Art and technology have a similar origin, and until the 17th century were not differentiated from each other (the Latin word “ars” – art – included crafts and sciences). Since then, they have diverged, but with the rapid technological advancement of the current era, art and technology have begun to be reintegrated. Recently, the application of computing to aesthetics (or “art and design”) has proliferated. Thanks to new technologies, we can expand the perceptual experiences of our existing senses and can even create novel perceptual dimensions that have never been imagined – new presence. Conversely, computing and technology can be influenced by arts and aesthetics, in what we call “aesthetic computing”. The application of art theory and practice to computing provides an opportunity to explore more creative media, making the concept of computing more accessible and promoting personalization and customization of computing structures. The trend to integrate art and technology is pervasive in formal education: STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) is evolving into STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) by adding art and design to the equation.

This year, the 25^th anniversary of the journal Presence, may well be the first year of a new virtual reality era, with a plethora of new and updated virtual reality devices and technologies (Oculus DK, HTC Vive, Microsoft HoloLens, etc.). Given the paradigm shift from cognitivism into embodiment, the human body now has more opportunity for representation in computing (gesture interaction, tangible user interface, etc.) than at any previous time. In this line, virtual reality, which provides “presence” and immersiveness, is becoming more important for embodied interactions. Scientists and technologists can learn interaction techniques and strategies from body expression experts – “artists”; and virtual reality can provide an integrative, dynamic platform for arts and performances, a living synthesis of which German composer Richard Wagner once dreamed in his vision of “gesamtkunstwerk” – comprehensive work of art. We hope this special issue can serve as a good step towards that goal.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

·         Performing arts in virtual reality or augmented reality 

·         Integrative arts (e.g., dance-based sonification, dance-based visualization) 

·         Public displays including lay people in the performance 

·         Use of VR/AR to include people with disabilities in performance or art galleries 

·         Paradigm, theory, and model of arts and aesthetics in VR and telepresence

·         Design research approach to performing arts in VR 

·         Methodologies and methods of evaluating performing arts in VR 

·         Design of new a sensor, device, or platform for arts-technology integration

Submission

Manuscripts should conform to the journal’s submission guidelines:

http://www.mitpressjournals.org/page/sub/pres

Authors, please note that audio and video files can be hosted as supplementary online material accompanying published articles. For more information about multimedia file formats and submission guidelines, please contact presence@mit.edu.

Schedule

·         Call for Papers: May 15, 2016 

·         Submission deadline: November 1, 2016 

·         Final revisions: June 1, 2017 

·         Publication: Late 2017

Contact

Dr. Myounghoon “Philart” Jeon

Associate Professor

Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences

Department of Computer Science

Michigan Tech

mjeon@mtu.edu