Call for Papers:
Language Games issue of Leonardo Electronic Almanac
https://www.leoalmanac.org/language-games-call/

Abstract submission deadline: April 30, 2019

Language Games is the title of a forthcoming issue with LEA edited by Lanfranco Aceti, Sheena Calvert, and Hannah Lammin. We invite a range of submissions initially in the form of abstract. The description of the issue is below with all the related information for submission.

Language is a technology, as theorists including Martin Heidegger and Marshall McLuhan have argued, and yet its manifestation in both speech and writing is fundamentally human-centred: anthropological. However, speech and writing are rapidly becoming an interface not just between humans and the ‘out there’, as traditional philosophies of language assert, but between humans and machines, and machines and other machines. As a result, the usual presuppositions we might make about language as a technology which is predicated on human utterance and man-made material transcription is rapidly shifting, and in the process the line between human and machine is becoming less clear.

Current developments in computing, and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), are bringing about a new perceptual transformation of the technology called language, and offer us an opportunity to reflect on what we value in language and how it continues to form (and inform) our life-world. The mass availability of intelligent personal assistants—such as Apple’s Siri, IBM’s Watson and Amazon’s Alexa, and Google’s Duplex—has brought (and promises to further introduce) speaking machines into everyday life for many people, and makes it clear that such interfaces will be increasingly indistinguishable from human voice. These emergent systems replicate the nuances, inflections, and vernacular qualities of speech to a degree that has made many commentators uncomfortable (invoking a linguistic/social version of Masahiro Mori’s “Uncanny Valley”). Previous barriers to acceptance of machine-produced language, such as lack of nuance, context, and the subtleties of timing associated with human language are beginning to be surpassed, such that the distinction between them dissolves.

This raises ethical questions about language, and its ongoing role in human (and machine) interaction. These technologies also threaten to replace large areas of voice-related employment, such as service industry call centre roles, and so involve the implications of automation more generally. In the fields of computer science and technology there is already well-developed research producing systems that are able to generate ever more “natural” linguistic fluency. Our aim is to add another dimension to this research, by asserting the importance of a dialogue between humanities/science/creative disciplines in addressing the implications of speaking machines. If (as many claim), language is of singular importance to the constitution of the human; the migration of language to machines provides an opportunity for us to interrogate the value of language at an ontological level.

Current research in the digital humanities and the philosophy of technology considers a range of questions, including the nature of human/machine intelligence, algorithmic agency, the narratives used to contextualize AI in the broader social context, and the ethics of using machines to mediate various aspects of our personal lives. Yet, the complex relationship between language and intelligence that has preoccupied philosophers since Aristotle has rarely been taken as a central research theme in critical discussions of AI. This journal aims to fill this gap by creating an interdisciplinary platform for reflection on the implications of AI as a linguistic technology.

The goal of this issue is to bring together a range of perspectives—including those from philosophy, linguistics, computer sciences, digital humanities and the creative arts—in order to examine in detail the particular role of language in creating the interface between humans and AI/machine learning technologies. It will address languages’ role in getting us to accept these technologies, investigating how the creation of believable/convincing linguistic parallels to human forms of language (via mimicry), invites us to engage with machines as social beings, and builds trust in machine utterances (written and spoken). By approaching computational technologies through a linguistic lens we hope to establish that language needs to become a central (not incidental) aspect of the discourses around the ethics of AI and machine learning.

We invite submissions addressing questions including, but not limited to:

• What is the ontological status of language when it is no longer made by humans, but by machines?
• How do the frameworks that ground our understanding of ethics need to be rethought to account for the social effects of linguistic machines?
• What epistemological models do we need to understand the relationship between ‘natural’ language and computer language/code?
• Do machinic languages require us to re-think the relationship between language and cognition?
• Do computational systems have the agency for linguistic creativity, and what poetic forms might emerge from them and/or our interaction with them?
• What new pragmatics of language arise from our interactions with non-human linguistic agents?
• What methodologies—creative, philosophical, scientific—can we develop to address these questions, and to communicate between disciplines?

SUBMISSIONS: Read more on Call: “Language Games: Conversations Between Human and Machine Languages” issue of Leonardo Electronic Almanac…

Open call: The (Virtual) Reality Museum of Immersive Experiences

The (Virtual) Reality Museum of Immersive Experiences showcases projects originally designed for large-scale immersive environments in a VR simulation that is true to the physical manifestation of these systems. These systems include 360 degree panoramic and hemispherical projection screens, stereoscopic 3D multi-view installations and a number of spatial and experimental video installations. Situated in a large warehouse, the 3D museum is freely navigable and its many exhibits are open for interactive exploration.

Read more on Call: The (Virtual) Reality Museum of Immersive Experiences…

Call for Papers

ICTS4eHealth 2019 – 4th edition of the IEEE International Workshop on ICT Solutions for e-Health
in conjunction with the Twenty-Fourth IEEE Symposium on Computers and Communications (ISCC)
Hotel Catalonia Barcelona Plaza, Barcelona, Spain
June 29 -July 3, 2019
www.icts4ehealth.icar.cnr.it

Submission deadline: April 12, 2019

MISSION:

e-Health is one of the major research topics that have been attracting cross-disciplinary research groups. The deployment of new emerging ICT technologies for Health, especially based on Cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), and Computational Intelligence, is attracting the interest of many researchers.

The use of Cloud computing, IoT technologies, and methods typical of Soft Computing and Computational Intelligence have been very prominent recently and can be of great help in finding good solutions to many practical healthcare applications.

For instance, health monitoring, health data storage, health data collection, mobile health, pervasive health, healthcare monitoring, telemedicine, context-aware computing, ubiquitous computing, processing health data in the cloud, securing health data in the cloud and Assistive Technology (AT) are areas of interest that are being addressed using cloud computing and IoT techniques. On the other hand, several challenging issues have raised due to the adoption of such emerging technologies. These include the quality of health data, the ability to retrieve information and use it in health context, as for example in tasks related to machine learning, knowledge discovery, decision support, regression, forecasting, optimization, feature selection, and additionally privacy and security issues of health data while being processed in the cloud, availability of health data, models of context and tele-monitoring of contextual applications.

ICTS4eHealth 2019 is the fourth edition of the International IEEE Workshop dedicated to ICT solutions for e-Health, especially based on Cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), and Computational Intelligence.

The workshop will bring together researchers from academia, industry, government, and medical centers in order to present the state of the art in the emerging area of the use of cloud systems in connected health infrastructure and applications, and the use of IoT and Computational Intelligence technique in the area of eHealth.

TOPICS:

• Cloud computing applications for eHealth
• Internet of Things (IoT) applications for eHealth
• Assistive Technology (AT)
• Informatization, Management and Organization of BME Environments
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology and Medicine
• Communication, Networking and Monitoring in Bio-systems
• Monitoring of Vital Functions with Sensor and ICT Systems
• Biosensors and Sensor Networks
• Advanced Bio-signal Processing
• Distributed BME Applications
• Telehealth, Telecare, Telemonitoring, Telediagnostics
• e-Healthcare, m-Healthcare, x-Health
• Assisted Living
• Smartphones in BME Applications
• Social Networking, Computing and Education for Health
• Computer Aided Diagnostics
• Improved Therapeutic and Rehabilitation Methods
• Intelligent Bio-signal Interpretation
• Data and Visual Mining for Diagnostics
• Advanced Medical Visualization Techniques
• Personalized Medical Devices and Approaches
• Modelling and Computer Simulations in BME
• Human Responses in Extreme Environments
• Other Emerging Topics in BME
• E-Accessibility
• Web accessibility
• Hardware & Software personalized assistive technologies
• Assistive systems for users who are blind or visually impaired
• Cloud computing and AT
• Integration between home-based assistive technologies and patient health data
• User-centered design of electronic assistive technologies
• Usability of assistive technologies
• Computer vision in AT
• User interfaces for home-based assistive technologies
• Use of prescription systems and assistive technologies
• Experience from real world assistive environment deployment
• Assistive Technologies for Urban Environments
• Healthcare modeling and simulation
• Knowledge discovery and decision support
• Biomedical data processing
• Wearable devices
• Sensor-based mHealth applications

The use of Soft Computing/Computational Intelligence methods in facing problems in the above topics is highly welcome, although not compulsory.

PAPER SUBMISSION: Read more on Call: ICTS4eHealth 2019 – IEEE International Workshop on ICT Solutions for e-Health…

Call for Papers, Posters, Project Demos

International conference on Designing for Children with focus on Play and Learn
Saturday 7th to Sunday 8th of December 2019
IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India
http://www.designingforchildren.net

First submission deadlines: May 1, 2019

Aim: This international event is aimed at exchange of viewpoints, deliberations and discussions concerning design and research issues related to children. The event is expected to throw light on the role of Designing for children as related to design of objects, media and environment with focus on play + learn.

Participants: The events are centered around the interests of students, educationists, practicing designers and children related interest groups. The event has been designed to be lively, interactive and thought provoking and will provide great opportunity to interact with thought leaders, listen to visions by researchers and for networking.

THEMES FOR THE CONFERENCE ON DESIGNING FOR CHILDREN WITH FOCUS ON PLAY + LEARN:

We invite interesting experimentation, different perspectives, innovative design applications, in-depth case studies, research outcomes and position papers centered on the theme of the conference. The following are the suggested main themes and sub themes for submission of papers:

Products for children with focus on Play + Learn:

• Issues involved with design of products for children
• Toys, games and puzzles for children
• Design with sustainability issues for children
• Process, methods and theories on designing for children

School for children with focus on Play + Learn:

• Design as a subject in school curriculum
• Design as a methodology for learning other subjects
• Alternative methods of learning systems for children
• Learning and play theories
• Learning through play activities
• Design of school textbooks and other learning materials

Children’s environment with focus on Play + Learn:

• Design of play environment for children
• Design of living environment for children
• Design of parks, schools, hospitals, playgrounds, etc. for children

Children and media with focus on Play + Learn:

• Design of storytelling methods for children
• TV and film programs for children
• Illustration, comics, animation for children
• Design of children’s publications
• Communication design for children
• Typeface and readability issues for children

Interactive environments for children with focus on Play + Learn:

• Design of interactive systems and technologies for children
• Social networks for children
• Design with new technologies for collaborative activities
• Usability issues and human factors as related to children
• Design of virtual environments for children

Children with special needs with focus on Play + Learn:

• Design for children with special needs

Development issues of children with focus on Play + Learn:

• Children’s behaviors, perception, and emotion
• Development of sensorial skills in children
• Issues connected with innovative and creative potentials in children

Read more on Call: International conference on Designing for Children with focus on Play and Learn…

Call for Papers

GOODTECHS 2019
5th EAI International Conference on Smart Objects and Technologies for Social Good
September 25-27, 2019
Valencia, Spain
http://goodtechs.eu

Submissions due: April 10, 2019 [extended]

SCOPE

By social good we refer to a “good” or a service that benefits the largest number of people in the largest possible way. Some classic examples of social goods are, of course, healthcare, safety, environment, democracy, and human rights, but we can add to this classic list even communication, art, entertainment and much more.

In this context, the popularity of portable computing devices, like smartphones, tablets, or smart watches combined with the emergence of many other small smart objects with computational, sensing and communication capabilities coupled with the popularity of social networks and new human-technology interaction paradigms is creating unprecedented opportunities for each of us to do something useful, ranging from a single person to the whole world. Furthermore, Internet of Things, Smart-cities, distributed sensing and Fog computing are representative examples of modern ICT paradigms that aim to describe a dynamic and globally cooperative infrastructure built upon objects’ intelligence and self-configuring capabilities. These connected objects are finding their way into our pockets, vehicles, urban areas and infrastructure, thus becoming the very texture of our society and providing us the possibility, but also the responsibility, to shape it.

In GOODTECHS we are hence interested in experiences with the design, implementation, deployment, operation and evaluation of smart objects and technologies for social good. Clearly, we are not considering only the so called first world as the scenario for this evolution; we also refer to those areas where ICT is currently less widespread, hoping that it may represent a societal development opportunity rather than a source for further divide.

Topics

Authors are solicited to submit original, previously unpublished papers in the following, but not limited to topic areas:

• App concepts and technologies for different mobile platforms
• Blockchain for social good
• Communication between mobile devices
• Content Distribution
• E-learning solutions
• Data collection, organization and dissemination methods
• Delay-tolerant aerial networks and ferrying approaches
• Deployment and field-testing
• Digital tools for art and feelings
• Environment sensing, monitoring and preservation
• Experimental results of communication testbeds
• Game, entertainment, and multimedia applications
• Health and social care
• Human-object interaction
• ICT for development
• Mobile service architectures and frameworks
• Mobility and handover management
• New application scenarios for vehicular communications
• Pervasive and ubiquitous services in cloud and IoT
• Platforms and frameworks for mobile devices
• Privacy issues and solutions
• Protocol design, testing and verification
• Security issues, architectures and solutions
• Smart cities and transportation
• Smart economy solutions: e-banking, e-business
• Smart governance and e-administration
• Smart living and E-health
• Technology addressing the digital divide

Read more on Call: GOODTECHS 2019 – 5th EAI International Conference on Smart Objects and Technologies for Social Good…

Call for Abstracts

International Workshop: Husserl’s Phenomenology of Phantasy and Emotions
University of Cologne, Germany
July 18-19, 2019

Submission deadline: May 6, 2019

This workshop is a small conference organized by the Husserl-Archive in Cologne and the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne. Its goal is to bring together graduate students as well as experienced researchers interested in the relation of phantasy and emotions in the Husserlian work. Two keynote speakers from the Husserl Archive Cologne and four keynote speakers from abroad will lead the discussion.

Read more on Call: International Workshop: Husserl’s Phenomenology of Phantasy and Emotions…

Call for Papers

Pro-Social Play!
International conference on Storytelling and Well-being across Media Borders
17-19 October, 2019
University of Kent, U.K.
www.prosocial-narrative.org

Abstract submission deadline: June 30, 2019

Plenary speakers:
Charles Forceville, Media Studies, University of Amsterdam
Tobias Greitemeyer, Social Psychology, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Anja Laukötter, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
Harry Yi-Jui Wu, Medical Ethics and Humanities, Hong Kong University

Read more on Call: Pro-Social Play! International conference on Storytelling and Well-being across Media Borders…

CALL FOR PAPERS

GAME-ON’2019
The 20th annual Simulation and AI in Games Conference
Breda University of Applied Sciences
Breda, The Netherlands
September 18-20, 2019

Organised by
The European Technology Institute

Sponsored by
EUROSIS
Breda University of Applied Sciences
University of Skovde
University of Žilina
and
GODAN

For latest information see:
www.eurosis.org
or
https://www.eurosis.org/conf/gameon/2019/

DEADLINES

The submission period for GAME-ON’2019 starts APRIL 19th for early bird submissions and ends JUNE 5th for late submissions. You can submit papers in between those two dates. But try and aim for MAY 15TH which is the regular submission date.

For more info on deadlines see:
https://www.eurosis.org/conf/gameon/2019/deadlines.html

KEYNOTES

GAME-ON’2019 will feature the following keynotes:

Blurred Lines – Embracing Creativity and Technology to be More Effective
by Jodie Azhar, CEO | Game Director, Teazelcat Ltd, Horsham, United Kingdom

Let’s get a little bit serious
by Olivier Dauba, VP Editorial at Ubisoft, Ubisoft, Paris, France

Game-Based Psychotherapy
by Liliana Vale Costa, Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

For more info on the keynotes:
https://www.eurosis.org/conf/gameon/2019/keynote.html

CONFERENCE TOPICS

A quick reminder of the topics for GAME-ON’2019

• Games Development Methodology
• Game Theory/Multi-Agent Systems
• Gamification and Social Game Mechanics
• Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning
• Learning and Adaptation
• Intelligent/Knowledgeable Agents
• Collaboration & Multi-agent Systems
• Opponent Modelling
• Physics and Simulation/Graphical Simulation
• 3D Scalability
• Facial, Avatar, NPC, 3D in Game Animation
• AI and Simulation Tools for games design
• Game Design
• Rendering Techniques
• Voice Interaction
• Cognitive Psychology
• Affective Computing and Emotional Gaming
• Artistic input to game and character design
• Storytelling and Natural Language Processing
• Online Gaming – Security Issues in Online Gaming
• MMOG’s
• Serious Games and Gamification in different sectors
• Wargaming Aerospace Simulations, Board Games etc….
• Games for training
• Games Applications in education, Government, health, Corporate…
• Games Consoles
• Games Console Design
• Mobile Gaming and VR Gaming
• Perceptual User Interfaces for Games
• Poster Session
• Student Session
• Tutorials
• Exhibition

For more info on the topics:
https://www.eurosis.org/conf/gameon/2019/themes.html

SUBMISSIONS

Submissions can be sent in using this link:
https://www.eurosis.org/conf/gameon/2019/email-reply.html
or by using this email
philippe.geril@eurosis.org indicating the preferred track. Read more on Call: GAME-ON’2019 – The 20th annual Simulation and AI in Games Conference…

Call for Papers

4TUEthicsEDT: 4TU.Ethics Bi-annual Conference on the Ethics of Disruptive Technologies
Technical University of Eindhoven
Eindhoven, Netherlands
November 7-8, 2019
https://www.easychair.org/cfp/4TUEthics-EDT

Abstract registration deadline: June 15, 2019
Submission deadline: October 1, 2019

Throughout history, technology has been a driver of social change. The technologies of the industrial revolution played a crucial role in shaping modern society, and society has since then continued to be shaped by technological innovations. The conference focuses on technologies that will not just change specific domains or practices for which they were designed, but that will change our life in a much broader sense. They are called socially disruptive technologies (SDTs). SDTs transform everyday life, social institutions, cultural practices, and the organisation of the economy, business, and work. They may even affect our fundamental beliefs, rights, and values. Historical examples of such technologies include the printing press, the steam engine, electric lighting, the computer, and the Internet. Modern examples include digital technologies, bio- and brain technologies, and environmental and sustainable technologies.

The new generation of SDTs has a number of characteristics. First, it promises almost complete control over atoms, bits, genes, and neurons, allowing for everything to be reconstituted or redesigned, including human beings. Second, it is characterized by a convergence of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres, resulting in new technologies at the intersection of information technology, biotechnology/biomedicine, nanotechnology, and neuroscience/cognitive science, such as synthetic biology and brain-computer interfaces. Finally, these technologies emerge in the context of a number of grand societal challenges, such as combating climate change and meeting the UN Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs), which will actually require a range of technological and societal trans­formations.

The stakes are high. These new SDTs could bring great benefits to our society: opening up new medical perspectives, enabling new forms of political participation, or contributing to the solution of our sustainability problems. But they could also bring great harm if not properly developed and implemented (Jasanoff 2016). They could curtail our autonomy and privacy, damage our ecology, and exacerbate divisions and inequalities in society. That is why normative frameworks are so important: which values and normative principles should guide their development and introduction, and which benefits do we want for individuals and society?

Few will contest that novel technologies raise ethical questions that require ethical reflection and guidance. But a key problem in the case of SDTs is that these technologies are also challenging the very concepts and values that we normally appeal to in our ethical thinking. There are three sub-themes of the conference. Each of these sub-themes focuses on a number of key concepts that are being challenged by these socially disruptive technologies.

1. The Human Condition: concepts that are basic to our moral self-understanding, such as (moral) agency, autonomy, human interdependence, and responsibility;
2. The Future of a Free and Fair Society: concepts that form the basis of our political, social and legal institutions, such as democracy, public and private, justice, and equality;
3. Nature, Life and Human Intervention: concepts and distinctions that we use to order our world: such as distinctions between natural and artificial, humans and machines, and agents and physical systems.

The format of the conference is as follows: there are keynote speakers and presentations of papers in parallel sessions. Each session will have a 20-30 minutes presentation, followed by 10-15 minutes of discussion. In addition there will be poster sessions.

Senior and junior researchers working in the field are invited to submit abstracts for the conference. Abstracts should be 500 words, excluding a short bibliography. These abstracts will be evaluated by the programme committee of the conference. Decisions will be made before the end of June. Papers that are not accepted for a parallel session may be presented as a poster.

Taskforces of 4TU.Ethics and others are invited to submit a special session proposal for the conference, with 3-4 presentations on a particular theme.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Read more on Call: 4TU.Ethics Bi-annual Conference on the Ethics of Disruptive Technologies…

Call for Papers

Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association Post Graduate Network (MeCCSA PGN) Conference 2019
July 1-2, 2019
Bangor University, Wales, UK
https://www.meccsa.org.uk/news/cfp-meccsa-pgn-conference-2019/

200-400 word proposals due: 8th April 2019

‘Delivery technologies become obsolete and get replaced; media, on the other hand, evolve.’ -Henry Jenkins (2006: 13)

The changes that have taken place within any aspect of media over the last several decades have been immense; some areas of the field are all but unrecognisable following such drastic adaptations and alterations. It is these adaptations, these changes, the evolution of media itself that is the theme of this conference. ‘Media evolution is a cultural process; it does not follow a grand plan either, but sometimes the direction and speed of the development can be – more or less – planned’ (Stöber, 2004: 485-486). However, ‘recent developments in literature as well as in literary theory… have posed new challenges to established theories and concepts’ (Reinerth and Thon, 2016: 11), and as such we must ourselves evolve both creatively, and academically. Elements of media evolutions are the focus of this conference but such a topic can be interpreted in a multitude of ways; fields of research such as narratology, practice-based research, creative practice, film studies, game studies, performance analysis, etc. are but a few of many examples.

Marshall McLuhan stated that ‘the personal and social consequences of any medium – that is, of any extension of ourselves – result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology’ (1964: 7), and therefore as technology evolves, media evolves with it. For the MeCCSA PGN Conference 2019 we invite proposals for presentations, performances, or media works (maximum of fifteen minutes) that address or contribute to any of the areas of research mentioned above but also any further fields that might apply. We will also consider workshop/panel proposals (up to fifty minutes) that address such elements of media with particular interest to practical application within the industry. Proposals may be from an academic discipline but we are equally welcoming of proposals from outside the academy especially if submitted by those with experience within the industry.

Many fields of research within the greater disciplines have the potential to overlap, and we welcome submissions from interdisciplinary sources and experimental practitioners. Though candidates are not limited to this list, below are some example areas that candidates may present on:

• Evolution of Media – The examination of how differing forms of media have evolved and adapted with passing time and how these changes affected both the industry and creative output.
• Evolution of the Creator -The examination of how the creators of media have needed to adapt and change over time; script writers, novel writers, short-story writers, directors, producers, etc.
• Evolution of the Recipient – The examination of the evolution of the audience. Impact of changes that have taken place in film and TV audiences, video-game players, internet users, students in a classroom, readers of novels and short-stories, listeners to podcasts and radio broadcasts, etc.
• Evolution of Practice – Examinations of changes in the creative process, how creators view their own work critically and build from it, including in particular practice-based research within academia.
• Evolution of Communication – The examination of communication in relation to media and the ways in which such communications have evolved and adapted with changing technology and content.
• Evolution of Culture – The examination of evolution of wider culture in regards to media, changes within society or expectations that have in turn altered the forms of media popularity. This could be narrowed to cover only a sub-culture or portion of society at large, including minorities.
• Evolution of Experience – The examination of how media has evolved to heighten its impact and the ways in which it can affect a recipient(s). How experiencing a form of media has changed with time and technology.
• Evolution of Enhancement – How forms of media have enhanced one another in order to change the ways in which it is interpreted and received, elements of ergodic literature, virtual reality systems, augmented reality systems, etc.

PROPOSALS/DEADLINES Read more on Call: Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association Post Graduate Network Conference 2019…