[Air-L] Call for Papers:15th Intl Conference on Presence (ISPR 2014)

[lombard at temple.edu]

Call for Papers

ISPR 2014: The 15th International Conference on Presence
International Society for Presence Research

Vienna, AUSTRIA
March 17th - 19th 2014

http://presence2014.univie.ac.at

Following a series of 14 successful PRESENCE conferences, 
ISPR 2014: The 15th International Conference on Presence will 
retain the single-track format and pleasant social environment of 
previous conferences while featuring expanded oral 
presentations, poster presentations, panels, keynote 
presentations and hands-on demonstrations of presence 
applications, services and projects.

--> The concept of Presence:

Presence is commonly referred to as a sense of "being there" in a 
technologically mediated environment and more formally as the 
perceptual illusion of non-mediation. In other words, the user of 
an artificial environment fails to accurately and completely 
acknowledge the role of technology in his/her experience and 
thus, feels and behaves in this environment as if it was `real´: for 
instance, we feel and act as if we´re actually with colleagues, 
friends and family when we use an increasing variety of 
conferencing technologies; we treat computer generated virtual 
agents as if they are sentient social entities even though we know 
they are not; we feel afraid of a virtual spider crawling over our 
hand or of an abyss opening up beneath us even though we are 
in fact aware that neither the spider nor the abyss exist; we like to 
be thrilled and deceived by 3D IMAX films which make us feel as 
if we are flying over the Grand Canyon or through outer space; 
and we `get lost´ in TV-shows, movies and videogames.

The vast benefits and implications of the Presence experience for 
various areas of life are still to be revealed. To date, the 
advantages of this `as-if´ experience are broadly used in 
education and training: doctors learn how to operate on difficult 
injuries using simulators, students visit virtual classrooms, pilots 
train their reactions to critical situations via virtual reality, and post 
traumatic stress disorder patients learn to deal with their traumatic 
experience by being confronted step by step to the traumatic 
event, which to them - even though it is virtual - feels real.

Presence is a rich, fascinating subject of scientific investigation, 
artistic exploration and technological development and design, 
with increasingly important implications for the ways in which 
people work, play and live. Today, Presence phenomena are the 
subject of research and theory in communication, computer 
science, psychology, business, philosophy as well as many other 
scientific and humanities fields; and they are a great challenge for 
designers and developers, who are trying to refine technology in 
order to create the most compelling and convincing - the `optimal´ 
- Presence experience.

--> Topics:

We seek original, high quality papers and demonstrations that 
contribute to our collective understanding of the power and 
breadth of presence phenomena and presence applications in 
any/every aspect of life. Topics of interest include (but are not 
limited to):

* Presence theory
* Measures of presence
* Presence and emotion
* Presence and education
* Presence and social interaction
* Gender and Presence
* Neuroscience approaches to Presence
* Presence in gaming and entertainment
* Philosophical perspectives on presence
* Ethics of presence
* Presence technologies and applications (e.g. in business, arts, 
medicine and therapy)
* The future of presence research

All accepted papers will be collected in the official conference 
proceedings (with ISBN) and will be permanently available for 
download in the ISPR conference archive.

--> Conference Format:

ISPR 2014 will have an interactive single-track format in which all 
participants (attendees, presenters, speakers, keynote speakers) 
attend each of the sessions as well as social events, allowing 
participants to exchange ideas and build knowledge together as 
the conference progresses.

The first two days will feature oral presentations, panels and 
keynote presentations on a variety of topics designed to provide 
focused educational experiences on subjects related to presence 
technology, theory and measurement. Additionally, a poster 
session will allow insights into ongoing presence related projects. 
The final day of the conference will feature additional academic 
presentations as well as hands on presentations of presence 
applications and technologies. The language of the conference is 
English.

--> Venue:

The conference will be held at the University of Vienna in Austria 
(www.univie.ac.at). Founded in 1365 it is the oldest university in 
the German-speaking world and with approximately 91000 
students one of the largest in Central Europe. As the capital and 
largest city in Austria Vienna is regarded as the City of Music 
because of its musical legacy. It is furthermore known for being 
the home of Sigmund Freund, the founder of psychoanalysis. The 
city is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque 
buildings, castles and gardens as well as Romanesque churches 
and art nouveau structures and offers a great opportunity to dive 
into the cultural richness of European art and music.

--> Accommodations:

A number of hotels with specially discounted rates for conference 
attendees will be available.

--> Registration:

Registration will be available online. Fees, which will include 
meals and social events, will be at or below those for previous 
ISPR PRESENCE conferences. Every effort will be made to 
reduce fees for participating academics, and particularly for 
students.

--> Submissions:

We invite researchers and practitioners to submit their work in the 
categories below. Note that all submissions are to be in APA 
format and (with the exception of panel proposals) not identify the 
author(s) directly or indirectly (for blind peer review).

PAPERS: Comprehensive descriptions of research or design 
work and/or theoretical investigation within the scope of the 
conference. Papers must relate to existing literature on presence 
and make an original contribution to it. Accepted papers will be 
included in the Proceedings and will be allocated time for oral 
presentation.

SHORT PAPERS: Short papers may be up to 10 pages in APA 
format. Accepted papers will be included in the Proceedings and 
will be allocated time for oral presentation.

PANELS: Sets of presentations on a single theme or topic within 
the scope of the conference. Submitters are encouraged to be 
creative regarding both the topic or theme and the format for 
panel proposals (formats that encourage guided discussion are 
particularly welcome). Panel proposals must identify and provide 
contact information for all proposed participants. Accepted panels 
will be included in the Proceedings.

POSTERS: Visual display presentations. Poster proposals must 
describe and/or contain early drafts of the visual display. 
Accepted poster abstracts will be published in the conference 
Proceedings. Posters shall be in a DIN A0 (84.1 x 118.9 cm) 
format as they will be displayed on a board during a dedicated 
session of the conference. Each poster will be allocated a 2 
minute oral preview.

DEMONSTRATIONS/EXHIBITIONS: Step-by-step audiovisual 
demonstrations and/or hands-on experiences of non-commercial 
work within the scope of the conference. Accepted 
demonstration/exhibition proposals will be included in the 
conference Proceedings and will be presented during dedicated 
sessions of the conference. For the exhibitions of commercial 
products, please contact us for sponsorship terms and 
opportunities:

Mareike Schmidt & Johanna Kafka
Faculty of Psychology
University of Vienna
Liebiggasse 5/ 3
1010 Wien
E: presence2014 at univie.ac.at

All submissions are to be made through the EasyChair 
conference online submission system (a corresponding link will 
be available on the conference web site: 
http://presence2014.univie.ac.at). Each submission will undergo a 
double-blind peer-review process by at least two selected 
reviewers.

--> Important Dates:

August 15th 2013 - Early registration opens
August 30th 2013 - Submission deadline
October 31st 2013 - Notification of acceptance decisions
November 30th 2013 - Finished, camera-ready papers due
January 15th 2014 - Early registration closes
March 17th - 19th 2014 - Conference

--> Conference Committee:

Conference Chair/Hosts:  Anna Felnhofer, Oswald D. 
Kothgassner (University of Vienna)

Co-Chairs: Ilse Kryspin-Exner, Helmut Hlavacs (University of 
Vienna)

The Program Committee members are prominent members of 
ISPR.

--> For more Information:

Web Site: http://presence2014.univie.ac.at
E-Mail: presence2014 at univie.ac.at

--> About ISPR:

The International Society for Presence Research (ISPR) is a 
non-profit membership organization founded in 2002 to support 
academic research related to the concept of (tele)presence. It 
publishes ISPR Presence News, which features news stories 
about presence; calls for participation in various presence-related 
conferences, publications and projects; job opportunities; and 
more, and is available in various formats (RSS feed; individual 
item and daily or weekly digest email; Twitter; Facebook). The 
ISPR web site - http://ispr.info - serves as a resource for those 
who conduct research, develop theory, design, market, write 
about, or simply are interested in, the concept and phenomena of 
presence.

We encourage your questions, contributions, comments and 
suggestions (email: ispr at ispr.info)   
-- 
Matthew Lombard, Ph.D.
Temple University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
lombard at temple.edu
http://matthewlombard.com