The experience of using and interacting with the newest Virtual Reality and computing technologies is profoundly affected by the extent to which we feel ourselves to be really ‘present’ in computer-generated and -mediated augmented worlds. This feeling of 'Presence’, of “being inside the mediated world”, is key to understanding developments in applications such as interactive entertainment, gaming, psychotherapy, education, scientific visualisation, sports training and rehabilitation, and many more. This edited volume, featuring contributions from internationally renowned scholars, provides a comprehensive introduction to and overview of the topic of mediated presence - or ‘tele-presence’ - and of the emerging field of presence research. It is intended for researchers and graduate students in human-computer interaction, cognitive science, psychology, cyberpsychology and computer science, as well as for experienced professionals from the ICT industry. The editors are all well-known professional researchers in the field: Professor Giuseppe Riva from the Catholic University of Milan, Italy; Professor John Waterworth from Umeå University, Sweden; Dianne Murray, an HCI Consultant and editor of the journal “Interacting with Computers”.

Here is the first of a four-volume set that constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCII 2007, held in Beijing, China, jointly with eight other thematically similar conferences. It covers interaction design: theoretical issues, methods, techniques and practice; usability and evaluation methods and tools; understanding users and contexts of use; and models and patterns in HCI.

This book contains the proceedings of the sixth Eurographics Workshop on Vir tual Environments. The event took place from June 1 to June 2, 2000, in Am sterdam. We hope that readers will find these proceedings to be valuable, not only for virtual environment researchers, but also for practitioners developing or using virtual environment applications. We are glad to report that visibility of the workshop continues to expand and that virtual environment researchers and practitioners from allover the world are submitting papers. This year, 40 papers and case studies were submitted of which 20 were accepted. In addition, we are glad to see that the focus of the workshop is also expanding. We accepted 6 research papers on evaluation of virtual environments and there was a broad sampling of other topics. We would like to thank all those involved in organizing the symposium. In particular, thanks go to Mieke Brune who was in charge of the local organization. In addition, we want to thank the international program committee for their excellent, yet laborious, job in reviewing all submitted papers. The quality of the workshop is a reflection of the quality of the submitted papers and the quality of the reviewing process.

Leading with Presence focuses on the non-verbal elements of communication. This book is ideal for those who wish to inspire and motivate those around them and to instil trust. The authors provide very practical hands-on tools, developed through their expertise and years of experience.

"Personal presence is difficult to define but easy to recognize. People with presence carry themselves in a way that turns heads. When they talk, people listen. When they ask, people answer. When they lead, people follow. Personal presence can help you get a date, a mate, a job, or a sale. It can help you lead a meeting, a movement, or an organization. Presence is not something you’re born with—anyone can learn these skills, habits, and traits. Award-winning speaker and consultant Dianna Booher shows how to master dozens of small and significant things that work together to convey presence. She details how body language, manners, and even your surroundings enhance credibility and build rapport. You’ll learn to use voice and language to demonstrate competence, deliver clear and memorable messages, and master emotions. You’ll learn to think strategically, organize ideas coherently, and convey to others genuine interest, integrity, respect, and reliability. Take her self-assessment to measure your progress. With Dianna Booher’s expert, entertaining advice, you can have the same kind of influence as the most successful CEOs, celebrities, and civic leaders. "

Haptic human-computer interaction is interaction between a human computer user and the computer user interface based on the powerful human sense of touch. Haptic hardware has been discussed and exploited for some time, particularly in the context of computer games. However, so far, little attention has been paid to the general principles of haptic HCI and the systematic use of haptic devices for improving efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction in HCI. This book is the first one to focus on haptic human-computer interaction. It is based on a workshop held in Glasgow, UK, in August / September 2000. The 22 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 35 submissions. Besides a brief historic survey, the book offers topical sections on haptic interfaces for blind people, collaborative haptics, psychological issues and measurement, and applications of haptics.

The value of multi-disciplinary research and the exchange of ideas and methods across traditional discipline boundaries are well recognised. Indeed, it could be justifiably argued that many of the advances in science and engineering take place because the ideas, methods and the tools of thought from one discipline become re applied in others. Sadly, it is also the case that many subject areas develop specialised vocabularies and concepts and can consequently approach more general problems in fairly narrow, subject-specific ways. Consequently barriers develop between disciplines that prevent the free flow of ideas and the collaborations that on Visual Representations could often bring success. VRI'98, a workshop focused & Interpretations, was intended to break down such barriers. The workshop was held in the Foresight Conference Centre, which occupies part of the former Liverpool Royal Infirmary, a Grade 2 listed building, which has been recently restored. The building combines a majestic architecture with the latest in new conference facilities and technologies and thus provided a very suitable setting for a workshop aimed at bringing the Arts and the Sciences together. of the workshop was to promote inter-disciplinary awareness across The main aim a range of disciplines where visual representations and interpretations are exploited. Contributions to the workshop were therefore invited from researchers who are actively investigating visual representations and interpretations: - artists, architects, biologists, chemists, clinicians, cognitive scientists, computer scientists, educationalists, engineers, graphic designers, linguists, mathematicians, philosophers, physicists, psychologists and social scientists.

Online learning has become a prominent and inseparable component of higher education in recent years. Questions related to course structure, levels of interaction, presence, and participation within online courses persist and invite further inquiry for determining factors that encourage effective teaching and learning in online environments. The Handbook of Research on Strategic Management of Interaction, Presence, and Participation in Online Courses explores models of course development and delivery techniques to improve instruction, learning, and student satisfaction in online courses. Covering topics such as rates of participation, student engagement and retention, and social development, this handbook serves as a resource for educators in online learning environments, as well as for course designers and developers of online courses and researchers whose agenda includes examining interaction, presence, and participation in online courses.

Communication Technology and Social Change is a distinctive collection that provides current theoretical, empirical, and legal analyses for a broader understanding of the dynamic influences of communication technology on social change. With a distinguished panel of contributors, the volume presents a systematic discussion of the role communication technology plays in shaping social, political, and economic influences in society within specific domains and settings. Its integrated focus expands and complements the scope of existing literature on this subject. Each chapter is organized around a specific structure, covering: *Background—offering an introduction of relevant communication technology that outlines its technical capabilities, diffusion, and uses; *Theory—featuring a discussion of relevant theories used to study the social impacts of the communication technology in question; *Empirical Findings—providing an analysis of recent academic and relevant practical work that explains the impact of the communication technology on social change; and *Social Change Implications—proposing a summary of the real world implications for social change that stems from synthesizing the relevant theories and empirical findings presented throughout the book. Communication Technology and Social Change will serve scholars, researchers, upper-division undergraduate students, and graduate students examining the relationship between communication and technology and its implications for society.

An enhanced sense of presence plays an important role in technologies such as the video telephone, high definition television (HDTV), 3G portable phones, home and arcade video games, the World Wide Web, and more. The book examines the different facets of the concept of presence. It begins by noting practical and theoretical reasons for studying this concept.