Call for Papers

Fifth Workshop on Everyday Virtual Reality
At IEEE Virtual Reality 2019
Osaka, Japan
23 March 2019
https://wevr.adalsimeone.me

Important Dates:
Abstract submission: 18 January 2019
Submission Deadline: 25 January 2019
Notification:  1 February 2019
Camera-Ready: 15 February 2019

Traditionally, Virtual and Augmented Reality has been conceived for purpose-built highly instrumented laboratories. However, the commercial release of consumer grade Virtual and Augmented Reality head-mounted displays has allowed a wider user base to experience VR and AR in everyday environments such as their own home or work environments. If consumer VR and AR is to evolve beyond the laboratory, a rethinking of the way we design and implement interactive VR and AR systems for these environments application scenarios is needed.

The workshop on Everyday Virtual and Augmented Reality focuses on the investigation of well-known VR and AR research themes in all those contexts and scenarios other than research laboratories and specialist environments.

This half-day workshop will bring together researchers and industry practitioners to explore these new challenges and define a new research agenda. We invite authors to submit 4-page position papers, preliminary research results, novel concepts or case studies (up to a maximum of 6 pages).

LOCATION

Osaka International Convention Center
Osaka, Japan (co-located with IEEE Virtual Reality 2019)
Date 23 March 2019

TOPICS OF INTEREST

We invite submissions pertaining to the intersection between the following themes (but are not limited to) and “everyday” contexts of use such as user’s homes and offices.

• Gameplay Design and Player Interaction in consumer VR/AR
• Overcoming constraints of ordinary environments (e.g. locomotion techniques, object avoidance)
• Tangible and haptics support to interaction with the environment
• Co-located and Remote Social & Collaborative VR/AR and related challenges (Intersection of Immersed and Non/Semi-Immersed Users)
• 3D User Interfaces for Desktop or semi-immersive VR
• VR/AR home healthcare and education
• Effects of prolonged VR use in domestic settings
• New trends of VR/AR applications

Research works on the above themes that do not focus on everyday contexts are not suitable for this workshop. Read more on Call: Fifth Workshop on Everyday Virtual Reality, at IEEE VR 2019…

Call for Submissions

GROUP 2020 – ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work
PACM HCI affiliated conference
January 6-8, 2020, Sanibel Island, Florida, USA
https://group.acm.org/conferences/group20/

Paper abstract and title submission deadline: February 22, 2019

For over 25 years, the ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work (GROUP) has been a premier venue for research on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Human Computer Interaction, Computer Supported Collaborative Learning and Socio-Technical Studies. The conference integrates work in social science, computer science, engineering, design, values, and other diverse topics related to group work, broadly conceptualized. Group 2020 continues the tradition of being truly international and interdisciplinary in both organizational structure as well as participants.

Key goals for the program are to encourage and facilitate researchers within CSCW and HCI to interact across disciplinary boundaries. We encourage high-level research contributions from interdisciplinary groups to present work that might be difficult to place within one simple category. We are open to diverse and innovative research methods, and to contributions across broad areas such as systems, society, participation, critique, collaboration, and human interaction. GROUP 2020 in particular would like to encourage systems designers, builders, and researchers from industry, academia, government and other interested groups to participate.

Participation at GROUP takes many different forms. In 2020, we will continue new submission categories that were introduced in 2016. GROUP 2020 will again offer the opportunity to authors of newly published papers from the Journal of CSCW (http://link.springer.com/journal/10606) to present their papers in the conference. Second, the submission category “Design Fictions” will be maintained.

In addition, papers will now be published as an issue of the recently created journal, Proceedings of the ACM (PACM).

Submissions to the conference are welcome in the form of: Read more on Call: GROUP 2020 – ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work…

CALL FOR PAPERS

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
Virtual Reality Interventions for Health and Well-Being in the Elderly
https://home.liebertpub.com/cfp/virtual-reality-interventions-for-health-and-well-being-in-t/166/

Deadline for Submissions: May 1, 2019
*Submitting Authors: Please indicate in your Cover Letter that your paper is for the VR in the Elderly Special Issue.

Loneliness is pervasive among older adults. Feelings of loneliness contribute to an increased risk in developing dementia, and a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, and death. By 2030 the United States will have more residents over 65 than children. This figure indicates a growing reliance on our local and national system of caregivers, healthcare providers, and senior communities, placing stress on the clinical and social infrastructure needed to support older adults.

To meet these growing needs, VR technology is rapidly expressing itself as an integral tool. The majority of studies using VR Interventions for seniors have focused on treatment and rehabilitation, but exciting new translational research is beginning to move towards prevention.

We have not yet begun to fully explore all the possible uses of VR in healthcare. For this special issue, we are interested in clinical studies that have shown significant and unique advantages using VR interventions to improve quality of life in older adults. The focus of papers should not be on the technology, but rather validated clinical outcomes and, where applicable, significant economic benefit.

We are seeking high-quality original articles on the following topics related to interventions for:

• Mental, Social and Emotional Health
• Cognitive Rehabilitation
• Physical Rehabilitation
• Gait Training
• Cognitive Training
• Assessment of Daily Living Skills
• Physical Risk Assessment and Prevention
• Shared Virtual Worlds

Read more on Call: VR Interventions for Health and Well-Being in the Elderly – Special issue of Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking…

Call for Participation

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants:
Exploring the Intersection of Philosophy and HCI
A CHI 2019 workshop
Glasgow, UK,
Saturday May 4th, 2019
https://authentic.sice.indiana.edu/philosophy-hci-workshop/

Submission deadline: 12 February 2019

Download the workshop proposal.

Philosophy has provided a vital perspective for HCI on how we navigate, experience, understand, and judge the world around us and its artifacts. Lately, HCI scholars have also sought to use philosophy’s program of answering what it means to live a “good” life to investigate the ethical and moral implications of the technologies we design. As philosophy in its many forms continues to open up new influences and our relations with technology broaden, we believe it is timely to have a meta-discussion about what links philosophy and HCI. As we understand it, philosophy’s strength lies in its diversity, depth, and interpretive flexibility.

The goal of this one-day workshop (Saturday May 4th, 2019) will be to sustain this thread by bringing together HCI scholars who have been drawn to philosophy to develop a shared agenda on how to understand it and carry it forward. Attendees will discuss their experiences with philosophically-informed research, epistemological and practical concerns when pairing philosophy with traditional HCI methods, and how philosophy can help us understand and design for users.

We invite interested researchers to submit a 2-4 page (excluding references) position paper in the CHI Extended Abstracts format (http://chi2019.acm.org/authors/chi-proceedings-format) that addresses the key topic(s) of the workshop. The paper should also include a short author biography that includes current research or potential goals of research.

Submissions (PDF format) should be sent to normsu@indiana.edu by February 12th, 2019 (3:00PM EST) and will be reviewed based on relevancy to the workshop. At least one co-author of each accepted submission should attend the workshop.

KEY GOALS AND TOPICS

• Describing and reflecting on existing philosophically-informed HCI research.
• Identifying emerging phenomena, issues, and challenges in HCI, addressing which would benefit from engaging with philosophy.
• Considering how we can practically learn and “do” philosophy. For instance, how might we explicitly meld traditional HCI methodology stemming from disciplines like psychology with philosophy?
• Asking what philosophy means for understanding stakeholders and for design of interactive systems.
• Developing how can we make philosophy in HCI more accessible.
• Outlining an agenda (or agendas) for philosophically informed HCI.

Read more on Call: Philosophy and HCI workshop at CHI 2019…

Human-Machine Communication: What Does/Could Communication Science Contribute to HRI?

A Workshop at HRI 2019, the 14th Annual ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human Robot Interaction
Daegu, Korea
March 11-14, 2019

HRI 2019: http://humanrobotinteraction.org/2019
Workshop: https://www.combotlabs.org/hmchri2019.html

Submission deadline: February 1, 2019

OVERVIEW

In the discipline of Communication Science, human-machine communication (HMC) has recently emerged as a new context of study. Although historically focused on human communication, communication scientists also (increasingly) examine processes of (a) message production, reception, evaluation, and effects, (b) construction and negotiation of meanings, and (c) coordination of action between humans and digital interlocutors, which may include social robots, artificial intelligence agents, and human-robot assemblages (e.g., cyborgs, machine-augmented persons, and actor networks).

Although both HRI and Communication Science often trace their origins to the transdisciplinary cybernetics of the 20th century, they have since developed in relative isolation, with scant scholarly exchange concerning the similarities and differences in their assumptions, insights, and approaches. In the meantime, their basic models of the communication process, theoretical frames, and methodological innovations have evolved in different directions that are newly relevant to one another as robots become increasingly human-like, social, and communicative. Yet, the relatively rare intersections of Communication Science and HRI in recent years have been tremendously productive and generative for both fields.

FORMAT OF WORKSHOP

This half-day workshop will feature invited talks from a submission process and a moderated group session. For the invited talk portion of the workshop, participants will be invited to submit brief papers and then present to the group. Each speaker will be given an allotted amount of time to present their work. In the moderated group session (a “birds of a feather” session), workshop participants will be divided into groups based on their area of focus so that they can discuss shared aspects of their research. Each small workshop group will have an organizer as a facilitator to lead the discussion of communication theory as it relates to research agendas. The “birds of a feather” session will be highly interactive. At the conclusion of the workshop, each group will present a summary of the ideas discussed and future meetings will be explored.

CALL FOR PAPERS

We invite potential participants to submit a paper for the workshop about using communication-related theories/methods in HRI studies (no longer than five pages using the IEEE/HRI template). Submissions can range from theory position arguments to studies that demonstrate the use of communication science theory in the HRI context. Participants with selected papers will be asked to present their work to the workshop with an 8-minute talk. All papers will receive at least two peer reviews from those familiar with both communication science theory/method and HRI studies.

SEND PAPERS TO chad.edwards@wmich.edu Read more on Call: “Human-Machine Communication: What Does/Could Communication Science Contribute to HRI?” An HRI 2019 Workshop…

Call for Participation

CHI 2019 Workshop on ‘The Future of Work’
Glasgow, UK
May 4/5

CHI 2019: chi2019.acm.org
Workshop: www.futureofwork.site

Submissions due: February 12, 2019

In this one-day workshop, we invite scholars, designers, developers, policymakers and provocateurs to explore the implications of innovations in technology for the future of work and its intersection with the CHI community.

Discussion and activity will be focused on the production of outputs (research questions, opportunities for innovation, insights) to be used as a resource in HCI research and design. These will be disseminated via the workshop website and an Interactions article.

WORKSHOP SUBMISSIONS

We invite submissions of up to 2,000 words, which articulate their importance to discussions on the future of work. Submissions can be primarily visual but should be accompanied by a description of their relevance, and may include any of the following:

• A thought-piece, description of research, design fiction, or analysis of ethics or policy;
• A design concept, prototype or experience, illustrated through photography, video or similar;
• A novel method or tool.

Submissions should be sent by email to futureofwork2019@gmail.com. At least one author of each accepted submission must attend the workshop. All participants must register for the workshop and for at least one day of the conference. Submissions will be made available on the workshop webpage. Read more on Call: CHI 2019 Workshop on ‘The Future of Work’…

Call for Papers

European Conference on the Impact of AI and Robotics (ECIAIR 2019)
31 October – 1 November
Oxford, UK
https://www.academic-conferences.org/conferences/eciair/eciair-call-for-papers/

Abstract submission deadline: 11 April 2019

This is a first call for papers for the European Conference on the Impact of AI and Robotics (ECIAIR 2019) being hosted by EM-Normandie Business School, Oxford, UK 31 October – 1 November.

The European Conference on the Impact of AI and Robotics (ECIAIR 2019) has come about as a result of the maturing of artificial intelligence and robotics, particularly of the cognitive computing kind, which is producing an unprecedented revolution in the role of work and professionals in society. This Conference aims to focus not so much on the technology itself, but rather its consequence on knowledge work and society. We are looking for research with a broad set of approaches including the future of the professions; knowledge networks enabled by cognitive computing and other technologies; education issues; collaborative robots; ever-more autonomous machines and their relationship with humans; whether we will need to demand ethical or at least acceptable social behaviours on the part of machines; considerations on assigning personhood to machines; to name a few topics.

Topics may include but are not limited to:

• The consequences of AI and robotics on knowledge work and society
• The future of the professions
• Enabling knowledge networks with cognitive computing and other technologies
• Collaborative robots
• The impact of ever more autonomous machines and their relationship with humans
• Ethical and acceptable social behaviours
• Sectorial applications of AI including:
  • Fintech and the financial services industry
  • Life sciences and healthcare
  • Utilities and transport management services
  • In the development of Smart-cities
  • In government
  • In education

We would also welcome applications of AI to solving some of the World’s global challenges such as to improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people in growing urban environments around the world; to help civilisation migrate from hydrocarbons to non-fossil sources of energy and other activities to mitigate the climate crisis; to contribute to the continued eradication of extreme poverty in the World. Read more on Call: European Conference on the Impact of AI and Robotics (ECIAIR 2019)…

Call for Papers

ACM Intelligent Virtual Agents Conference – IVA 2019
2-5 July 2019
Paris, France
https://iva2019.sciencesconf.org

Submission Deadline: March 1, 2019

The 19th ACM International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVA) will be held on July 2-5 2019 in Paris, France. The conference is organized by CNRS, Sorbonne University and Paris-Saclay University (France), and sponsored by ACM-SIGAI.

The IVA conference started in 1998 as a workshop on Intelligent Virtual Environments at the European Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Brighton, UK, which was followed by a similar one in 1999 in Salford, Manchester, UK. Then dedicated stand-alone IVA conferences took place in Madrid, Spain, in 2001, Irsee, Germany, in 2003, and Kos, Greece, in 2005. Since 2006 IVA has become a full-fledged annual international event, which was first held in Marina del Rey, California, then Paris, France, in 2007, Tokyo, Japan, in 2008, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in 2009, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, in 2010, Reykjavik, Iceland, in 2011, Santa Cruz, USA, in 2012, Edinburgh, UK, in 2013, Boston, USA, in 2014, Delft, The Netherlands, 2015, Los Angeles, USA, 2016, Stockholm, Sweden, 2017. IVA 2018 was held in Sydney, Australia.

PAPER SUBMISSION

We invite submissions of research full papers on a broad range of topics, including but not limited to: theoretical foundations of virtual agents, agent modeling and evaluation, agents in games and simulations, and applications of virtual agents. Extended abstracts presenting late breaking work are also welcome.

IVA 2019 is the 19th meeting of an interdisciplinary annual conference and the main leading scientific forum for presenting research on modeling, developing and evaluating Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVAs) with a focus on communicative abilities and social behavior. IVAs are interactive digital characters that exhibit human-like qualities and can communicate with humans and each other using natural human modalities like facial expressions, speech and gesture. They are capable of real-time perception, cognition, emotion and action that allow them to participate in dynamic social environments. In addition to presentations on theoretical issues, the conference encourages the showcasing of working applications.

IVA 2019’s special topic is “Social Learning”, that is learning while interaction socially; agents can learn from the humans and humans can learn from the agents. Agents can take different roles such as tutors, peers, motivators, coaches in training and in serious games. They can act as job recruiter, virtual patient, and nurse to name a few applications. With this topic in mind we are seeking closer engagement with industry and also with social psychologists.

For more information, please visit the IVA 2019 website:
https://iva2019.sciencesconf.org

The papers and extended abstracts will be published in the ACM digital library. All submissions will be reviewed via a double-blind review process. Read more on Call: ACM Intelligent Virtual Agents Conference – IVA 2019…

University of Padova, Aesthetics Lecture Series 2018/2019

“The Appreciator’s Performance. Virtual Reality and The Ontology of Art”
Enrico Terrone (University of Barcelona)

Monday, December 10, 2018, 16.30-18.30 (CET)

The talk will be live-streamed and will remain available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOmB1kCTJ9c&feature=player_embedded

Read more on Call: Free online lecture: “The Appreciator’s Performance. Virtual Reality and The Ontology of Art”…

Call for Papers

32nd International Conference on Computer Animation and Social Agents (CASA 2019)
July 1-3, 2019
Paris, France
https://casa2019.sciencesconf.org

Submission deadlines: March 1, 2019 (full papers), April 15, 2019 (short papers)

The 32nd International Conference on Computer Animation and Social Agents (CASA 2019) will be held on July 1-3, 2019 in Paris, France. The conference is organized by Sorbonne (France), in cooperation with ACM-SIGGRAPH, under guidance of the Computer Graphics Society (CGS).

CASA was founded in 1988 in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is the oldest international conference in computer animation and social agents in the world. In the last ten years, CASA was held in Korea (2008), Netherlands (2009), France (2010), China (2011), Singapore (2012), Turkey (2013), United States (2014), Singapore (2015), Switzerland (2016), Korea (2017), China (2018).

[WARNING: There is a conference called ICCASA 2019 that claims to be the 21st International Conference on Computer Animation and Social Agents in Bali in January 2019. This conference is not the official CASA and is launched by an organization World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology that is unfortunately very famous for its predatory publishing practices. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Academy_of_Science,_Engineering_and_Technology)

Please note that no paper submitted to ICCASA 2019 in Bali will be published in the journal Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds. Only accepted papers submitted to CASA 2019 in Paris will be published in the journal.]

PAPER SUBMISSION

We invite submissions of research full papers, short papers, and posters on a broad range of topics, including but not limited to Computer Animation, Embodied Agents, Social Agents, Virtual and Augmented Reality, and Visualization (see below for a detailed list).

For more information, please visit the CASA 2019 website:
https://casa2019.sciencesconf.org

28 accepted full papers will be recommended to publish in a special issue of the Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds Journal published by Wiley (CAVW). The short papers and posters will be published in the ACM digital library. All submissions will be reviewed via a double-blind review process. Read more on Call: 32nd International Conference on Computer Animation and Social Agents (CASA 2019)…