Joseph A. Paradiso, director of the Responsive Environments research group, co-edited the October–December 2025 issue of IEEE Pervasive Computing, "Defining a New Cross Reality."
In the introduction to the issue, Professor Paradiso, Oliver Amft (University of Freiburg and Hahn-Schickard), and Chulhong Min (Nokia Bell Labs) reflect on the legacy of IEEE Pervasive Computing’s 2009 special issue on “Cross-Reality Environments,” which they note first brought the term “cross reality” into the vernacular. The original vision, articulated in that issue’s "Guest Editors" Introduction by Joe Paradiso and James Landy, described “a seamless electronic ‘nervous system’ that connects physical and virtual realities,” imagining this environment as “an extension of human perception and interaction” that augments the five senses and redefines presence beyond the “here and now.” Revisiting that foundational moment, the authors examine how today’s cross-reality systems — now intertwined with VR/AR/MR, wearable and ambient technologies, and AI — still face “key challenges” in delivering seamless interaction and rich user experiences, while opening new scientific questions with far-reaching potential.
Additionally, two Media Lab–related papers are included in the issue, extending cross-reality research from Earth to space:
- "Global-to-Local Decision Intelligence Using a Cross-Reality VR Platform and Satellite Earth Observation" by Minoo Rathnasabapathy, Rachel Connolly, Lucas De Bonet, Dava Newman.
- "Creating Immersive Digital Twins of Terrestrial Planetary Analogs With Multimodal Sensing and Game Engines for Virtual Exploration" by Leonie Bensch, Cody Paige, Don D. Haddad, Fangzheng Liu, Nathan Perry, Gerrit Olivier, Jessica Todd, Joseph A. Paradiso.
The issue’s cover features an image from DoppelMarsh, a seminal cross-reality project from the Media Lab’s Responsive Environments group.