[A new survey finds increasing use of AI chatbots, and willingness to use of AI-based robots, for romance and sex. Some of the implications of this use of technologies that evoke medium-as-social-actor presence are discussed in this story from Vice; follow the  ZipHealth link for more details about the survey results. –Matthew] Gen Z Won’t Stop Having Sex With AI Chatbots Maybe the robots really are taking over. By Ashley FikeApril 6, 2026 People are willing to try just about anything to feel close to someone again. And in today’s ever-freakier world, that “someone” doesn’t even have to be human.…

[This news release from the UK’s Network Rail describes a positive application of presence designed to help people understand and avoid the dangers posed by trains. See the original version for three more images and a 1:27 minute video. –Matthew] VIDEO: Virtual reality helping teach young people in Wales and Borders about the dangers of trespassing on the railway By Kathy Peart, Media relations manager, Network RailApril 2, 2026 The technology has been rolled out on the Wales and Borders route for the first time – already reaching more than 2,000 school children. Immersive VR technology is being used for…

[A professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has created a virtual reality game that teaches players about Loïe Fuller, an extremely popular and influential dancer who was one of the first to integrate technology (including presence-evoking technology) into her performances; game players also learn and practice basic dance principles. See the original version of the story for a second image (of Loïe Fuller), and follow the Master Dancer link for videos and more information. –Matthew] [Image: Professor John Tenjes is surrounded by a projection of a scene from “Master Dancer” in a National Center for Supercomputing Applications lab. Credit:…

[Many of the most interesting and positive applications of presence start with an individual person being inspired after learning about presence-evoking technologies and what they can do. A collaborative project at Texas Christian University is designed to create those learning and inspiring experiences for more students, faculty, and staff on the TCU campus. Note that even the VR cart they created for the effort is likely to evoke medium-as-social actor presence (!). –Matthew] Virtual Reality on Wheels: A Mobile Cart Showcases Emerging Tech at TCU By Justine ArensMarch 30, 2026 Classroom technology is no longer confined to a room or…

[Both the analog and digital simulations described in this story from The Aerospace Corporation are designed to help participants overlook the roles of technology, defined broadly, but the use of 3D scanning and holograms as they would operate in expeditions to distant moons and planets is of particular note. The headline of a similar story from Aerospace Testing International is “Engineer completes Mars-analog telepresence mission”; see the original version of either story for a 3:49 minute video (also available via YouTube). –Matthew] Aerospace Engineer Braves the Arctic to Support the Next Chapter of Space Exploration Analog missions conducted in extreme…

[Researchers at TU Graz (Graz University of Technology) in Austria have developed an AI-based interactive virtual environment to help people affected by autism learn social skills. The original version of the story below includes a second image. For more details, see the Scientific Reports article “Large language models for autism: Evaluating theory of mind tasks in a gamified environment.” For more about ETAP ((Early) detection and personalisation of autism spectrum disorder therapy for prevention), which is mentioned in the story, see the ETAP website. –Matthew] [Image: Re-enacting everyday situations is intended to prepare people for similar situations. Credit: HCC –…

[Although she doesn’t use the term, the author of this story from HuffPost explores her own and others’ medium-as-social-actor presence responses to the increasingly common delivery robots in our public spaces. The story features quotes from two of our colleagues and friends; see the original version for three more images. –Matthew] [Image: Josephine Rios, of Service Employees International Union — United Healthcare Workers West, asks a delivery robot if it wants to sign a petition to tax billionaires. She said since so many jobs are going to AI, why not ask a robot to sign. Credit: Myung J. Chun via…

[A former footballer is leading a team developing a virtual reality app designed to use presence to help users understand what sexual harassment feels like and thereby prevent disturbing incidents of harassment, abuse and violence. Details are in the press release below from the University of Staffordshire; see also a story from BBC News. It’s interesting, and apparently unfortunate, that closely related projects on this and other topics develop independently (for example, see the May 2025 ISPR Presence News post “Step into her shoes: VR highlights sexual harassment on trains” and the January 2026 post “Men embodying women in VR…

[While convenient and commonly used video conferencing systems such as Zoom, FaceTime, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet provide moderate levels of social presence, efforts continue to create and refine  technology that provides extremely convincing social presence illusions that cause users to feel like they’re together and interacting in real time in the same physical space. This story from India’s The Economic Times Panache Magazine provides a first-person report on a demonstration of the latest version of the high-end telepresence system Google Beam. The author of another participant from Australia’s TechGuide had a similar reaction (see that story for more pictures…

[A diverse team of scholars, researchers, creators and students at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee is creating a presence-evoking educational and prosocial virtual reality adventure game for young people. See the original version of this story for a second image, and follow the links for more information and to download the app from Meta; there’s also a 12:12 minute video on YouTube. For more about project lead Lindsay Persohn, visit her USF faculty page; her dissertation, which inspired the project, is available from USF’s Digital Commons. –Matthew] Step into a World of Wonder — curiosity leads the way in…

[This story from the Canada Media Fund uses examples and comments from a panel discussion at the Montreal International Documentary Festival to explore the potential positive and negative psychological impacts of documentaries that utilize presence-evoking extended reality technologies. For more on Traces: The Grief Processor, see a March 2025 ISPR Presence News post. –Matthew] [Image: Traces: The Grief Processor. Credit: Couzin Films.] The risks and rewards of XR documentary For several years, extended reality (XR) documentaries have been offering immersive experiences by dropping audiences directly into stories via virtual or augmented reality. How is the genre faring today? By Philippe…

[The author of this personal essay from the literary website CrimeReads describes parallels between her experiences due to Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder (DPDR) and the use of presence-evoking virtual reality and social media, and how those experiences are illustrated in her latest novel. For more information, visit Kelsey Day’s website. –Matthew] Kelsey Day on the Dissociative Horrors of Virtual Reality and Social Media The author of The Spiral Key unpacks the derealization inherent in modern tech By Kelsey DayMarch 19, 2026 I visited in the winter of 2024, when the Manhattan streets were sickly gray. The front door glittered, glass sprayed with…