International Society
for Presence Research

Author: Matthew Lombard

  • New Spatial Computing Hub brings virtual reality to Purdue U.

    Published:

    [Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana has a new Spatial Computing Hub, where students and faculty from across campus are exploring presence-evoking technologies. See the original version of this story from The Purdue Exponent for a different image and a video; more coverage of the opening of the Hub (and a link to additional photos) is available from the University, as is the news release mentioned in the story below. –Matthew] [Image: President Mung Chiang (second from right) experiences the possibilities of virtual reality firsthand at Purdue’s new Spatial Computing Hub. Credit: Purdue University photo/Dave Mason. Source: Purdue University News]…

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  • Call: (Meta)Cognition – The 47th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts

    Published:

    Call for Proposals: (Meta)CognitionThe 47th International Conference on the Fantastic in the ArtsMarch 18–21, 2026Marriott Orlando Airport Lakeside | Orlando, Floridahttps://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/ICFA Submission deadline: October 31, 2025 The International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA) is an annual scholarly conference devoted to all aspects of the fantastic (broadly defined) as it appears in literature, film, and the other arts. For many years, the ICFA has been held annually in Orlando, Florida, USA. Organization and refereeing of academic paper sessions at ICFA is under the direction of Division Heads who are appointed by the President with the advice and consent…

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  • An unwelcome megatrend: AI that replaces family, friends – and pets

    Published:

    [In another of his thought-provoking essays from Computerworld, technology writer Mike Elgan argues that trends in the evolution of communication technologies including streaming platforms, videogames, interactive digital “pets,” generative AI and AI chatbots are all leading us toward what are essentially interactions with ourselves rather than other human beings. In presence terms, one could say our communication media are increasingly designed to evoke social presence experiences that are actually parasocial rather than truly social. See the original version of the essay for a second image. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Graeme Worsfold] Opinion An unwelcome megatrend: AI that replaces family, friends —…

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  • Call: Trust and the Digital Society – Special issue of the Journal of Trust Research

    Published:

    Call for Papers: Trust and the Digital SocietyFor a special issue of the Journal of Trust Researchhttps://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/trust-and-the-digital-society/ Special Issue Editors:Prof. Dr. Balázs Bodó, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands (b.bodo@uva.nl)Dr Linda Weigl, University of Amsterdam, the NetherlandsDr Mónika Simon, University of Amsterdam, the NetherlandsDr Tomasz Zurek, University of Amsterdam, the NetherlandsDr Theo Araujo, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands Deadline for submissions: December 1, 2025 BACKGROUND Trust is the latest shared societal resource to be disrupted by digital innovation on a global scale. Concerns abound regarding growing distrust in institutions, practices, and professions which were highly trusted.…

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  • “Suspicious Minds” is a new video docuseries and podcast on how AI affects us

    Published:

    [A new video docuseries and podcast from the co-authors of the book Suspicious Minds: How Culture Shapes Madness is launching today and may be of interest to presence scholars. First below is a brief description of the new Suspicious Minds series from Comics Beat, followed by a December 2024 story from Foresight about the Truman Show Syndrome, a dramatic example of inverse presence identified by the Suspicious Minds authors/creators. –Matthew] SUSPICIOUS MINDS, a new docuseries on how AI affects us Suspicious Minds investigates the disturbing rise of artificial intelligence as a trigger for delusional thinking. By  Javier PerezOctober 11, 2025…

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  • Call: ACM Creativity and Cognition 2026 conference

    Published:

    Call for Submissions: ACM Creativity and Cognition 2026 conferenceTheme: “Creativity for Change”July 13-16, 2026London, UKhttps://cc.acm.org/2026/ Deadline for submission of abstracts for papers, pictorials, and artworks: January 29, 2026 (more deadlines below) We are pleased to invite submissions for papers to the ACM Creativity and Cognition 2026 conference, which will be held in London (UK) 13-16 July 2026. We encourage submissions that contribute with knowledge on various forms of creativity with topics ranging from designing or evaluating creativity-support environments and technologies to studying or reflecting on the experiences, practices, and cognitive processes in art, craft and design. This year’s theme, “Creativity…

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  • U. of Michigan Engineering project HandProxy lets VR users complete diverse tasks using voice commands

    Published:

    [New software developed at the University of Michigan not only expands the potential community of people who can use virtual and augmented reality systems but seems likely to enhance the experience of presence for all users. This story is from the University’s Michigan Engineering News, where the original includes a 1:27 minute video (also available on YouTube). Coverage in Heise includes this additional detail: “Currently, ‘HandProxy’ exists only as a demo app, but in the long term, the technology could also be incorporated into real robotic arms. A patent has already been applied for, and the team is looking for…

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  • Call: Digital Humanities 2026 – Conference Theme: “Engagement”

    Published:

    Call for Proposals Digital Humanities 2026 (DH2026)The annual conference of the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO)Conference theme: “Engagement”July 27-31, 2026Daejeon, South Koreahttps://dh2026.adho.org/cfp/ Deadline for submissions: December 8, 2025 The Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO) invites submissions for its annual conference, DH2026, to be held in Daejeon, South Korea, from July 27 to 31, 2026. CONFERENCE THEME: “ENGAGEMENT” Our theme, “Engagement,” highlights our commitment to fostering meaningful connections—both among diverse communities and between humans and emerging technologies. It emphasizes vibrancy in community interactions and critical reflection on technologies such as “Artificial Intelligence” and their responsible applications.…

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  • As ‘synthetic media’ grows more ubiquitous and convincing we need media literacy courses for ‘Generation AI’

    Published:

    [I strongly endorse the views expressed in the commentary below from the Editor in Chief of MediaPost, an experienced media and technology journalist. As generative artificial intelligence approaches and passes an “inflection point blurring the lines of media reality,” when AI is “ubiquitous and can distort things in ways that defy classic cognitive reasoning” and nobody should assume that what they see and hear during media experiences is real, the need for media studies courses and other forms of training in media literacy for young people (and arguably many more of us) becomes critically important. –Matthew] Commentary Generation AI By…

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  • Call: 18th ACM Web Science Conference 2026 (Websci’26)

    Published:

    Call for Papers: 18th ACM Web Science Conference 2026 (Websci’26)May 21-24, 2026TU BraunschweigLower Saxony, Germanyhttps://websci26.org/ Important Dates: December 10, 2025: Paper submission February 4, 2026: Notification February 28, 2026: Camera-ready versions due May 26-29, 2026: Conference dates ABOUT THE WEB SCIENCE CONFERENCE Web Science is an interdisciplinary field dedicated to understanding the complex and multiple impacts of the Web on society and vice versa. The interdisciplinary field is well situated to address pressing issues of our time by incorporating various scientific approaches. We welcome quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research, including techniques from the social sciences and computer science.…

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  • Cyberdelics: Virtual reality can replicate cognitive effects of psychedelics, new study finds

    Published:

    [An ambitious and intriguing new published study by a research team coordinated by our colleague and friend Giuseppe Riva explores the potential of virtual reality to replicate and replace the perceptual and therapeutic effects of psychedelic drugs. The story from PsyPost below describes the project extremely well; in addition to the team’s article in Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, for more thought-provoking information and context see earlier ISPR Presence News posts “Can virtual reality replace psychedelic drugs?“ (August 2019) and “VR is as good as psychedelics at helping people reach transcendence” (August 2022). –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Adobe Stock] Cyberdelics: Virtual reality…

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  • Call: Foundations of Digital Games 2026

    Published:

    Call for Papers: Foundations of Digital Games 2026 (FDG’26)Copenhagen, DenmarkAugust 10-14, 2026https://fdg2026.org/call-for-papers/ Deadlines for submissions: Workshop, Competition, and Panel Proposals: November 21, 2025 Abstracts (for Regular Papers): December 5, 2025 Regular Papers: December 15, 2025 The 21st annual Foundations of Digital Games (FDG) conference invites researchers, educators, and practitioners to submit original research contributions. We welcome submissions in the form of full and short papers, posters, demos, doctoral consortium applications, and proposals for panels, competitions, and workshops. FDG invites contributions from within and across any discipline committed to advancing knowledge on the foundations of games, including computer science, engineering, mathematics,…

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