De Gruyter Handbook of Immersive Media

Matthew Lombard is a professor in, and the chair of, the Department of Media Studies and Production in the Lew Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. His research centers on individuals' psychological and physiological processing of media experiences, with particular focus on the concept of (tele)presence.

Cheryl Bracken is a Professor and Director of the School of Media and Communication, at Bowling Green State University. Her scholarship encompasses media psychology, communication research methodology, and the psychological processing of media content and form. The central theme of her research explores how individuals experience and respond to media, with particular emphasis on telepresence, media effects, binge-watching and new viewing behaviors. Recent books include Binge Watching: Motivations and Implications of our Changing Viewing Behaviors (with B. Rubenking), and Immersed in Media: Telepresence and Everyday Life (with P. Skalski)

Hocheol Yang is an Assistant Professor in the Graphic Communication Department at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. His research examines immersive media and communication technologies, with particular attention to how telepresence shapes motivation, engagement, and related psychological processes. Grounded in media psychology and supported by rigorous experimental methods, his scholarship also draws on interdisciplinary perspectives across HCI, UX research, and learning science.

Kun Xu is an Associate Professor of Emerging Technologies at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. His research focuses on human-robot interaction, human-agent interaction, computer-mediated communication, and psychological processing of emerging media. He uses social scientific approaches to investigate how people perceive, process, and respond to humanoid social robots, AI agents, and augmented characters.

Cindy Fang is a Ph.D. candidate in media and communication at the Lew Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University. Her primary research interests are the psychological processing of media, emerging communication technologies, and their effects on perception and behavioral change. She is also interested in interactive media and storytelling.