CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
Meaningful XR 2024 (#MXR24)
May 23-25, 2024
Stanford/Palo Alto, California
Call: https://bit.ly/mxr24cfp
Submissions: https://bit.ly/mxf24submit
Submission deadline: January 24, 2024
Whether designed to entertain or achieve more “serious” purposes, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR)—collectively “XR”—meaningfully impact users’ beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, emotions, cognitions, physical health, well-being and behavior.
Meaningful XR 2024 is a conference for scholars and industry professionals about theory, research, design innovations, principles, and practices related to meaningful uses of XR.
The conference will include thought-provoking keynotes from both academic and industry leaders, peer-reviewed paper presentations, panel sessions, “XRbitions”, and social mixers in both VR and meatspace.
Intended audience:
- Industry and academic XR researchers, designers, and developers
- Educators across fields who teach about XR or teach with XR
- Students interested in XR research and careers
- Government and NGO professionals interested in XR
Themes:
- Meaningful XR applications in learning, education, health, work, and socialization
- Designing XR applications to promote accessibility, inclusion, diversity, and equity
- Theoretical contributions to understanding emerging XR uses
Attendance—Physical and Hybrid:
In order to adhere to space constraints for this inaugural Meaningful XR, physical attendance will be limited to participants who have a paper or proposal accepted for presentation. Likewise, papers and proposals must be presented in person at the physical conference by at least one member of each submission team. However, we will also offer a hybrid option for remote participants to attend selected presentations and social events using a VR headset, computer, or mobile device.
Tentative Schedule:
- Thursday (5/23, 9am-5pm): Keynote 1, Presentation sessions, XR Demos, VR Social 1
- Friday (5/24, 9am-5pm): Keynote 2, JMP Panel, Poster session, Lab Visit, VR Social 2
- Saturday (5/25, 9am – ): Closing Keynote, Optional outing to San Francisco
Submissions:
All submissions should address some aspect of the Meaningful XR themes described above, contributing to an understanding of the current state of the art, practice, science, and/or discipline of Meaningful XR. To that end, submissions should present original, unpublished, work that is not currently under review by any other venue. Student and early career submissions are highly encouraged. Submission categories include:
- Full Research Papers (4000 words max, all-inclusive)
- Full research papers should present theoretically grounded research or design projects. In collaboration with the Journal of Media Psychology (JMP), full paper submissions that receive a ‘top-paper’ designation at Meaningful XR will be automatically (with author consent) considered a “Revise and Resubmit” for publication in the journal’s Metaverse-Mediated Communication Special Issue (CFP: https://bit.ly/jmpmetaverse). After the conference, the revised papers may be resubmitted to JMP to complete the review process, with attempts made to retain at least one original reviewer.
- Papers must be anonymized and should use APA 7th edition format.
- Accepted submissions will likely be scheduled for oral presentation at the conference or, in rare cases, for a poster exhibition (with author consent).
- Short Papers (1000 words max, all-inclusive)
- Short papers are appropriate for a wide range of works, including but not limited to completed research projects, works-in-progress, theoretical developments, retrospectives on XR design projects, and discrete empirical studies.
- Submissions must be anonymized and should use APA 7th edition format.
- Accepted submissions may be scheduled for oral presentation or poster exhibition at the conference.
- Posters (500 words max, all-inclusive; poster draft submission optional)
- Posters are appropriate for a wide range of works, including but not limited to completed research projects, works-in-progress, theoretical developments, retrospectives on XR design projects, and discrete empirical studies.
- Submissions must be anonymized and include a write-up (APA 7th edition format) of the project to be presented in the poster. Authors may also submit a draft of the poster to be reviewed along with the write-up.
- Accepted submissions will be scheduled for the conference poster exhibition.
- Panels and Roundtables (500 words max, all-inclusive)
- Panels and roundtables should contribute to Meaningful XR community building. Proposals should include an overarching statement of the vision behind the panel, a statement of how all participating members will contribute to this vision, and the names and bios of participating members.
- MicroTalks for Big Ideas (300 words max, all-inclusive)
- Have an awesome idea about Meaningful XR that you want to share with the community? Maybe you are running a company or preparing a dissertation in this space? Want to explain how the future of the industry or discipline should be shaped? Tell us about it for a chance at the mic for ~10 minutes.
- XR Demos — Apps, Experiences, and Research
- Demonstrate your XR applications, experiences, and designs to the Meaningful XR community! Appropriate XR submissions include but are not limited to: student/indie/experimental/serious XR games, novel XR meeting/social media platforms, XR productivity applications, research/studies using XR technology (yes, you may submit demonstrations of your XR research designs).
- Submitters must obtain all permissions and rights to demonstrate any material.
- Submissions should include a document (PDF) describing the application in text and/or images, and must include a link to a detailed video showing the XR application in use. If possible, also include a link for reviewers to experience the app on their own. Apps in various stages of completion are eligible, but the app must be in a form that is presentable and usable for exhibition at the conference.
- App exhibitors are expected to attend the Meaningful XR conference and demonstrate their application with their own equipment during the exhibition time.
Planned Timeline:
- Jan 24: Submission Deadline
- Feb 14: Initial Decisions Announced
- March 14: Early Bird Registration Deadline
- April 14: Attendance Commitment Deadline
- May 23-25: Conference Meeting
Expected Fees:
- Industry Participant: $400
- Faculty Participant: $300
- Student Participant—Regular: $200
- Student Participant—Early Bird: $100
- Need-based travel scholarships may be available for student and early career scholars
Accommodations:
- Rooms to be blocked, likely in downtown Palo Alto, Cardinal Hotel (do not reserve yet)
Conference Organizers:
- Rabindra (Robby) Ratan, Michigan State University
- Maxwell Foxman, University of Oregon
- David Beyea, University of Wisconsin, Whitewater
- Alex Leith, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
- Brian Klebig, Bethany Lutheran College
- David Jeong, University of Santa Clara
Conference Executive Committee:
- Jeremy Bailenson, Stanford University
- Nicholas Bowman, Syracuse University
- Magy Seif El-Nasr, University of California, Santa Cruz
- Katherine Isbister, University of California, Santa Cruz
Sponsors (as of November 2023):
- Department of Media & Information, Michigan State University
- Communication Department, Stanford University
- Additional sponsorships are welcome and appreciated!
This event is also partially supported by National Science Foundation Grant #2128803.
Questions? Want to join the Program Committee and help review papers? Sponsor? Email Rabindra (Robby) Ratan, rar@msu.edu