This multidisciplinary, international conference provides a unique opportunity to obtain an overview of the state-of-the-art of presence research, find out about European initiatives in the area of presence research, and about opportunities for collaboration in European projects. Leading researchers and industry representatives will share their views on the conference's central theme "Virtually There: Understanding Presence and the Engineering of Experience".

The conference goal is to provide a pan-European platform to encourage debate and collaboration between delegates to enable fruitful interchange leading to the identification of basic research questions and applied technology solutions, based on the concept of presence through media. The conference is being organised with the support of the European Commission Future and Emerging Technologies initiative, as they foresee a Proactive Initiative for presence-related research in the near future. This event is your opportunity to contribute ideas on the research scope of the presence initiative.