1) Kukshinov, E., Nathan, K. S., Bowman, N., Rooney, B., & Nacke, L. E. (2026). Walking into the Unknown: Manipulating Knowledge of the External Environment to Promote Presence in VR. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2025.2605178

Likely, my favorite study. It does not only exposes the cognitive nature of presence, as an illusion, or mispercetion of reality, but also employs a behavioral measure of presence in VR based on reactions towards virtual stimuli! 

2) Kukshinov, E. (in press). Presence in Social VR: Analysis of the Relationships Between Social and Physical Presence. PRESENCE: Virtual and Augmented Reality https://doi.org/10.1162/PRES.a.426 

Can we walk and talk at the same time in Social VR? Not really. That's because social and physical presence are not univesally afforded by these systems. Mediation and simulation are distinct technological domains. 

3) Kukshinov, E., Harley, D., Tu, J., Wang, D. M., Hadan, H., & Nacke, L. E. (2026). User traits mosaic: Understanding the multifaceted landscape of social VR users. Entertainment Computing, 101114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2026.101114 

There are so many ways in which people can use Social VR. This study presents a slice of this usage with traits that encapsulate it, along with some intersecting challenges users face.

4) Kukshinov, E., & Poeller, S. (in press). De-Normalizing Toxic Behaviour in Competitive Online Games: Players’ Perceptions of Communication, Unsolicited Advice, and Bystander Intervention in League of Legends. In Proceedings of the 21th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, Copenhagen, Denmark, August 10-14, 2026

This is one of the studies in which I, and Susanne Poeller, tried to incorporate critical theory to inform video games research and design. Changing norms is difficult, it will inevitably create resistance, which is natural when we challenge status quo. However, more humane and consentual communication is possible, everywhere and always.

5) Kukshinov, E., & Bowman, N. (2026, June). “Identifying with a character” but “embodying an avatar”: Differentiating relationships between players and their on-screen representations in video games. DIGRA 2026, Ireland, Maynooth University, 14–18 June 2026

In this essay, we are trying to explain why it is important to distinguish characters and avatars in video games, including when it comes to the 'player-character' or whatever the player is represented with.