[humaine news] Special issue of Virtual Reality on Mediated Presence

[Kostas Karpouzis]

Special Issue of Virtual Reality on "Mediated Presence: Virtual
Reality, Mixed Environments and Social Networks"

Guest Editors:

Prof Luciano Gamberini PhD and Anna Spagnolli PhD
(University of Padova)

Matthew Lombard PhD
(Temple University)

Often described as a sense of "being there" in a mediated environment,
presence is broadly defined as a psychological state or subjective
perception in which a person fails to accurately and completely
acknowledge the role of technology in an experience. It is a rich, 
fascinating subject of scientific investigation, artistic exploration 
and diverse application, with increasingly important implications for 
the ways in which people interact and technologies are developed. 
Designing technologies and imagining practices to modify, prolong and 
reconfigure the possibilities of being present has been a continuous 
endeavour of the human species, from early attempts at constructing 
communication and transportation devices, to the many current 
technologies we continue to develop to reach other places
and people.
Originally focused on bringing "presence" from the real world to a 
simulated one, the phenomenon is today analyzed and investigated in the 
context of diverse environments and involves questioning simple 
distinctions between "'real" and "artificial". This opening to a wide 
range of mediated environments is accompanied by a growing involvement 
of different research fields that are continuously updating and 
modifying the contours of presence scholarship. The phenomenon of
presence is challenging from a scientific point of view as much as it is
viable in everyday life, where people participate in simultaneous 
mediated experiences, feeling present or copresent in digital locations 
without any need for explicit instructions and orchestrating technical 
and cognitive resources to control and enhance presence.
What it means to be present in mediated environments is then an
extremely relevant and enticing question, bearing all sorts of 
implications for the design and application of diverse technologies.

This special issue aims at illustrating the variety of research
questions and approaches that are needed in order to tackle the 
phenomenon of mediated presence in virtual reality, mixed environments 
and social network. Topics include:

• Presence in shared virtual environments and online communities
• Presence in social interactions with virtual agents and digital
counterparts; parasocial interaction and relationships
• Real bodies, avatars and cyborgs
• Presence and ubiquity with mobile and geo-location technologies
• Presence as a socio-cultural achievement; practices, preferences and
material resources to manifest presence
• Linguistic and non-verbal strategies to create, negotiate and
challenge presence in mediated environments
• Realistic action in virtual environments
• Cognitive processes and the sense of presence; neuro-psychology of
presence
• Presence affordances in digital technologies
• 3D sound, acoustic environments and presence
• Advanced broadcast and cinematic displays (stereoscopic TV, HDTV, IMAX)
• Haptic and tactile displays
• Holography
• Affective and socio-affective interfaces
• Presence analysis, evaluation, and measurement techniques
• Causes and consequences (effects) of presence
• Presence augmentation through social, physical, and contextual cues
• Presence, involvement and digital addiction
• Presence applications (education and training; medicine; e-health and
cybertherapy; entertainment; communication and collaboration; 
teleoperation; usability and design; art and performance, etc.)

The special issue will appear in the Springer journal Virtual Reality
(www.springeronline.com/journal/10055
<http://www.springeronline.com/journal/10055>). Submissions are invited
from authors who contributed to 11th Annual International Workshop of 
Presence, authors who did not contribute to the workshop are also welcome.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Papers should typically be around 8,000 words and of standard journal
content: reports of original research, or review papers. Submissions
will be peer reviewed in accordance with the journal's normal process.

Papers should be submitted online in Microsoft Word format and
uploaded to http://www.editorialmanager.com/vire/.
In order to use this system, authors need first to register in it,
wait to receive a password by e-mail and then log in. When choosing 
'Submit new manuscript' they are asked to select on article type from a 
list. They must select: 'S.I. Presence'.

Please direct all correspondence to luciano.gamberini at unipd.it
<mailto:luciano.gamberini at unipd.it>,
anna.spagnolli at unipd.it <mailto:anna.spagnolli at unipd.it> and
lombard at temple.edu <mailto:lombard at temple.edu>.

DEADLINES (extended):
Submission of paper: January 31 st, 2009
Notification of acceptance to authors: March 21st, 2009
Revised papers received by April 20th, 2009
Publication: June 2009