New Publication: Free e-book, “Instructional Communication Competence and Instructor Social Presence: Enhancing Teaching and Learning in the Online Environment” Editors: Sherwyn Morreale, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs Patrick R. Lowenthal, Boise State University Janice Thorpe, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs Larisa Olesova, University of Florida Publisher: Frontiers in Communication (May 2024)ISSN 1664-8714ISBN 978-2-8325-4913-1DOI 10.3389/978-2-8325-4913-1166 pageshttps://www.frontiersin.org/research–topics/47567/instructional-communication-competence-and-instructor-social-presence-enhancing-teaching-and-learning-in-the-online-environment/magazine — [From NCA’s CommNotes 1681] PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENT: Sherwyn MorrealeMay 31, 2024 https://telegra.ph/PUBLICATION-ANNOUNCEMENTS-Free-e-book-Instructional-Communication-Competence-and-Instructor-Social-Presence-Enhancing-Teaching-a-05-31 National Communication Association (NCA) members, Sherwyn Morreale and Janice Thorpe, are pleased to announce the publication of an international e-book about online education: “Instructional Communication Competence and Instructor Social Presence: Enhancing Teaching and…

New Publication: Hyper-Reality: The Art of Designing Impossible Experiences By Curtis Hickman Publisher: Independently published (June 2023) ISBN-13: 979-8391811756 408 pages https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7T3NYBW [From Amazon:] Immerse yourself in the future of entertainment with the world’s first comprehensive book on the subject of hyper-reality design. Written by VOID founder and professional illusion/experience designer, Curtis Hickman, this book explores the theory and practice of creating virtual worlds that seem so real – guests often forget they’re not. In 2015, Curtis co-founded “The VOID,” a company dedicated to immersive entertainment. By partnering with major studios like Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Sony, The VOID brought…

New Publication: The Oxford Handbook of Parasocial Experiences Edited by Rebecca (“Riva”) Tukachinsky Forster Publisher: Oxford University Press (June 2023) ISBN-10: 0197650678 ISBN-13: 978-0197650677 456 pages https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-parasocial-experiences-9780197650677 https://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Handbook-Parasocial-Experiences/dp/0197650678 — The Oxford Handbook of Parasocial Experiences examines how audiences psychologically relate to people they see in the media. Specifically, the term Parasocial Experiences (PSEs) is used to refer to parasocial relationships (PSRs) and parasocial interactions (PSIs). This Handbook features contributions by leading scholars of the field, featuring a thorough synthesis of research of PSEs, celebrating the field’s accomplishments to date but also outlining a blueprint for future growth and providing resources…

New Publication: The SAGE Handbook of Human-Machine Communication Edited by Andrea L. Guzman, Rhonda McEwen, and Steve Jones Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd (August 2023) ISBN-10 : ‎152977392X ISBN-13:  978-1529773927 640 pages https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-sage-handbook-of-human-machine-communication/book273648 https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/the-sage-handbook-of-human-machine-communication/book273648 https://www.amazon.com/SAGE-Handbook-Human-Machine-Communication/dp/152977392X/ [Description:] The SAGE Handbook of Human-Machine Communication edited by Andrea L. Guzman, Rhonda McEwen, and Steve Jones is now available. The Handbook’s four sections – Histories & Trajectories, Approaches & Methods, Concepts & Contexts, and Technologies & Applications – provides foundational research and generative thinking on the numerous facets of people’s communication with AI, social robots, algorithms, IOTs, and other smart technologies. The Handbook is interdisciplinary…

New Publication: Playing at a distance: Borderlands of video game aesthetic By Sonia Fizek Publisher: MIT Press (November 2022) DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/13605.001.0001 ISBN electronic: 9780262372190 186 pages https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262544627/playing-at-a-distance/ Open Access: https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/5473/Playing-at-a-DistanceBorderlands-of-Video-Game [Publisher description:] An essential exploration of video game aesthetic that decenters the human player and challenges what it means to play. Do we play video games or do video games play us? Is nonhuman play a mere paradox or the future of gaming? And what do video games have to do with quantum theory? In Playing at a Distance, Sonia Fizek engages with these and many more daunting questions, forging new…

New Publication: Deepfakes By Graham Meikle Publisher: Polity Press (December 2022) ISBN-10: 1509548211 ISBN-13: 978-1-50954-821-7 160 pages https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=deepfakes–9781509548200 https://www.amazon.com/Deepfakes-Graham-Meikle/dp/1509548211 [From the air-l listserv] Hi everyone With the usual apologies for self-promotion and cross-posting, some of you may be interested in my book about deepfakes, published this week by Polity. Here’s the back cover blurb to give you an idea: What happens when we can no longer believe what we see? Show the AI technologies that create deepfakes enough images of a celebrity or a politician and they will generate a convincing video in which that person appears to say and…

New Publication: The changing face of VR: Pushing the boundaries of experience across multiple industries By Jordan Frith, Michael Saker (Eds.) Publisher: Vernon Press (July 2022) ISBN-10:‎ 1648894747 ISBN-13:‎ 978-1-64889-474-9 195 pages https://vernonpress.com/book/1553 https://www.amazon.com/changing-face-boundaries-experience-industries/dp/1648894747 [From the air-l listserv] Hi all, I’m happy to announce that my new edited book about VR is now available for purchase (or to get libraries to purchase or whatever). I think the book could be relevant to some people on this list, so I figured I’d share. Right now only a hardback is available, which is expensive, but if it interests any of you, it might…

New Publication: The Phenomenology of Virtual Technology Perception and Imagination in a Digital Age By Daniel O’Shiel Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic (July 2022) ISBN-10:‎ 135024550X ISBN-13:‎ 978-1350245501 264 pages https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/phenomenology-of-virtual-technology-9781350245501/ https://www.amazon.com/Phenomenology-Virtual-Technology-Perception-Imagination-dp-135024550X/dp/135024550X [From the Philos-L listserv] Hello all, I hope you are all well. My new monograph, The Phenomenology of Virtual Technology. Perception and Imagination in a Digital Age, has been released today by Bloomsbury Academic (https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/phenomenology-of-virtual-technology-9781350245501/). It is also available through all other major outlets (Amazon etc.). It would be of interest to anyone concerned with perception and imagination, especially the phenomenology thereof, as well as how these relate inherently to…

New Publication: Expressive Space: Embodying Meaning in Video Game Environments Volume 4 in the series Video Games and the Humanities By Greg Whistance-Smith Publisher: De Gruyter Oldenbourg (January 2022) ISBN-10:‎ 3110723573 ISBN-13:‎ 978-3110723571 265 pages https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110723731 https://www.gregws.ca/expressive-space-launch/ https://www.amazon.com/Expressive-Space-Embodying-Environments-Humanities-ebook/dp/B09MPCVM8S/ Hi everyone, I’m excited to announce the release of my book, Expressive Space: Embodying Meaning in Video Game Environments. It approaches video games as built environments, places constructed for particular activities. Since we experience space from the position of our body, the book develops a framework for analyzing meaning in video game spaces by synthesizing five theories from the field of embodied cognition.…

New Publication: How to Be a God: A Guide for Would-Be Deities By Richard A. Bartle Publisher: NotByUs (1 Jan. 2022) ISBN-10:‎ 0955649498 ISBN-13:‎ 978-0955649493 Paperback: ‎ 635 pages https://mud.co.uk/richard/How%20to%20Be%20a%20God.pdf https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0955649498 or https://www.amazon.com/dp/0955649498/ I’ve recently published a book that may be of interest…  How to Be a God: A Guide for Would-Be Deities is more a work of a pop-sci than a formal academic tome, but it does cover topics that are new and (to me, anyway) interesting. Here’s the blurb: “When it comes to questions concerning the nature of Reality, philosophers and theologians have the answers. Philosophers have the…

New Publication: Virtuality and Humanity: Virtual Practice and Its Evolution from Pre-History to the 21st Century By Sam N. Lehman-Wilzig Publisher: Springer Singapore, 2022 ISBN: 9811665257, 9789811665257 343 pages https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-16-6526-4 Hello all: I am happy to announce the publication of my new book VIRTUALITY AND HUMANITY: Virtual Practice and Its Evolution from Pre-History to the 21st Century (Springer Nature). As we are well aware, today’s news is full of the “future”: Metaverse, Virtual & Augmented Reality, and the like. My book looks in the opposite direction: virtuality’s expression and expansion through human history in numerous fields of endeavor: Communication (Technologies);…

New Publication: The Handbook on Socially Interactive Agents 20 Years of Research on Embodied Conversational Agents, Intelligent Virtual Agents, and Social Robotics Volume 1: Establishing SIA Research, Appearance and Behaviour, Social Cognition Editors: Birgit Lugrin, University of Wurzburg, Catherine Pelachaud, Sorbonne University, David Traum, University of Southern California ISBN: 9781450387217 | PDF ISBN: 9781450387231 Hardcover ISBN: 9781450387200 Copyright 2021 | 538 Pages DOI: 10.1145/3477322 November 14, 2021 Our new handbook came out: The Handbook on Socially Interactive Agents: 20 years of Research on Embodied Conversational Agents, Intelligent Virtual Agents, and Social Robotics The Volume 1: Methods, Behavior, Cognition, can be…