The PRESENCE 2020 conference is this Friday, October 23, and will be online and free. Despite not being physically together as at previous conferences, we'll do everything possible to retain the informal, social nature of the in-person PRESENCE conferences. The program for the day-long event is below, and you can register at https://forms.gle/vAAJbCaGgNw8hcGdA. For more information, please go to https://ispr.info/presence-2020 and if you have questions or concerns about the conference e-mail me (lombard@temple.edu). --Matthew Lombard, on behalf of the organizing committee PRESENCE 2020 18th conference of the International Society for Presence Research (ISPR) Online + Synchronous October 23, 2020 https://ispr.info/presence-2020 Conference theme: Presence during and after the pandemic REGISTER: https://forms.gle/vAAJbCaGgNw8hcGdA OVERVIEW: Telepresence, often shortened to presence, is a state or perception in which we overlook or misconstrue the role of technology and feel present in the environments and/or connected to the people or things we experience via technology. It´s increasingly relevant to a wide range of media experiences and application areas. Following a series of 17 successful Presence conference events, PRESENCE 2020 will retain the single-track format and enjoyable social environment of previous conferences while featuring an expanded variety of paper and poster sessions, panel discussions, keynote presentations, hands-on demonstrations of presence applications/services/projects, and informal discussion, networking and fun. Members of both academic and industry communities are welcome. PROGRAM: All times are Eastern Standard time (EST); convert to your timezone here. 9:30 am EST: Welcome: Login and Greeting 9:45 am EST:  Opening Remarks Speaker: Matthew Lombard (Temple University) 10:00 - 10:50 am EST: Roles of Attention in Presence Chair & Moderator: Cheryl Bracken (Cleveland State University) Integrating the world of presence theory: Illusion, pretence, attending, and pretending John Waterworth (Umeå University) Ingvar Tjostheim (Norwegian Computing Center) Constructing attention to engage social presence: Choosing wisely and managing expectations Sonja Foss (University of Colorado Denver) Jeanine Turner (Georgetown University) The role of task complexity and personality in the effect of co-presence Merel van den Berg (Sofia University) 11:00 - 11:50 am EST: Panel: The Critical Role of Presence in Instruction as Covid-19 Forces Learners and Instructors Online COVID-19 has made technology-mediated learning the new normal. While online instruction can be just as effective as face-to-face instruction, and indeed sometimes can be more effective than face-to-face instruction, this is only possible when technology is used effectively and the communication fosters presence. This panel will review the range of presence research to suggest critical knowledge for instructors and learners to be their most effective selves in the COVID-19 classroom. Chair & Moderator: Stephanie Kelly (North Carolina A&T State University) Stephanie Kelly (North Carolina A&T State University) David Westerman (North Dakota State University) Suzy Prentiss (The University of Tennessee) Kyle Varberg (North Dakota State University) Scott Christen (Tennessee Technological State University) Michelle Garland (University of South Carolina Upstate) Ryan Goke (North Dakota State University) 12:00 - 12:45 pm EST: Discussion: Teaching Presence Informal conversation: Feel free to bring your lunch, snack and/or drink. Presence is increasingly taught as a topic within courses and even as the main focus of entire courses. This discussion will begin with a description of a cross-course teaching collaboration in which media producers learn about presence and incorporate it in their design of 360 degree vides and augmented reality projects while media psychology students advise and conduct audience/user research to measure presence and other responses. We'll then open up an informal discussion of tools and techniques that we use (or would like to use) to teach presence, and the possibilities for compiling our collective knowledge and advice in an online resource and/or future publication. Chair & Moderators: Laura Zaylea and Matthew Lombard (Temple University) 12:45 - 01:50 pm EST: Short Presentations & Interactive Breakouts Informal conversations: Feel free to bring your lunch, snack and/or drink. Chair & Moderators: Matthew Lombard (Temple University) and Hocheol Yang (Cal Poly) Telepresence and binge watching: Future research directions Cheryl Bracken (Cleveland State University) Bridget Rubenking (University of Central Florida) Social presence cultivation & loneliness during COVID-19 Matthew Klein (University of Georgia) Rabindra Ratan (Michigan State University) Lin Li (Michigan State University) Chimobi Ucha (Michigan State University) Justin Duby (Michigan State University) Kristine Nowak (University of Connecticut) Teaching death awareness through a sense of presence with digital immersive experiences during a pandemic Dorote Weyers-Lucci (Sofia University) "Walking into the dark": Cognition manipulation and methodological challenges with behavioral measures of physical presence in VR Eugene Kukshinov (Temple University) Matthew Lombard (Temple University) The virtual mandala: Three registers of presence in COVID-era hybrid reality yoga instruction Joshua Potter (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) The Zoom Uncanny: The production of presence in an online spiritualist circle Tamar Gordon (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) The body as presence-generating technology Ellen Esrock (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) Exploring media use and presence during a Coronavirus lockdown Hannah Lucia Bromley (Temple University) Camryn E. Dodd (Temple University) Amber L. Douglas (Temple University) Zachary Wyatt Jaworski (Temple University) Kaitlyn Ann Kerwin (Temple University) Cassidy Lorenz (Temple University) Giana Marinelli (Temple University) Megan R. Swick (Temple University) Matthew Lombard (Temple University) and others 02:00 - 02:50 pm EST: Different Paths to Presence Chair & Moderator: Eugene Kukshinov (Temple University) Presence, flow, and narrative absorption questionnaires: A scoping review Federico Pianzola (University of Milan Bicocca) Investigating character identification in virtual reality Shane Burrell (California State University, San Bernardino) Immersive medical augmented reality that evokes presence and affect Hyunji Doh (Temple University) 03:00 - 03:50 pm EST: Panel: Cultural and Contextual Adaptations of the Presence 5 Framework to Foster Physician Humanism and Meaningful Connections with Patients Time constraints, technology, and administrative demands often impede the human connection that is central to clinical care. Presence 5, developed to address these barriers, comprises evidence-based practices that promote clinician presence and foster connection. As a framework, Presence 5 has been iteratively adapted to virtual visits, extended to the nurse-caregiver context, evaluated for anti-racist messaging, and modified for resident and medical student education efforts. Chair & Moderator: Juliana Baratta (Stanford University School of Medicine) Juliana Baratta (Stanford University School of Medicine) Raquel Garcia (Stanford University School of Medicine) Gisselle De Leon Signor (Stanford University School of Medicine) Cynthia Pérez (Stanford University School of Medicine) Gabrielle Li (Stanford University School of Medicine) Megha Shankar (Stanford University School of Medicine) Marie Haverfield (Stanford University School of Medicine) Cati Brown-Johnson (Stanford University School of Medicine) Donna Zulman (Stanford University School of Medicine) Original Presence 5  Gabrielle Li Presence for Racial Justice Cynthia Pérez Presence in Nurse-Caregiver Interactions Juliana Baratta Presence in Medical Education Raquel Garcia Telepresence Gisselle De Leon Signor 04:00 - 04:50 pm EST: Virtual Companions Chair & Moderator: Kun Xu (University of Florida) Falling in love with robots: The three-stage model of social perception and interaction with computer-generated imagery influencers Fanjue Liu (University of Florida) Para-social presence for companionship: A case study on Pokémon Go Yi-Fan Chen (Farmingdale State College) Virtual companions: Fostering telepresence between generations during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond Gabrielle Li (Stanford University School of Medicine) Gisselle De Leon (Stanford University School of Medicine) Raquel Garcia (Stanford University School of Medicine) 05:00- 5:15 pm EST:  Closing Speaker: Matthew Lombard (Temple University) 5:15 - ?? pm EST: Informal socializing for anyone who has the energy! ---- -- Matthew Lombard, Ph.D. Co-Chair, Department of Media Studies & Production Klein College of Media and Communication Temple University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA President, International Society for Presence Research (ISPR) lombard@temple.edu http://matthewlombard.com http://ispr.info