Autistic people, as is the case with many health conditions, are subject to stigmatization. We aim to ameliorate this situation and increase positive attitudes toward autistic people. Grounded in the imagined contact hypothesis, we investigated the effect of imagined musical interaction with an autistic person on non-autistic people’s attitudes toward autistic people in general. We conducted an online experiment in which non-autistic college students (N = 443) were randomly assigned to 2 (music vs. non-musical) × 2 (autistic student vs. non-autistic student) conditions. Thus, participants imagined communicating with an autistic (or non-autistic) peer student while doing a music-related (or math-related) school activity. Imagining musical (vs. non-musical) interactions with an autistic person marginally significantly increased a sense of synchronization with the target, which then contributed to reduced social distance. Results were discussed in relation to the imagined contact hypothesis and the broader applicability of music to reduce stigma.

Social Withdrawal (SW) refers to a phenomenon where people, especially the young generation, avoid social activities, and confine themselves to their homes. This issue has become a significant public concern in many countries, including China, since socially withdrawn individuals (SWers), despite their potential, may contribute little to society. A major challenge in studying SW lies in the reluctance of these individuals to participate in traditional surveys or interviews, making it difficult to approach their inner worlds and lived experiences. To address this limitation, this study employed an innovative approach by analyzing the social networking site (SNS) activities of SWers. Specifically, we conducted a thematic analysis of naturally occurring data from online blog communities dedicated to SW in China. This method enabled us to explore the lives, emotions, and thoughts of SW individuals in a non-intrusive manner. Our findings revealed two overarching themes defined as: (1) the states of SW individuals, and (2) the challenges they face in reintegrating into society. Building on these insights, we discuss the implications of our findings, propose theoretical frameworks and put forward a series of practical suggestions for their social reintegration.

Sandra Annett’s book, The Flesh of Animation: Bodily Sensation in Film and Digital Media, is a highly anticipated work that examines the phenomenological embodiment of animation and digital media art forms. Sandra Annett made a compelling demonstration of why it is critical to study contemporary digital media by exploring the phenomenology of animation.

This study explores undergraduate students’ evaluations of three Virtual Reality (VR) applications—Wander, Bodyswaps, and VirtualSpeech—integrated into an entry-level intercultural communication course at a university in the Midwestern United States. The experiment aimed to enhance students’ cultural awareness, empathy, and public speaking skills aligned with the course’s learning outcomes through immersive learning experiences. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 48 participants via survey, which gathered participants’ background information and their perceptions of effectiveness, engagement and overall feedback after experimenting with the VR applications. Findings indicate that while participants generally perceived these three VR apps as effective learning tools, their impact varied by application type and skill areas. Wander increased awareness of cultural diversity but was limited in terms of interactive communication skill development. Bodyswaps was effective for fostering perspective-taking skill, and VirtualSpeech supported the development of public speaking skill, though some participants raised concerns about the quality of AI-generated feedback such as reliability and personalization in both applications. Despite a few reports of minor physical discomfort using VR headsets, students overall found the three VR applications engaging and recommended their continued use in communication classes. Finally, participants highlighted the need for improved scenario design, enhanced AI feedback, and stronger connections between conceptual understanding and actionable intercultural communication skills to maximize learning outcomes in VR environments.

The concept of the Zone of Intensive Mural Experience (ZIME) refers to an intensive experience people could feel when they are exposed to visual communication artefacts such as murals. Previous research adopted a cultural ecological approach to examine whether murals showed dynamics between murals, local, and national histories in generating the audience’s experiences. Few have explored whether these subjective analyses can be validated in a more objective manner through machine-generated narratives. Our study employed AI-assisted image analysis techniques to examine murals as an important visual communication element in Hollywood movies that could evoke audience’s ZIME. We selected a total of 13 mural scenes from three representative Hollywood movies: “Sister Act”, “Artificial Intelligence”, and “Blood In, Blood Out” that included mural images representing different cultural and ethnic backgrounds in the movies. We text-mined these AI-generated analytical narratives from image analysis prompts to identify extracted keywords, key phrases, and topics to support our proposition. Discussions and implications were provided.