International Society
for Presence Research

Author: Matthew Lombard

  • Call: Bodies in Journalism – Special issue of Journalism Studies

    Published:

    Call for Papers Bodies in JournalismSpecial issue of Journalism Studieshttps://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/bodies-in-journalism/ Submission deadline (extended): September 2, 2024 The body has been a focal point of cultural critique in humanities and social sciences research since the corporeal or bodily turn of the 1980s and 1990s, when it began to be perceived as discursively shaped by language, culture, and ideology, rather than a fixed biological entity. In journalism, bodies play a crucial role in the day-to-day performance of news work: interacting with sources, collecting sensitive information, and negotiating access are integral aspects of the emotional labour of the profession. Despite its essential role…

    Read more: Call: Bodies in Journalism – Special issue of Journalism Studies

  • Forget imaginary friends, how about an imaginary teacher?

    Published:

    [Guy Bate and his colleagues at the University of Auckland are exploring the use of presence-evoking AI-based assistants to serve as supplementary teachers in the Graduate School of Management, as reported in this story from New Zealand’s The Post. See the original version of the story for five more pictures and a 1:24 minute video. –Matthew] [Image: A University of Auckland teaching avatar. Credit: Simon Morrow / Stuff] Forget imaginary friends, how about an imaginary teacher? By Kevin NorquayAugust 17, 2024 Wish you always had a friendly face close at hand, to help with tricky problems? Well, the University of…

    Read more: Forget imaginary friends, how about an imaginary teacher?

  • Call: Having a LARP: Immersion, Liveness, and the Qualities of Experience (Symposium)

    Published:

    Call for Submissions The Evolution of Story IIIHaving a LARP: Immersion, Liveness, and the Qualities of ExperienceJune 17, 2025Solent University, Southampton, UKhttps://evolutionofstory.info/call-for-papers-2025/https://evolutionofstory.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Having-a-LARP-Call-for-Papers-vr5.pdf Submission deadline: November 29, 2024 OVERVIEW: We are delighted to announce a one-day academic symposium titled “Having a LARP: Immersion, Liveness, and the Qualities of Experience,” hosted by Solent University on 17th June 2025. This symposium aims to provoke debate and challenge orthodox views on the evolution of storytelling and immersive experiences, particularly focusing on the increasingly mainstream phenomenon of Live Action Role Play (LARP). In recent years, LARP has transitioned from the fringes of entertainment culture to…

    Read more: Call: Having a LARP: Immersion, Liveness, and the Qualities of Experience (Symposium)

  • Former NASA scientist doing experiment to prove we live in a simulation

    Published:

    [Regardless of its validity, the popular culture treatments and scientific and philosophical considerations of the idea that we all live in a sophisticated technology-based simulation, which would be the ultimate example of presence, demonstrate that simulation and illusion are important concepts and phenomena in our age (as clocks and steam engines were in earlier ones). This story from Futurism provides an overview of the latest efforts to find evidence that supports one version of the simulation argument. For more information, see the press release the author mentions, which is available at PRLog, and the experimenters’ testingthehhypothesis website. The Cosmos News…

    Read more: Former NASA scientist doing experiment to prove we live in a simulation

  • Call: Surrealism and Arts-Based Research: Bridging the Imagination and Reality Divide – online conference

    Published:

    Call for Papers Surrealism and Arts-Based ResearchBridging the Imagination and Reality DivideSeptember 30-October 1, 2024OnlineConference fee: 90 GBPhttps://labrc.co.uk/2024/07/06/surrealism2024/ Proposal submission deadline: August 31, 2024 We are delighted to announce our forthcoming conference, Surrealism and Arts-Based Research: Bridging the Imagination and Reality Divide, where we will delve into the captivating and enigmatic world of Surrealism across multiple disciplines. This transdisciplinary conference invites scholars, creatives, researchers, and practitioners to explore the enigmatic, the dreamlike, and the fantastical in their respective fields through the lens of Surrealism. We aim to come together to explore, discuss, and unveil the depths of the unconscious mind…

    Read more: Call: Surrealism and Arts-Based Research: Bridging the Imagination and Reality Divide – online conference

  • NHL hockey goalie virtual reality tool highlights Fanatics Fest NYC

    Published:

    [The US National Hockey League isn’t an objective source, but this story from NHL.com provides some interesting information about the League’s presence-evoking virtual reality gameplay simulator and how and why people use it. See the original story for a second image and for more information see the NHL Sense Arena and Fanatics Fest NYC websites. –Matthew] Goalie virtual reality tool highlights Fanatics Fest NYC Sense Arena program gives fans taste of real NHL action By David Satriano, NHL.com Staff WriterAugust 15, 2024 Have you ever wondered what it’s like to stare down a slap shot from Alex Ovechkin? Well, thanks…

    Read more: NHL hockey goalie virtual reality tool highlights Fanatics Fest NYC

  • Call: The Human-Machine Communication Syllabus Project

    Published:

    Call for Participants The Human-Machine Communication Syllabus Projecthttps://andrealguzman.net/hmcsyllabusproject Submission deadline: September 13, 2024 Communication and media research is expanding to include artificial intelligence and robotics, and this broadening of the study of communication also has extended to the classroom. Scholars who are integrating human-machine communication into their courses are invited to participate in the Human-Machine Communication Syllabus Project by Andrea L. Guzman, Northern Illinois University, and Jason Archer, Michigan Technological University. The purpose of the project is two-fold: First, we aim to study how scholars are conceptualizing human-machine communication and incorporating it as a subject of study within higher education.…

    Read more: Call: The Human-Machine Communication Syllabus Project

  • Avi Schiffmann’s startup is launching an AI ‘Friend’ to be your always-there companion

    Published:

    [Twenty-one-year-old Avi Schiffmann, already known for a series of technology inventions, is launching a new AI companion called ‘Friend’ that, as the name suggests, is designed to evoke medium-as-social-actor presence. The story from The Verge below provides details, and the excerpts from coverage by Wired adds more; the original versions of both stories include the 1:44 minute product trailer video (also available on YouTube). For a negative take on Friend, see a story in TechRadar, and for related news about Heeyo’s “AI chatbot [created] to be a billion kids’ interactive tutor and friend,” see a recent story in TechCrunch.…

    Read more: Avi Schiffmann’s startup is launching an AI ‘Friend’ to be your always-there companion

  • Call: AI Ethics in Africa Colloquium September 4, 2024 via Zoom

    Published:

    Call for Participation A-day Virtual Colloquium onAI ETHICS IN AFRICASeptember 14, 202415:00/3 pm (South Africa Time) and 14:00/2 pm (Nigeria Time) DESCRIPTION In recent years, there has been a rapid development in Artificial intelligence (AI). Some of these developments include smartphones, factory arms, autonomous cars, AI wristwatches, ChatGPT4, griefbots, robot surgeons, and robot lawyers. This rapid development raises various concerns, one of which is the ethical concern of how to design AI in such a way that it would not pose a danger to humanity or exacerbate the suffering of nonhuman animals in the context of factory farms. …

    Read more: Call: AI Ethics in Africa Colloquium September 4, 2024 via Zoom

  • We need to prepare for ‘addictive intelligence’

    Published:

    [Here’s an extremely thoughtful link-filled essay from MIT Technology Review about some of the perils of medium-as-social-actor presence and what researchers, designers and regulators can do to mitigate them in an ethical manner. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Pat Pataranutaporn | Robert Mahari] We need to prepare for ‘addictive intelligence’ The allure of AI companions is hard to resist. Here’s how innovation in regulation can help protect people. By Robert Mahari a joint JD-PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab and Harvard Law School. His work focuses on computational law—using advanced computational techniques to analyze, improve, and extend the study and practice…

    Read more: We need to prepare for ‘addictive intelligence’

  • Call: Communication and AI features for NCA digital magazine spectra

    Published:

    Call for Submissions: Features wanted for the National Communication Association (NCA)’s digital magazine spectra special issue on Communication and AIAugust 8, 2024NCA: https://www.natcom.org/spectra: https://www.natcom.org/spectrahttps://telegra.ph/CALLS-FOR-SUBMISSIONS-Features-wanted-for-NCAs-digital-magazine-spectra-special-issue-on-Communication-and-AI-08-08 Passionate about AI? Do you have unique insights, fresh perspectives, or thoughtful observations on the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and the field of Communication? Have you had experiences researching this topic that you believe offer valuable lessons or observations for the NCA community? spectra invites you to share your expertise and perspectives on this important subject. We welcome all submissions on issues of Artificial Intelligence and the field of Communication that are relevant to NCA membership,…

    Read more: Call: Communication and AI features for NCA digital magazine spectra

  • Robot performs first ever fully autonomous dental surgery on live patient

    Published:

    [Although it’s not mentioned in this story from Futurism or in the company’s press release, my first reaction to the news that a robot controlled not by a human but by artificial intelligence has performed successful dental surgery on a human patient was to wonder what the patient thought of the idea and experience. How much did they trust the robot? Did they anthropomorphize it and experience medium-as-social-actor presence? How nervous were they before and during the surgery? Would they do it again? More generally, what would or will be the psychological barriers to widespread adoption of other replacements of…

    Read more: Robot performs first ever fully autonomous dental surgery on live patient

ISPR Presence News

Subscribe

Search ISPR Presence News:

Categories

Archives

Recent Posts

Recent Comments