International Society
for Presence Research

Author: Matthew Lombard

  • Call: ANIMATAS Symposium on “Human-Machine Interaction. Perception, Social Learning, Personalised Adaptation in Educational Settings”

    Published:

    Call for Papers ANIMATAS Symposium on ‘Human-Machine Interaction. Perception, Social Learning, Personalised Adaptation in Educational Settings’ October 12-14, 2021 Virtual event Symposium Website: https://sites.google.com/view/animatas-symposium ANIMATAS Website: https://www.animatas.eu Submission Deadline: 16th of August 2021 OVERVIEW: As emerging technologies continue to grow in complexity and availability, the question of how to successfully integrate such technologies into our society is attracting growing research interest. Social robots, virtual agents, and (explainable) artificial intelligence models are increasingly being implemented in healthcare systems, in entertainment or retail, or in educational settings as a means to reduce burden on human workers and maximise user experience. Education is…

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  • Study examines how grandparents use video chat to connect with grandchildren during pandemic

    Published:

    [The results so far aren’t particularly surprising and don’t explicitly involve presence, but the ambitious (inter-generational, cross-university, multi-method, longitudinal) study described in this story from Lafayette College, and especially in the linked now-published and free/accessible article in the journal Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies and other detailed reports, provide potentially valuable insights into ways that presence via video chat helps, and can best help, alleviate perceived isolation in family members.  –Matthew] [Image: The young daughter of Prof. Lauren Myers reacts to her grandparents during a video chat.] Video Chat Supports Family Connections By Shannon Sigafoos July 13, 2021 Throughout the…

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  • Call: “Life and Death Moral Dilemmas in VR” Study

    Published:

    Call for Participants “Life and Death Moral Dilemmas in VR” Study The Virginia Philosophy Reality Lab (VPRL) at Old Dominion University is asking for participants in a research study on moral decision-making in virtual reality settings. Prospective participants must be 18+ years of age and have access to an Oculus headset. Participants will fill out a brief informed consent form and questionnaire before downloading the virtual reality experience that tests responses to virtual life-and-death scenarios. To participate in the study, please visit our website and follow the instructions: http://www.vprl.org/VPRL_Life_Death_Dilemmas.html Please consider sharing this link with non-philosopher students and colleagues, as…

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  • Virtual waterfalls and environmental immersion as pain relief during cystoscopies

    Published:

    [A new study adds to the evidence for the potential of VR and presence to reduce perceived pain during medical procedures, in this case using a less interactive stimulus that’s designed for older adult patients who are laying down. All of the press coverage so far, including this story from News-Medical.Net, is based on a press release which unfortunately doesn’t include an image of the stimulus. For a related development see the new open access publication “Efficacy of Smartphone Active and Passive Virtual Reality Distraction vs Standard Care on Burn Pain Among Pediatric Patients” in JAMA Network Open. –Matthew] [Image:…

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  • Call: The manifold senses of presence – Hybrid workshop

    Published:

    Call for Abstracts Workshop: The manifold senses of presence Heidelberg, Germany and Online October 19, 2021 Submission deadline: July 28, 2021 At the latest since our everyday life was and partly still is dominated by social distance, it has become clear what role the phenomenon of “presence” plays for our lifeworld. Strictly speaking, it is the increasing lack of presence that has become conspicuous and that can be attributed not only to the special circumstances of the pandemic, but also to an increasing medialization, virtualization and acceleration of the lifeworld. Yet, what actually characterizes presence is not so easy to…

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  • Scintillating Starburst illustrates perceptual illusions

    Published:

    [Most people most of the time don’t think about the fact that they’re experiencing the world only through their senses and perceptual processing systems rather than directly (what some have called first order mediation), but naturally occurring and especially human-created optical illusions (a form of technology defined broadly) can be powerful reminders and represent compelling (tele)presence illusions. The post below from the Pascal’s Pensées, or Pascal’s Thoughts, blog (“Contemplations from the trenches of Neuroscience, Psychology, Metaphysics and Life”) introduces an effective example. See the original version of the post for larger images and a detailed technical report about the illusion.…

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  • Call: 2021 OkIP International Conference on eLearning and Technology in Education (CETE)

    Published:

    Call for Abstracts and Papers 2021 OkIP International Conference on eLearning and Technology in Education (CETE) MNTC Conference Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA & Online November 15-18, 2021 https://eventutor.com/e/CETE001 Submission deadline: August 31, 2021 Oklahoma International Publishing (OkIP) is pleased to host the 1st International Conference on eLearning and Technology in Education (CETE). The conference aims to bring together scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds to emphasize the dissemination of ongoing research and development in the field. Proposals are solicited describing original works in fields below and related technologies. CETE will include a peer-reviewed program of technical, industrial, and poster sessions.…

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  • TRON for real: Arcadia is first stadium-size mixed reality sports competition

    Published:

    [There doesn’t seem to be much press coverage yet and this VRScout story and the company’s website provide few details, but the Arcadia concept is intriguing. See the original story for another image and a 3:48 minute video (also available via YouTube). –Matthew] Arcadia Is A Mixed Reality Competition For Athletes & Gamers The “world’s first stadium-size mixed reality arena” will begin searching for its first-ever ‘Arcadia Champion’ later this year. July 14, 2021 by Kyle Melnick After three years of secret development, Arcadia, an ambitious stadium-size mixed reality competition, will soon host its Arcadia Trials in an effort to…

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  • Call: “Digital and Creative Heritage: Interdisciplinary Approaches and Best Practices” for AIREA journal

    Published:

    CALL FOR PAPERS: Digital and Creative Heritage: Interdisciplinary Approaches and Best Practices Airea: Arts & Interdisciplinary Research Journal http://journals.ed.ac.uk/airea Deadline for submission of abstracts: 31 October 2021 Digital technologies and creative practices contribute to heritage conservation professional practices, including interpretation, community engagement and scientific understanding of the physical and environmental dimensions of heritage. Digital and creative methodological approaches support uncovering and reframing tangible and intangible heritage within their original settings. This provides an opportunity to diversify community engagement strategies and engage young generation with heritage in an informing manner, enhancing heritage accessibility and inclusivity by bringing sites to people around…

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  • Researchers record brain waves to measure ‘cybersickness’

    Published:

    [The University of Maryland’s Maryland Today reports on a new study that correlated EEG and real-time self-reports of cybersickness during a virtual reality experience (the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire was also administered after the session). More details are in the published article in Virtual Reality; here’s the final paragraph: Our findings in this paper are just a first step to the many opportunities that present themselves in using EEG to study cybersickness in virtual environments. Some of the more important amongst these include a better understanding of the sources of cybersickness, the relationship of the duration of immersion to cybersickness, and…

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  • Call: 1st Games and Social Impact Media Research Lab Conference – GLOW2021

    Published:

    Call for Abstracts 1st Games and Social Impact Media Research Lab Conference – GLOW2021 October 22, 2021 Online https://glow.ulusofona.pt/glow21/ Abstract submission deadline: July 31, 2021 The GLOW2021 conference will be hosted by Lusófona University as a joint initiative between the CICANT and HEI-Lab research centers. Considering the current pandemic context, the conference will adopt an online format. The potential of games for social impact and inclusion is vast and ever-evolving. The Games and Social Impact Media Research Lab (GLOW) was created at Lusófona University to research, discover, and foster links between games studies in academia and civil society through educational…

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  • What exactly is the metaverse?

    Published:

    [This New York Times story explores the concept and several early examples of “the metaverse”; among many other things it highlights the huge amounts of corporate and individual incomes already involved in the phenomenon and includes this interesting example of inverse presence: “Mr. [Craig ] Donato [chief business officer of Roblox] said that during the pandemic he spent so much time meeting in the company’s virtual office that upon returning to the physical space, he had to remind himself that he could not do the same things as his Roblox character. ‘I was like, “Gosh, I have to make sure…

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