The analysis of agency, a very close concept to presence, is of great help for acquiring insights into how the sense of presence is acquired in the developing child and also about the experience of presence itself. Empirical evidence coming from Cognitive Developmental Research together with the positive outcome of people with autism (who are not generally able to act “as if”) when participatin...

This paper draws on existing phenomenological discourse of place to examine presence during the experience of virtual worlds. By analysing the occupied and experienced places during the inworld experience – the physical and virtual surroundings, for example – this paper aims to understand how the user feels a sense of presence or a sense of being in a virtual place. I apply rigid phenomenologic...

Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) that can be simultaneously shared by a number of participants located in different geographical locations, provide new possibilities for communication and collaboration, with a lot of potential for the way we work and exchange information. However, in order for such systems to be successful they need to provide the participants with a compelling experie...

In modern societies people tend to spend more time in front of computer screens than outdoors. Along with an increasing degree of realism displayed in digital environments, simulated weather appears more and more realistic and more often implemented in digital environments. Research has found that the actual weather influences behavior and mood. In this paper we experimentally examine the effec...

We present here a system for controlling the eye gaze of a virtual embodied conversational agent able to perceive the physical environment in which it interacts. This system is inspired by known components of human visual attention system and reproduces its limitations in terms of visual acuity, sensitivity to movement, limitations of short-memory and object pursuit. The aim of this coupling be...

Please cite this article in press as: Rabeyron, T., & Differences (2009), doi:10.1016/j.paid.2009.11.0 Previous research has suggested that paranormal beliefs and experiences are associated with thinner mental boundaries and traumas during childhood. This paper examines more thoroughly the relationship between paranormal experiences, mental health and boundaries, and psi abilities. One hundred ...

although divorce affects many parts of the society including spouses, children and, families, the entire social life cycle of individuals, the kind of individuals' experiences, based on their gender, subjectivity in the process, degree of involvement. it may be perceived by the individuals as a positive or a negative experience. given the differences in divorce men's experiences and t...

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the experiences of quality of life/life situation among those who were next of kin to persons with inoperable lung cancer. Data were collected in qualitative interviews, where 11 next of kin articulated their lived experiences, and were interpreted through interpretive phenomenology. Four themes were identified: changed life situation, expe...

Little is known about pathways to homelessness among older adults. We identified life course experiences associated with earlier versus later onset of homelessness in older homeless adults and examined current health and functional status by age at first homelessness. We interviewed 350 homeless adults, aged 50 and older, recruited via population-based sampling. Participants reported age at fir...