[As this essay from SamMobile notes, right now artificial intelligence exists mainly in “apps and browser windows,” but the new Samsung Galaxy XR headset and others like it “move AI from its current state into an embodied, spatial and truly interactive being.” As the author writes, this new (medium-as-social-actor presence-evoking) capability will create both benefits and dangers. –Matthew] Galaxy XR’s biggest breakthrough isn’t what you might think, here’s why It’s where you meet AI halfway. By Adnan FarooquiOctober 27, 2025 There’s been a lot of excitement for Samsung’s first extended reality headset. It was launched as the Galaxy XR last…

[This link-filled essay from Bioethics Today, the website for the American Journal of Bioethics, raises some thought-provoking and important concerns about the use and impact of (presence-evoking) simulations in medical education. –Matthew] Virtual Reality in Medical Education: Can Empathy Become a Simulation? By Hana Abbasian, MS, a Research Assistant at Harvard Medical School and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)October 28, 2025 Medical education has always relied on simulators. From wooden mannequins in the 17th century to the digital cadavers of today, physicians have long used different tools to practice care without consequence. But virtual reality (VR) changes the…

[The selection of rich presence experiences in Las Vegas continues to grow with Interstellar Arc, as described in this story from the Las Vegas Review-Journal; see the original version of the story (or YouTube) for a 30 second trailer. Coverage in Travel Weekly adds that the new attraction “is part of Area15’s expansion, which includes Universal Horror Unleashed and other attractions to open soon.” That story also includes this quote from co-creator Félix Lajeunesse: “Some of our early participants have described the experience as ‘visually beautiful and surreal.’ One even described the moment of waking from cryosleep as ‘a shockingly…

[The report from Positive News below describes the expanding use of virtual reality to help people understand the difficulty and necessity of distributing life-saving vaccinations around the world. In addition to several indirect references, the CEO of REM5 STUDIOS says “It’s about presence… You can read about the polio eradication effort, or watch a video – but in VR, you feel it. You’re right there beside the people doing the work.” See the original version of the story for four more images, and for more context see a July 2022 post in ISPR Presence News. –Matthew] How virtual reality is…

[This story from AOL describes a research breakthrough with the potential to enable more convincing and compelling presence experiences evoked by visual display screens, particularly the small screens used in virtual and augmented reality. See the original version of the story for five different images, and for more information see the Chalmers University news release and coverage in New Atlas, as well as the researchers’ article in Nature. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: DALL-E AI. Source: New Atlas] Scientists develop retina E-paper display with 25k pixels per inch, matching human vision By Shy CohenOctober 23, 2025 Scientists in Sweden have created a…

[A new example of the emotionally and ethically fraught notion of creating artificially intelligent digital versions of people who have died is in the news. This story from People is widely quoted in other coverage; see the original version for four more images. For more about Suzanne Somers, known for roles in the situation comedies “Three’s Company” and “Step by Step” and a series of health books, see an October 2023 story in Variety. –Matthew] [Image: Alan Hamel and Suzanne Somers. Credit: Courtesy of Alan Hamel] Alan Hamel Creates AI Clone of Late Wife Suzanne Somers 2 Years After Her…

[A documentary from Britain’s Channel 4 about the potential for artificial intelligence to replace humans in a variety of occupations ended by revealing that the program’s host herself (itself) was an AI generated anchor. Most of the press coverage of the program draws heavily from the Channel 4 news release below. You can watch a news report about the program from NBC’s Today on YouTube. For what it’s worth, I asked ChatGPT “How did viewers react to the AI News Anchor in the recent Channel 4 documentary about AI?” and its response included this: “In sum: Positive/curious reaction: The fact…

[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]…

[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 —…

[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…

[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…

[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…