International Society
for Presence Research

Author: Matthew Lombard

  • Digital dress codes: What will we wear in the metaverse?

    Published:

    [This link-filled CNN report covers the latest developments in digital fashion and discusses key challenges (e.g., convincing people to pay for objects that only exist online; transportability across platforms) and benefits (e.g., for sustainability); see the original story for eight more images. In a short NPR interview Imran Ahmed, CEO and editor-in-chief of the Business of Fashion, explains why companies think there’s a market for fashion in the digital world: “Fundamentally, it comes down to the purpose of why fashion exists. Of course, we all wear clothes for functional reasons – to stay warm or to cover ourselves up. But…

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  • Call: ECCE 2022 – European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics

    Published:

    Call for Papers EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON COGNITIVE ERGONOMICS (ECCE) 2022 Theme: Evaluating the Reality–Virtuality Continuum October 4-7, 2022 Kaiserslautern, Germany https://hci.uni-kl.de/ecce2022/ Deadline for submissions: March 15, 2022 ECCE is the leading conference in human-media interaction and cognitive ergonomics. It provides an opportunity for both researchers and practitioners to exchange new ideas and practical experiences for a variety of domains. ECCE 2022 invites contributions from researchers and practitioners which address the broad spectrum of Cognitive Ergonomics challenges in the analysis, design, and evaluation of virtual and physical interactive systems as part of a rich conference program including keynote talks, paper presentation…

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  • ’15 minutes to save the world’: A terrifying VR journey into the nuclear bunker

    Published:

    [In a positive but disturbing application of presence, a new virtual reality experience puts users in the role of President of the United States making life-and-death decisions that affect millions of people during an apparent attack with limited time and information. The author of this story from The Guardian provides a first-person report along with other information about the project. See the original story for two more images and two videos of the simulation, and for more information including quotes from a variety of experts, see a press release from Global Zero. –Matthew] ‘15 minutes to save the world’: a…

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  • Call: “Towards Social Justice in Digital Gaming” Gamevironments issue

    Published:

    CALL FOR PAPERS Special Issue of GAMEVIRONMENTS “This Time it’s for all the Marbles. Towards Social Justice in Digital Gaming” edited by Patrick Prax https://www.gamevironments.uni-bremen.de/ Submission deadline for abstracts: 1 February 2022 Digital games are a central element of contemporary media ecology both in terms of playing and making games, but also as an anchor point for communities and cultures. The impact games and gaming have on our societies is both hard to define and undeniable. They extend towards increased access to cultural production and creativity, allowing people to be social in isolation, and to expand the social imaginary. At…

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  • Can virtual reality (and presence) be used to combat racial bias in health care?

    Published:

    [KQED reports on a program at the University of California San Francisco that uses virtual reality and the presence experiences it creates to build empathy and combat unconscious biases of doctors and nurses that contribute to disturbing racial inequities in medical care and outcomes. The story includes valuable perspective on the challenges and open questions involved; see the original version for three more images. –Matthew] [Image: Nova Wilson, program coordinator for the UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences, instructs Dr. Mike Reid on using virtual reality equipment at UCSF offices in San Francisco on Dec. 10, 2021. The VR program…

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  • Call: Session proposals for Social Simulation FesT 2022

    Published:

    Call for Session Proposals Social Simulation FesT 2022 Online May 3, 10, 17 and 25, 2022 Submission deadline: January 17, 2022 Each SocSimFesT day we imagine having 3 sessions and an inspirational talk (please observe: no parallel sessions). Each session will be 1.5 hours in duration, in which the session organisers are responsible for arranging the content of the session. The sessions will be on Zoom and take place on the first 4 Tuesdays of May 2022. To propose a session, please write a max. 300 words/2000 characters description of your session, whilst making clear the following (not included in…

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  • Augmented reality at Chicago’s United Center powers the 5G connected fan experience

    Published:

    [This short story from PYMNTS describes a parasocial interaction experience designed for Chicago sports fans (and soon for many others). See the press release for a short video (also available on YouTube). –Matthew] Augmented Reality at Chicago’s United Center Powers the 5G Connected Fan Experience By PYMNTS December 14, 2021 Sports fans visiting the United Center in Chicago will soon be able to take video and photo selfies with augmented reality (AR) versions of players and mascots. This “Pose with the Pros” experience results from a partnership between AT&T and two teams: the Chicago Blackhawks and the Chicago Bulls.…

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  • Call: Cumulus Russia 2022: Un/Touchable: New meanings and values

    Published:

    CALL FOR PAPERS Cumulus Russia 2022: Un/Touchable: New meanings and values Phygital Conference [Physical and digital] June 13-18, 2022 https://cumulusrussia2022.org Deadline for submission of abstracts: January 15, 2022 Scholars, designers, and the creative community of Russia invite you to join discussions on the “Un/Touchable: New Meanings and Values” Official Cumulus Conference. Let’s investigate the notions of tactility, tangible aesthetics, proprioception, and haptic visuality together! The phygital conference will take place in Saint Petersburg, Moscow and online in June 2022 hosted by Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg University and HSE Art and Design School (National Research University…

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  • How chatbots are being used to train crisis counselors

    Published:

    [This CNN Business story describes a very positive application of presence via chatbots; see the original story for three other images. For more information see a press release on The Trevor Project’s blog. –Matthew] How chatbots are being used to train crisis counselors By Rachel Metz December 7, 2021 Drew, a 21-year-old in Irvine, California, needs help: He’s transgender, and after starting hormone replacement therapy he’s facing harassment from coworkers. It’s gotten so bad, Drew tells a crisis counselor via a text-based chat session, that he’s considering suicide. He can’t quit his job, however, because he needs the money. “i think…

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  • Call: Bovay Workshop: Ethical Engineering of Complex Systems: Robot Police, Judges, and Digital Beings

    Published:

    Call for Papers Annual Bovay Workshop on Engineering and Applied Ethics 2022 Workshop Theme: The Ethical Engineering of Complex Systems: robot police, judges, and digital beings Texas A&M University College Station, Texas April 26, 2022 CONFIRMED INVITED PARTICIPANTS: Barry Smith (University at Buffalo) Berit Brogaard (University of Miami) Vincent Mueller (TU Eindhoven) Jobst Landgrebe (Cognotekt) Rune Nyrup (Cambridge) Abstracts submission deadline: 15 December 2021 Papers that investigate philosophical issues related to the ethical engineering of complex systems, with a focus on digital being(s) are invited for the 2022 Bovay Engineering and Applied Ethics Workshop. Questions that could be investigated include:…

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  • The metaverse is a human rights dilemma

    Published:

    [Many people and organizations are raising concerns about the infringement of rights in virtual and extended reality environments including the nascent metaverse. For example, see “Virtual Worlds, Real People: Human Rights in the Metaverse” by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and an interview in The Ghost Howls blog with Kristina Podnar about how we need to fight for “Privacy & Safety and Digital Human Rights.” But this essay in ZDNet makes an even more basic argument about the human right of autonomy in virtual platforms and how to address threats to it. See the original story for a 5:27 minute…

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  • Call: IMX 2022 – ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences

    Published:

    Call for Papers ACM IMX’22: The ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences (IMX) 22-24 June 2022 Aveiro, Portugal [and possibly online; see last bullet point below] https://imx.acm.org/2022/participation/papers/ Submission deadline: January 28, 2022 The ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences (IMX) focuses on challenges and innovations across diverse forms of media engagement and experiences. The aim is to provoke and promote discussion and the sharing of exciting ideas amongst researchers, industry practitioners and the academic community in all forms of media: VR, AR, MR, XR, 360 degree, live-streaming, online media content, authoring and production, as well as TV. We…

    Read more: Call: IMX 2022 – ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences

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