Special Issue of Computers in Human Behavior: “Designing and Evaluating Sociability in Online Video Games”

Special Issue Editors

Georgios Christou, European University Cyprus
Panayiotis Zaphiris, Cyprus University of Technology
Effie Lai-Chong Law, University of Leicester
Lennart E. Nacke, University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT)
David Geerts, KU Leuven

DESCRIPTION

Computer games are at the forefront of technological innovation; their popularity in research continuously increasing. Their wide presence and use makes computer games a major factor affecting the way people socialize, learn and possibly work.

As increasingly more people become involved with computer games, researchers need to address various questions on topics as diverse as social impact, ethical questions, design, flow, presence, and game experience. This special issue will focus on bringing together work from various disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, computer science, human-computer interaction, psychology and others, that look at how to design and evaluate the social structures that make online video games so appealing. Read more on Call: “Designing and Evaluating Sociability in Online Video Games” – Special issue of Computers in Human Behavior…

TOUCH ME – HAPTIC EVALUATION METHODS FOR EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES
Full-day workshop at the Mensch & Computer conference 2013 held in Bremen, Germany (http://www.interaktivevielfalt.org/mensch-computer/) from 8-11th of September 2013.

IMPORTANT DATES

Submission deadline: May, 24th, 2013, to busch@cure.at
Notification: June, 26th, 2013
Submission format: 2-4 page position papers, formatted according to Mensch & Computer format (anonymized).

SCOPE AND FOCUS

We plan to explore, discuss and collect ideas on haptic materials for evaluating users’ emotional experiences with interactive systems. Haptic evaluation materials allow for a qualitative, playful and holistic evaluation of emotional factors – without interfering with the users’ personal experience during interaction. This provides a tactile enhancement to classical visual or verbal-based evaluation methods and therefore includes users and participants with special needs that otherwise could face difficulties expressing their experience (UX-evaluation-4-all).

There are various methods for evaluating emotional experiences of users interacting with systems, e.g. emotion questionnaires, interviews and physiological measures. Most of these methods only rely on visual or verbal stimuli, do not capture emotion in a holistic way or are too invasive (e.g. physiological measures), interrupt the experiences of users or face other shortcomings (e.g. exclude blind, illiterate or users with lower cognitive abilities). Read more on Call: Touch Me – Haptic Evaluation Methods for Emotional Experiences (Workshop at Mensch & Computer conference 2013)…

Workshop on Mediated Touch and Affect (MeTA)

Conference: The fifth biannual Humaine Association Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction (ACII 2013).

2-5 September 2013, Geneva, Switzerland

Website: hmi.ewi.utwente.nl/MeTA

DEADLINE: 24th of May

Description

Our sense of touch allows us to feel shapes, textures and temperatures, and we use these sensations to haptically explore the world around us, and manipulate objects. However, touch can also be hedonically pleasant, such as the smooth feel of finely crafted piece of wooden furniture, or the subtleness of a silk dress. Moreover, touch is a central modality in human-to-human communication. Touch can communicate positive or negative emotions, or serve as an intensifier of emotional displays from other modalities. Recent advances in haptic technology have spurred the development of prototypes that aim to mediate touch. These prototypes make it possible to experience tactile sensations, or engage in social touch at a distance, adding a rich affective channel to interaction with digital systems, and remote communication.

The main aim of the workshop is to bring together researchers from diverse communities, such as affective computing, haptics, augmented reality, communication, design, psychology, human-robot interaction, and telepresence. The goal is to discuss the current state of, and the future directions for, research in aspects of the touch-technology-affect triangle (as it is exemplified in mediated social touch); to highlight good case studies; to reflect on the methodological issues; and to brainstorm about applications. We welcome papers that deal with touch, and haptic technologies in relation to affect. Read more on Call: Workshop on Mediated Touch and Affect (MeTA) at ACII 2013…

The Second International Conference on E-Learning and E-Technologies in Education (ICEEE2013)
Technically co-sponsored by IEEE Poland Section
Technical University of Lodz, Poland Sept. 23-25, 2013

http://sdiwc.net/conferences/2013/iceee2013/

The proposed conference on the above theme will be held at Technical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland from Sept. 23- 25, 2013 which aims to enable researchers build connections between different digital applications.

Read more on Call: Second International Conference on E-Learning and E-Technologies in Education (ICEEE2013)…

Workshop on Mixed Reality for Health and Wellbeing – Call for Papers and Participation

As part of the International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality
(ISMAR) 2013 to be held in Adelaide, S.A., Australia, October 1, 8:00 am ‐ 5:00 pm

Read more on Call: Workshop on Mixed Reality for Health and Wellbeing…

Call for Chapters: Machine Medical Ethics, Edited Collection, 2014

You are warmly invited to submit your research chapter for possible inclusion in an edited collection entitled Machine Medical Ethics. Target publication date: 2014.

The new field of Artificial Intelligence called Machine Ethics is concerned with ensuring that the behaviour of machines towards human users and other machines is ethical. This unique edited collection aims to provide an interdisciplinary platform for researchers in this field to present new research and developments in Machine Medical Ethics. Areas of interest for this edited collection include, but are not limited to, the following topics: Read more on Call: Machine Medical Ethics, Edited Collection, 2014…

MUM 2013 – The 12th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia
Lulea, Sweden, December 2-5, 2013

The International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (MUM) is a leading annual international conference, which provides a forum for presenting the latest research results on mobile and ubiquitous multimedia. The conference brings together experts from both academia and industry for a fruitful exchange of ideas and discussion on future challenges, in a comfortable and effective single-track conference format.

The 12th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (MUM 2013) will be held in Lulea, Sweden, December 2-5, 2013. It is organized by the Pervasive and Mobile Computing Group, of the Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering of Lulea University of Technology, in cooperation with ACM SIGCHI.

In addition to the peer-reviewed accepted papers, the conference program will include keynote presentations, posters, demos and an industry track. The conference will also have co-located workshops. The technical program will be complemented by several social events to facilitate informal discussions and networking among the conference attendees and invited guests.

A Best Paper Award and Best Student Paper Award will be awarded during the conference dinner for outstanding contributions.

Conference topics include, but are not limited to the following: Read more on Call: 12th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (MUM 2013)…

Call for Papers

ATMM 2013 – Audio Technologies for Music and Media International Conference

31 October -1 November 2013

Department of Communication and Design
Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey

www.atmm-conference.org

Audio Technologies for Music and Media is an international interdisciplinary conference that focuses on the various aspects of audio, audiovisual and music technologies for music and media, and, also, on the relationship between sound, music and image in both ‘traditional’ and ‘new’ media. Read more on Call: Audio Technologies for Music and Media International Conference (ATMM 2013)…

Call for Papers
Workshop: “CSCW at the Boundary of Work and Life”
To be held at ECSCW2013, 21-25 September 2013, Paphos (Cyprus)

Submission deadline: June 28th 2013

http://cscwworkandlife.wordpress.com/

WORKSHOP THEME

This workshop aims to explore how CSCW themes, concepts and sensibilities can be extended and applied to practices blurring the boundary between work and life. Technology has moved from workplaces to become part of nearly every aspect of everyday life. Similarly, CSCW research spans not only work settings and practices, but also other life domains, from family life, to gaming, tourism and other leisure activities. However, the neat distinction between which activities are work-related and which are not is becoming less and less meaningful as often the spheres of work and life blur into each other. Similarly, the use of technology is not limited to specific work vs. non-work situations.

It is increasingly difficult to keep work and life separated, to the point that attempting to achieve work-life balance might be counter-productive or more demanding than managing the blurring between them.

Studies on the use of mobile phones, instant messaging and social media, have also shown how the same communication channel is often used for work and private activities almost at the same time. Mobile technology and mobile interaction have often been a frame for looking at these phenomena, linked to the idea of “mobilization” of practices as well as of infrastructure, and mobilities studies have been the frame for other examples of existing work on shifting patterns of home life and work life physically, temporally and organisationally.

Such blurring might not necessarily be disruptive and/or avoidable: it might be something that people are willing to put effort on, or something that is accepted as part of everyday life and dealt with through different strategies.

This workshop will discuss how to look at this blurring of practices, spheres of life and expectations: is it a problematic issue that should be addressed, or a new way of working and living that people are increasingly embracing? How people coordinate and interact when work tasks, personal tasks and leisure tasks blur into each other, and how to support/facilitate/mediate this through design? How are work and life practices negotiated when someone’s workplace is someone else’s private space? Read more on Call: ECSCW 2013 Workshop: “CSCW at the Boundary of Work and Life”…