presences

Presences are the plural form of presence, a term used across disciplines to denote existence, attendance, or perceptual or symbolic impact in a given place or moment. In general, presences can refer to the fact of something or someone being in a particular place, or to the influence or impression that presence exerts.

In daily use, presences may refer to the attendance of people at an event, or the fact of someone being physically there (physical presence). It can also describe the impression or aura an individual conveys, such as stage presence or a quiet presence.

In philosophy and cognitive science, presence concerns how objects or events appear to consciousness or how a thing is experienced as being here-now, as opposed to merely possible or absent. Discussions of presence often distinguish between spatial or temporal presence and intentional presence in perception.

Technological contexts use presence to indicate a user’s online or available status. Presence information is exchanged by messaging and collaboration systems to show who is online, away, or busy, and presence services support synchronization of this status across devices and applications.

In the arts and literature, presences may be used to describe felt or imagined figures, entities, or influences that are not physically present but are perceived by a character or reader.

Compared with absence, presence is often tied to immediacy and relevance, where presences in a setting contribute to social dynamics, communication, and interpretation.