind and Machine: Neuroethics Reshaped by LLMs (LLM-Neuroethics)A special issue of the journal Neuroethicshttps://link.springer.com/collections/jfcjdddgdd Editors:  Shengbai Chen, Xiaojun Ding, Jianhua Mei, Hao Zhan and  Mirko Farina Deadline for submissions: October 31, 2026 We are witnessing an unprecedented explosion in Large Language Models (LLMs), shifting the integration of generative AI and mind sciences from theoretical speculation to immediate practical application. As LLMs are increasingly deployed to decode neural data, model human cognition, and act as therapeutic agents, establishing robust philosophical and ethical frameworks is no longer a future goal but an urgent necessity.…

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