[As this story from Edith Cowan University via Medical Xpress reports, new research demonstrates that a single 20-minute training session in virtual reality can raise medical professionals’ confidence in managing the increasingly common and challenging problem of aggressive hospital patients. Although the study doesn’t include a direct comparison with other training modalities, in their jourrnal article describing the work the authors note that using VR has other benefits: “This form of training can be standardized in terms of exposure and duration, requires fewer instructors with less specified expertise, and may be facilitated with lower costs compared to live (particularly higher…

[As of this writing, it appears that Fast Company is the only high-profile media outlet reporting on Jessica Foster, a popular conservative social media influencer who – er, that – is completely computer-generated. The author notes that “Foster’s one-million-follower army is the ultimate demonstration that we have reached a predicted and very dangerous era, as the latest generative photo and video AIs have finally shattered our ground truths with perfect synthetic reality indistinguishable from real life.” But as this author, and the journalist in a 20-minute video report on the story on Courier’s YouTube channel, note, while it’s not clear…

[Two new business opening in Sioux Falls, South Dakota represent a larger trend in which architectural plans are made more immersive and likely to evoke spatial presence by being reproduced at full scale. The story below from SiouxFalls.Business describes how the services work and why they’re useful; see the original version of the story for nine more large images. –Matthew] New businesses will offer immersive approach to building plans By Jacqueline PalfyFebruary 26, 2026 Two new businesses in Sioux Falls and Tea will offer an immersive experience for everyone from architects to families remodeling a home. Alex Drey, owner of…

[In a new study, some of our friends and colleagues at Michigan State University demonstrate that, as presence scholars would predict, giving a speech to a fictional audience in virtual reality evokes a variety of “physiological reactions, emotional response[s] and communication behaviors” that match what we’d expect if the experience occurred in person. This short story and the researchers’ new publication note that given the increasing prevalence of mediated communication, especially since the global pandemic, the results have important implications for helping people develop communication skills for both mediated and nonmediated settings. –Matthew] Study finds virtual audiences can trigger real-world…

[As a vegetarian, this story from the Midwest Messenger wasn’t an easy read, but it describes an interesting and valuable new application of presence-evoking technologies in the meat processing industry. This is an abridged version of the original story; see that version for more details and three more images. –Matthew] [Image: Konrad Ahlin, right, demonstrates how to use the controller and virtual reality headset at the Heartland for Robotics Conference in October 2025. Credit: Photo by Julia McQuillan] Avatar meat processors? Virtual reality, automation future of meat industry By Kristen SindelarMarch 6, 2026 Automation has become a normal part of…

[In this link-filled story from Monash Lens, a doctoral candidate at Monash University in Australia explores some of the serious dangers created by increasingly convincing and easy-to-create sexualized deepfake videos and romantic interactions with chatbots. The story includes some of the author’s findings from her own research interviews with young people on the topic. See the original version of this story for a second image, a video, and links to a related story and two podcast episodes. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: Image: E+/Getty Images] From deepfakes to chatbots: How AI is reinforcing sexual entitlement, fuelling abuse By Ruby Sciberras, PhD Candidate,…

[This story from EdTech Magazine describes how people at four different universities are using presence-evoking technologies to teach their students essential soft skills including interpersonal communication, collaboration and adaptability. See the original version of the story for a second image and graphical features. –Matthew] How VR and AI Improve Soft Skills Development Higher education institutions are turning to training technologies to bridge soft-skills gaps among students. By Alexander Slagg, a freelance writer specializing in technology and education. He is an ongoing contributor to the CDW family of magazinesFebruary 20, 2026 Are today’s college graduates prepared for the demands of the…

[The Humane Handling Institute at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls is using an augmented reality system that simulates the visual perception of different animals. The goals are to build empathy among students and livestock handlers and ultimately “create low-stress environments for livestock, which is better for the animals and makes operations [anywhere livestock are handled] run more smoothly.” –Matthew] [Image: UW-River Falls student Natalie Furhman navigates a cattle chute wearing Animal Eye Simulator augmented reality goggles while UWRF Humane Handling Institute (HHI) Program Manager Ashlynn Kirk watches the simulator’s display on a laptop computer. Credit: Pat Deninger] Through a cow’s…

[TechRadar draws on a report from the U.S. Department of Defense (which has been calling itself the Department of War), for this story about a new use the military has developed for presence-evoking Microsoft HoloLens augmented reality headsets. See the DoW report for more images and details, including this: “From a conference room back in Aviano, Air Force Airman 1st Class Delaney Boehm, a 724th AMS aircraft services specialist, guided the personnel in Vicenza through the joint inspection, circling areas on her screen that she wanted them to focus on.‘It was a great experience that showcased our squadrons’ innovative approach…

[Although most of us have received advertising and other business mail written and even printed to mimic a personal letter, this story from Futurism describes how the AI company Handwrytten and its competitors are taking the tactic to a new level by offering a service in which robots compose and ‘hand’-write (even in the purchaser’s cursive style) what seem like personal letters such as thank you notes and birthday cards. The goal is to save the purchaser time and effort while leading recipients to overlook the role of technology in the process. –Matthew] [Image: Credits: Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins /…

[In what sounds like an impressive campus-wide interdisciplinary program at the University of Central Florida, faculty from the UCF College of Medicine mentored undergraduate students studying engineering and computer science as the students developed two innovative tools that use presence-evoking technologies to expand and improve medical education. Details about each project are described in the story below (see the original version for a second image). –Matthew] [Image: Senior computer science students pose with their clinical imaging app project and Knightro at the College of Engineering and Computer Science Fall 2025 Senior Design Showcase] Student Research Expands Medical Education in Virtual…

[In a new review that appears in the Vernon Morning Star, a fine arts student describes the presence-evoking experiences available in an unusual art museum in a small town in British Columbia that features installations by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller (the reviewer uses the term presence to refer to a focus on one’s environment, mediated or not): “In a converted furniture warehouse in the North Okanagan, internationally renowned artists transform sound into an immersive experience of memory, time, and presence. … I found it resonated deeply with me that the exhibition prioritizes experience over linear narrative. Being there…