1 / 2 Online Open Access Journal “ AN - ICON. Studies in Environmental Images ” PERMANENT CALL: ARCHAEOLOGIES OF IMMERSION Nowadays, virtual - , augmented - , and mixed - reality technologies produce images that ask to be exp e- rienced and inhabited more than viewed and o b- served. Should the sense of presence and imm e- diacy they convey be interpreted as a radical no v- elty, or is it rathe r the result of a more ancient and fragmented history of perception? A media archaeological approach lets emerge new strategies to conceive the history of media techniques by highlighting discontinuities and non - linear paths, bringing into focus their ma terial co n- ditions of production as well as practices, di s- courses, and narratives that contribute to shaping these media's cultural identity. This archaeological perspective may also be complemented with a genealogical one, considering the governance strate gies and the powers of subjectification played by past and present media dispositives. In different ways and to various degrees, imme r- sive techniques can be traced back to precursors as ancient as Palaeolithic cave paintings. Later on, they range from t rompe - l’œil depictions to pre - cinematic devices such as panoramas, dioramas, phantasmagorias, and from stereoscopic films to 2 / 2 holograms, to name a few. The Archaeologies of Immersion section aims to single out unknown continuities as much as ruptures and co unter - tendencies. Accordingly, a special attention can be also d e- voted to the narratives that have marked the dawn of an - iconic dispositives and accompanied the hi s- tory of their effect across the centuries: ancient mythologies portraying proto - immersant s, chron i- cles of forgotten media practices, fictional tales on both realized and imaginary immersive technol o- gies, obsolete scientific discourses foreseeing a multisensory and interactive consumption of the image. This section of AN - ICON. Studies in Envir onme n- tal Images aims therefore to open a permanent space to investigate and discuss the genealogy of virtual environments. Especially, unconventional approaches on overlooked research objects are welcome. In this perspective, Archaeologies of immersion enc ourages proposals related to the fo l lowing domains: • Prefigurations of immersive, multisensory, and interactive images and media. • Aesthetics of an - iconic artworks and re p- resentations of the past. • Imaginary media picturing the advent of virtual reality technologies. • Literary and fictional accounts of imme r- sion. • The construction of epistemes and scie n- tific paradigms that underpin virtual real i- ties.