International Society
for Presence Research

Author: Matthew Lombard

  • Lufthansa previews what’s next for (presence in) in-flight entertainment

    Published:

    [Lufthansa predicts a bright future for the use of virtual and mixed reality-generated presence experiences on its flights, as reported in this story from Travel Weekly. One of the potential benefits noted, overcoming the feeling of small space in the aircraft, seems particularly valuable. Other airlines aren’t as bullish- a lot would seem to depend on how quickly the technology becomes “smaller, more capable and much more common.” Lufthansa has a history of experimenting with presence; for example, see this ISPR Presence News post from August 2018. –Matthew] Lufthansa previews what’s next for in-flight entertainment By Robert SilkNovember 12, 2024…

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  • Call: Future Screen issue of DIGITCULT@Scientific Journal on Digital Cultures

    Published:

    Call for Papers Future ScreenA Special Issue of DIGITCULT@Scientific Journal on Digital Cultureshttp://commlist.org/archive/all/2024-all/msg01817.html Deadline for submission of abstracts: December 31, 2024 (full papers due March 31, 2025) No payment from the authors will be required Issue edited by: Gianni Corino (Plymouth University), Andrew Prior (Plymouth University), Tatiana Mazali (Politecnico di Torino). Digitcult journal calls for research papers on the novel concept of Future Screen, a cross disciplinary topic that has the potential to reshape immersive media, film, narrative and game design, music and performing arts and more broadly the sector of Creative industries, Culture and Entertainment. We would contributors to…

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  • “Inflection point in media evolution”: James Cameron, Meta team to produce VR entertainment

    Published:

    [Variety reports on a new partnership between Avatar and Titanic filmmaker James Cameron’s company and Meta to produce entertainment for virtual and mixed reality. Cameron writes that the partnership will help navigate “a true, historic inflection point” in the evolution of media; the Meta blog post mentioned in the story puts it this way: “For more than a century, filmmakers have pushed the boundaries of storytelling. MR headsets represent the next step in the evolution of media, enhancing the viewing experience for millions, and utilizing native 3D in the service of traditional and immersive 360-degree environments, along with interactive elements…

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  • Call: “Encounters with the real” issue of Journal of Value Inquiry

    Published:

    [Important note: I usually avoid posting Calls for Papers that involve the requirement that authors pay a fee for submission and/or publication but do so when the topic is particularly relevant to the presence community. In these cases, as with the Call below, I add an explicit note near the top of the post noting the fee requirement. For more information about the specific fees, see this page on the publisher’s website, and for general information about publication fees, see AJE Scholar’s “Understanding Submission and Publication Fees” and Wikipedia’s entry on Article Processing Charges. –Matthew] Call for Papers: “Encounters with…

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  • Realistic presence: New VR game puts you in the middle of English Premier League plays

    Published:

    [This story from Wired describes a new virtual reality game that enhances several aspects of presence, including putting players inside detailed recreations of specific plays from actual English Premier League soccer games, an approach to game design that will likely be applied to a wide variety of other sports. See the original version of the story for two more images, a video, and an audio version of the story. –Matthew] [Image: A screenshot of the game (L), and featured player Kobbie Mainoo of Manchester United (R). Credit: Photo-Illustration: Wired Staff; Rezzil/Getty] A New VR Game Puts You in the Middle…

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  • Call: Meaningful XR 2025

    Published:

    Call for Papers Meaningful XR 2025University of California (UC) Davis and OnlineMay 22–23, 2025https://www.meaningfulxr.org/ Deadline for submissions: February 28, 2025 Dear Colleagues, We are excited to invite you to Meaningful XR 2025, a conference dedicated to exploring the transformative potential of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR)—collectively “XR”. Meaningful XR 2025 is an engaging gathering of researchers, educators, industry professionals, and students passionate about XR technologies and their meaningful applications. Join us on May 22–23, 2025, at the UC Davis International Center or participate virtually through our hybrid option. KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Katherine Isbister, Professor of Computational…

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  • The rise of AI-enabled virtual pets: Why millions are raising digital companions

    Published:

    [Digital pets continue to evolve, with “new AI-enabled virtual pets that can talk, learn, and form genuine connections with their human caretakers.” This story from Forbes focuses on the popular Pengu character, including how it’s designed to promote not just medium-as-social-actor presence but deeper relationships between humans. See the original version of the story for a different image and a 31-minute podcast (also available on YouTube) featuring the author’s interview with the CEO and co-founder of the company that created Pengu. The Pengu app is available in the Google Play and Apple App Stores. –Matthew] The Rise Of AI-Enabled Virtual…

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  • Call: Chapters for “Fantasy geographies: Tourism, worldbuilding, heritage, meaning-making, ecologies and futures”

    Published:

    Call for Chapters: “Fantasy geographies: Tourism, worldbuilding, heritage, meaning-making, ecologies and futures”http://commlist.org/archive/all/2024-all/msg01792.html Deadline for submission of abstracts: January 31, 2025 Edited by Jane Lovell, Evgenia Amey, Stijn Reijnders, Nitasha Sharma and Nicola MacLeod We invite abstract chapter submissions of 1000 words for a new volume on geographies of fantasy, to be submitted by 31 January 2025. The volume welcomes interdisciplinary viewpoints and encourages submissions from authors based in different geographical regions. PURPOSE OF THE BOOK This book aims to bring a significant new addition to critical tourism studies, dealing with an economically, culturally and environmentally significant topic that is yet…

    Read more: Call: Chapters for “Fantasy geographies: Tourism, worldbuilding, heritage, meaning-making, ecologies and futures”

  • Virtual reality: A ‘flight simulator’ for dental students

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    [This story from New York University (NYU) provides a vivid example of how presence-evoking technologies can be more effective than traditional training tools and methods, in this case in the field of dentistry. The flight simulator comparison is a compelling way to emphasize their role and value. Also note (in the last section) the development of more realistic custom controllers to enhance presence. See the original story for five more images. –Matthew] [Image: NYU dental student Kaitlyn Re (right) practices giving an injection alongside fellow student Dhwani Thakkar (left). Credit: Jonathan King] Virtual Reality: A ‘Flight Simulator’ for Dental Students…

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  • Call: “Communication and Artificial Intelligence” issue of Communication and Society

    Published:

    Call for Papers “Communication and Artificial Intelligence”Communication and Society Journalhttps://nordmedianetwork.org/latest/call-for-papers/call-for-papers-communication-and-artificial-intelligence/ Deadline for submissions: January 15, 2025 Thematic Editors: Alberto Sá (CECS, Universidade do Minho, Portugal) and Luis Miguel Pedrero (Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Spain) Artificial intelligence stands as one of the foremost technological challenges of our time. With its considerable benefits in performing numerous tasks and processing vast amounts of information, the automation enabled by artificial intelligence has been acknowledged as a means to enhance productivity, minimise human error, conserve resources, and boost operational efficiency. Across sectors such as industry and healthcare, artificial intelligence is regarded with optimism, representing a…

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  • VR (and presence) to enhance Purdue U. Hospitality and Tourism Management courses

    Published:

    [A professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management is exploring another application of presence-evoking virtual reality for enhancing students’ learning experiences, and presumably outcomes. As a doctoral student in this story from Purdue University notes, “I think the biggest gap VR devices can help overcome, especially for HTM students, is the distance between the classroom and the real workplace.” See the original version of the story for five more images. –Matthew] [Image: Shawn Jung, assistant professor in the White Lodging-J.W. Marriott, Jr. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, instructs his event planning class before attempting virtual reality exercises last spring in…

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  • Call: Sound on Screen IV conference

    Published:

    Call for Papers: Sound on Screen IVJune 24-26, 2025Online / Oxford Brookes Universityhttp://commlist.org/archive/all/2024-all/msg01759.html Deadline for submission of abstracts and bios: January 24, 2025 PLEASE NOTE THE UPDATED FORMAT AND DATES: The conference will now be fully online on Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th June for individual papers, and in-person and hybrid on Thursday 26th June. For the final day, we invite three-paper panel proposals on any topic and position papers on the broader discipline and direction of screen music and sound studies. Individual papers are warmly invited for the opening two days only. The Sound on Screen research network at…

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