[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…

[Supporting arguments about the benefits of presence, a new study by researchers in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University demonstrates that students have a lower cognitive load when learning about complex anatomy structures using three-dimensional rather than flat, two-dimensional images in virtual reality. Follow the links in the story for more information. –Matthew] [Image: The HP Omnicept virtual reality headset, equipped with biometric sensors, was used to measure participants’ cognitive load while viewing instructional anatomy content. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Clapp lab.] New study finds 3D virtual reality anatomy education lightens students’ cognitive…

[Once again, technology is being used to evoke presence and distort media users’ perceptions of reality, but following the predicted trajectory, the AI-generated videos and images of events related to the war in the Middle East are more convincing and easier to create, more prevalent especially on social media, and harder for either humans or AI to detect – and therefore more dangerous. The link-filled story below by CNN’s excellent fact-checker Daniel Dale provides details and perspective (see also a 5:16 minute video segment from CNN on the topic). Much more coverage is available from the BBC, Wired, the New…

[Students in the Community College of Baltimore County’s dental hygiene program are getting “hands-on” learning experiences in a new, first-of-its-kind in the US virtual reality lab. The story below is from WBAL-TV in Baltimore, Maryland; see the original version for a 3:03 minute video report (also available on YouTube). For more information, see an earlier CCBC press release and a 2:00 minute video on Vimeo. –Matthew] [Image: Source: CCBC] CCBC’s dental hygiene virtual reality lab makes history, revolutionizes training By Breana RossMarch 6, 2026 DUNDALK, Md. — Dental students are getting real experience in a new virtual reality lab in…

[The short story below from the North Dakota Monitor via KVRR, and the longer one from The Bismarck Tribune via GovTech.com that follows it, describe a promising application of presence to help people with disabilities learn about and obtain jobs in manufacturing (and in the future, other fields). See the XR for VR website of Bismarck State College for more information. –Matthew] [Image: Bismarck State College unveils its new virtual reality room on March 9, 2026. The room is part of the XR for VR project, which uses virtual reality to help people with disabilities see what it’s like to…

[An expanded simulation center at the University of Cincinnati replicates the challenging environments of “en route” medical care for the training of US Air Force medical personnel. This story from the Cincinnati Enquirer via Yahoo! News, provides some of the details. Excerpts from the UC Health press release follow, and a 2:52 minute video report from Spectrum News is also available. –Matthew] [Image: Source: UC Health] Saving soldiers in virtual reality, UC Health opens training center By Cameron KnightMarch 12, 2026 For a moment on March 11, a room on the bottom floor of one of UC Health’s buildings in…

[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…