Dear Colleagues We would like to invite paper submissions to the First International Workshop on “Understanding Delight in Design: User Experience, Technologies and Tools” BCS HCI People and Computers XXVI, 12-14th September 2012 University of Birmingham on 10th September 2012. Paper Submission Deadline: June 18th 2012 Website: http://www.serena.ac.uk/delight-in-design-workshop/ Aim of the workshop: Drawing on the established fields of usability, user experience and interaction design, this workshop aims to bring together people to discuss the concept of ‘delight’ in interface, product and interaction design. ‘Delight’ or ‘delightful’ design is, we argue, an aspirational quality that the HCI community would do well…

Alt-HCI BCS HCI 2012 Birmingham, UK. September 12th-14th Deadline for Submissions: 15th June 2012 Does your work push the bounds of HCI? Do you find mentioning it amongst your colleagues sparks endless debate? Are you working with a group of users that are in some way extreme or exploring conceptions of technology that do not fit or standard models? Do you have a weird finding or observation you would like to share, but that does not seem to fit into traditional ways of talking about HCI? Are you simply revisiting and area that was once mainstream and is now out…

The International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations (http://www.igi-global.com/ijgcms) announces a call for papers for a special issue dedicated to the topic of Ludic Simulations, co-guest edited by Patrick Coppock (University of Modena & Reggio Emilia, Italy) and IJGCMS Editor-in-Chief Rick Ferdig (Kent State University, USA). Ludic here refers to Latin definitions of ludus, referring to fun, play or playfulness.  It might also widened to include the notion of entertaining facilitation, ease or pleasure of use.  Simulations are computer-mediated environments that provide opportunities for users to explore a world, an occupation, a task, etc..  We are making a broad assumption…

EmTech MIT October 25-26, 2012 MIT Media Lab Cambridge, MA REGISTRATION NOW OPEN Register by May 31, 2012 and save up to $800 on any full-conference registration. Click here to register online. WHAT IS EmTech? Technology Review’s annual Emtech MIT is the premier conference focused on emerging technologies and their impact. Emtech is a place where technology, business, and culture converge. It is an access point to the most innovative people and companies from around the world. Most of all, it is a place of inspiration: a place to glimpse the future of technology and begin to understand how it…

PsychNology invites authors to submit papers for a theme issue on “Cool”. This issue follows the Cool aX Continents, Cultures and Communities Workshop (see http://www.chici.org/cool2012/), but we welcome all contributions, whether they build on work presented at the workshop or not. The focus of the theme issue will be on designing for cool in the context of new and emerging technologies. Current literature and work on cool predominantly focuses on specific demographics of society without exploring its broader application. This theme issue aims to explore and discuss the notion of cool and how it crosses the boundaries of continents, cultures…

Affective experience in movement-based games http://turing.iimas.unam.mx/~pablor/events/f&g/index.html September 4th. 2012, Toulouse, France in conjunction with Fun and Games 2012 Promoting an appropriate affective experience is a central aspect of games. Affective factors such as emotion, aesthetics and affective expression are important for games, as they can be a source of engagement and fun. In movement-based games, those that can use the user’s body movements as input, the affective experience and the role of movement in constructing meanings has an increased relevance. Frequently, studies in movement-based games have looked at sports to inspire and inform both the design of games and the…