ISPR Presence News

Monthly Archives: February 2021

Call: ACM AutomotiveUI 2021

Call for Papers

ACM AutomotiveUI 2021
September 9, 10, 13, and 14
Online
https://www.auto-ui.org/21

Papers can be submitted until May 14th (abstracts due May 7th)

AutomotiveUI is the ACM’s premier international forum for user interface research in the automotive domain. The conference brings together researchers and practitioners interested in both the technical and the human aspects of vehicle user interfaces and applications. The 2021 conference will be held as a virtual conference.

At this time, we are recruiting submissions to our full-papers track.

  • This track is peer-reviewed.
  • This track seeks full papers making significant contributions to the AutomotiveUI community.
  • Accepted papers will be archived in the ACM Digital library as part of the Conference Proceedings
  • Papers can be submitted until May 14th (abstracts due May 7th).
  • More details are on the papers page: https://www.auto-ui.org/21/authors/papers/.

AutomotiveUI is interested in submissions on a wide variety of topics.… read more. “Call: ACM AutomotiveUI 2021”

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Will holograms be the next innovation in the post-pandemic workplace?

[This Washington Post story reviews some of the available and soon-to-be available technologies for meeting via holograms. See the original story for an additional image and a 1:10:49 minute video of the “First Holograminar organized by WISeKey and ARHT Media Inc” on YouTube. DVE Holographics also enables holo-meetings, and for a related technology see the website of IKIN Inc. –Matthew]

[Image: ARHT Media brought holographic speakers from Australia, Greece and Germany together on one stage. Credit: ARHT Media/Imverse]

Will holograms be the next innovation in the post-pandemic workplace?

Start-ups are introducing next-generation virtual meeting software

By Dalvin Brown
February 9, 2021

It’s a pressing question that has yet to be answered: Once the pandemic passes, what will the return to work look like for millions of Americans?

Some tech companies have said people can continue to work from home indefinitely.… read more. “Will holograms be the next innovation in the post-pandemic workplace?”

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Call: Realizing AI in Healthcare: Challenges Appearing in the Wild (CHI 2021 Workshop)

Call for Papers

Realizing AI in Healthcare: Challenges Appearing in the Wild
A workshop in conjunction with CHI 2021
(https://chi2021.acm.org/)
May 8th and 9th, 2021
Online
https://bit.ly/RealizingAIinHealthcareWS

Submission deadline: February 21st

DESCRIPTION

This workshop will explore the role of HCI in enabling the implementation of AI in real-world healthcare. Drawing on fieldwork, prototypes, and case studies, we will reflect on key concepts in AI, including ‘explainability’, ‘trust’, and ‘accuracy’, to support researchers and developers in taking a more sociotechnical and human-centered perspective when using AI systems to change care delivery.

AI research has been growing steadily and promising to improve results for many areas of healthcare. HCI has contributed to these discussions, mainly with studies on explainability of advanced algorithms. However, only few machine learning systems make it to everyday care. This challenging move has been named the ‘last mile’ of AI in healthcare, emphasizing the sociotechnical uncertainties and unforeseen learnings from involving users in the design or use of AI-based systems.… read more. “Call: Realizing AI in Healthcare: Challenges Appearing in the Wild (CHI 2021 Workshop)”

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When the animated bunny in the TV show listens for kids’ answers – and answers back

[This interesting story from EdSurge explores young children’s presence responses in the context of a new, and apparently effective, application of interactive AI designed to help them learn. See the original version of the story for three more images. –Matthew]

[Image: Children’s explanations of what they think lives inside a smart speaker. Left: A drawing indicates there is a person living inside the speaker. Right: A depiction of the smart speaker as a girl. Credit: Courtesy of the Digital Learning Lab.]

When the Animated Bunny in the TV Show Listens for Kids’ Answers — and Answers Back

By Rebecca Koenig
February 9, 2021

During tricky situations in the new PBS KIDS show “Elinor Wonders Why,” a curious rabbit directs a question to viewers, pausing to give them a chance to answer.

This invitation to participate in the plot of the story is a hallmark of educational programs for young children, a moment designed to check their comprehension and engage them in learning.… read more. “When the animated bunny in the TV show listens for kids’ answers – and answers back”

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Call: GAME-ON 2021 – The 22nd annual Simulation and AI in Games Conference

CALL FOR PAPERS

GAME-ON®’2021
The 22nd annual Simulation and AI in Games Conference
Department of Communication and Art
University of Aveiro
(https://www.ua.pt/)
Aveiro, Portugal
September 22-24, 2021

Organised by
The European Technology Institute
and
University of Aveiro/DigiMedia

Sponsored by
EUROSIS
University of Skovde
University of Žilina
and
GODAN

For latest information see:
www.eurosis.org
or
https://www.eurosis.org/conf/gameon/2021/index.html

Early bird submission deadline: April 20th, 2021
Submission deadline: May 13th, 2021
Late submission deadline: June 1st, 2021

CONFERENCE AIM

The aim of the 22nd annual European GAME-ON® Conference (GAME‐ON®’2021) on Simulation and AI in Computer Games, is to bring together researchers and games people in order to exchange ideas on programming and programming techniques, which will be beneficial to the gaming industry and academia. Secondly it aims to steer young people into this industry by providing how-to tutorials and giving them the opportunity to show their ideas and demos to the gaming industry.… read more. “Call: GAME-ON 2021 – The 22nd annual Simulation and AI in Games Conference”

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iHeart Radio expanding 3D audio (“VR for the ears”) for podcasting, live broadcasts

[Too often we ignore the power of audio alone to evoke spatial and social presence. This story from The Verge reports on iHeart Media’s new expansion into immersive audio; the company’s press release (also available via Business Wire) makes the connection with presence clear:

“Binaural, or 3D audio, creates a sense of movement, location and triggers other senses, enhancing listening experiences and providing a new way for people to hear high quality, surround sound, immersive content, and reproducing real-life experiences, much like virtual reality has done for video, right in their own homes. […] This is virtual reality for the ears, and by expanding our 3D audio offerings, our goal is to place fans at the center of the stories they love – in an even more immersive, innovative format.”

The 2 minute iHeart 3D Audio Trailer also includes lots of presence-related terms in the narration.… read more. “iHeart Radio expanding 3D audio (“VR for the ears”) for podcasting, live broadcasts”

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Job: Research Associate, “Using AI-Enhanced Social Robots to Improve Children’s Healthcare Experiences” at U. of Glasgow

Call for Applications

Research Associate
ESRC-funded international collaborative project “Using AI-Enhanced Social Robots to Improve Children’s Healthcare Experiences”
University of Glasgow – School of Computing Science
https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/CDU192/research-associate

Contract Type:  Fixed-Term/Contract
Salary:  £35,845 to £40,322 per annum
Closes: 15th February 2021
Job Ref:  048427

The School of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow is looking for an excellent and enthusiastic researcher to join the ESRC-funded international collaborative project “Using AI-Enhanced Social Robots to Improve Children’s Healthcare Experiences.” This is a new 3-year project which aims to investigate how a social robot can help children cope with potentially painful experiences in a healthcare setting. The system developed in the project will be tested through a hospital-based clinical trial at the end of the project.

In Glasgow, we are looking for a researcher with expertise in applying deep neural network models to the automated analysis of multimodal human behaviour, ideally along with experience integrating such systems into an end-to-end interactive system.… read more. “Job: Research Associate, “Using AI-Enhanced Social Robots to Improve Children’s Healthcare Experiences” at U. of Glasgow”

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Is this an avatar I see before me? Audience takes to stage in virtual Shakespeare play

[An upcoming adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream into a global, interactive real-time experience demonstrates both the evolution of presence-evoking technologies and storytelling and the creative innovation necessitated by the pandemic. The story below is from The Guardian, where it includes an additional image. More information and a video trailer are available at https://dream.online/ –Matthew]

[Image: Credit: Stuart Martin/Royal Shakespeare Company]

Is this an avatar I see before me? Audience takes to stage in virtual Shakespeare play

Video game software enables actors to interact with viewers in real-time fantasy

By Dalya Alberge
7 February 2021

Playhouses may be dark, but the Royal Shakespeare Company is to bring immersive theatre to audiences wherever they are in the world by combining revolutionary virtual reality and video games technologies with traditional live performances.

Real-time animation will be created by actors interacting with a live audience, who will in turn influence a story inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream.… read more. “Is this an avatar I see before me? Audience takes to stage in virtual Shakespeare play”

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Call: “In what sense can AI have a mind?” – 4th Meta-Science and Technology Project International Workshop

Call for Participation

4th Meta-Science and Technology Project International Workshop:
In what sense can AI have a mind?
Online via Zoom
March 16th, 2021
http://www.lit.kobe-u.ac.jp/mst/en/schedule.html

Register to participate at https://forms.gle/1C2EYa4uztxCZUtKA

Workshop Description:

This workshop aims to foster an interdisciplinary discussion over the question of whether machines like AIs and robots can have a mind. In particular, it proposes to approach this question by asking what types of AI can have what kinds of mind.

On the one hand, there exist many different kinds of AIs and robots. If we classify them in terms of their functions, for example, we can find AIs for language processing, visual recognition, game playing. Some even aspire to design an AI with general intelligence comparable to human beings. Similarly, there are robots designed to assist human activities, move like humans and animals, engage in social interactions with people.… read more. “Call: “In what sense can AI have a mind?” – 4th Meta-Science and Technology Project International Workshop”

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Meet Clubhouse, the voice-only social media app setting the internet abuzz

[As described in the story below from The Conversation, Clubhouse is a new audio-only, real-time only (no recordings), social media platform designed to evoke social presence. Other coverage includes these additional details:

From CNN:

“[Founders Paul] Davison and [Rohan] Seth, who are both well connected in the tech industry from previous roles at top companies, said their goal with Clubhouse ‘”was to build a social experience that felt more human — where instead of posting, you could gather with other people and talk.’”

From Vogue:

“A dizzying bringing together of live podcast-style conversations, panel discussions, networking opportunities (some savvy people are already swapping ‘influencer’ for ‘moderator’) and advantageous multiple-room use (locked and private options are available so you can talk to pals too), the social-media app mimics real-life interactions.”

From Engadget:

“As the app has grown, so has its users’ creativity.… read more. “Meet Clubhouse, the voice-only social media app setting the internet abuzz”

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