Psychnology Journal (http://www.psychnology.org/)

CALL FOR PAPERS

SPECIAL ISSUE ON Mixed Realities in the Urban Environment

Urban mixed realities represent a growing and exciting area of research, which requires new ways of thinking about issues such as usability, place and presence. Urban situations are dynamic and can change rapidly, with a vast array of complex and exciting rhythms. They cover a whole spectrum of complex and chaotic happenings which span organisational and material configurations. These characteristics are both challenges and motivations for exploring mixed reality technology solutions, in particular with respect to finding methods to improve the ways in which participants can relate to the environment and to others. Mixed realities cover all situations in which digital objects are combined with physical features of the environment. Technologies include pervasive, ubiquitous, multimodal, and augmented reality solutions. Current projects explore and evaluate forms of interaction and presence in urban environments which use mixed reality technologies to improve or create new practices. This can be achieved in two ways: either by augmenting the engagement with others (including encounters, feelings, exchanges, co-experiences) or through augmenting the engagement with the environment (places, or things), which includes playing, understanding and interpreting the environment in new ways. We invite designers, technology developers, social scientists, psychologists and urbanists to submit a paper. Topic areas include but are not limited to:

– The role of the urban environment in shaping content and technologies
– Interaction issues within urban environments
– Frameworks and theories: place, presence, co-operative systems and cognition
– Technologies: from mobile phones to head-mounted displays
– Design and evaluation methodologies
– The role of art and performance in urban mixed realities
– Personal and societal issues related to the use and deployment of urban mixed reality systems
– Applications of urban mixed reality technologies: games, cultural heritage, emergency response training, pervasive games, social networking etc.

Case studies, applications, and theoretical contributions are all welcomed however they should all be focussed on mixed realities and the urban environment and be scientifically sound. The precise formatting guidelines and other relevant information for authors are available at http://www.psychnology.org/255.php. They should be sent in electronic form to both: articles(at)psychnology.org, and pnj(at)peachbase.org.

Manuscripts should have not been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere in the submitted form. All papers will be thoroughly reviewed in a double-blind process.

Important dates:
Submission Deadline 30th May 2008
Notification of Acceptance 20th June 2008
Final Copy due 15th July 2008

Guest Editors:
Rod McCall, Fraunhofer FIT, Germany
Giulio Jacucci, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology, Finland
Wolfgang Broll, Fraunhofer FIT, Germany

Dr Rod McCall is a research scientist at Fraunhofer FIT, Germany. He has been studying and working in the field of mixed and virtual realities for over ten years and recently chaired the Urban Mixed Realities Workshop at CHI 2008. Current projects include IPCity and PEACH.

Dr Giulio Jacucci is a Senior Research Scientist and co-leads Ubiquitous Interaction, a research group at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology, projects include interaction design and studies of mobile, mixed reality, and ubiquitous computing applications. Jacucci is docent at the University of Art and Design Helsinki and serves as a member of program and organizing committee of several conferences in the area of HCI and interface technologies.

Dr Wolfgang Broll is head of the Collaborative Virtual and Augmented Environments Department at Fraunhofer FIT, and a lecturer at RWTH Aachen. He holds a Diploma in Computer Science from the Darmstadt University of Technology and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Tübingen. He has been undertaking research in the area of Mixed Reality and 3D user interfaces since 1993.

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PNJ is a quadrimestral, international, peer-reviewed journal on the relationship between humans and technology. The term ‘PsychNology’ results from the merge of two words, Psychology and Technology, and has been chosen in order to emphasize the tight relationship connecting the two concepts. PNJ is currently indexed within major scientific databases including PsycInfo and EBSCO; it is an independent, electronic publication that grants a wide accessibility to its published papers.

Note: this workshop has passed, but you may be interested in the workshop outcomes

9 April 2008: Urban Mapping: design tools, representation and usability — a DesignLeeds participative workshop.

The Leeds School of Architecture, Landscape and Design Leeds Metropolitan University

Speakers include:
Joost Beunderman – Demos
Alistair Turnham – MAKE Associates
Stephen Wikeley – Bauman Lyons Architects
David Barrie – independent director of urban renewal projects

Numerous architects, urban designers, artists and activists have innovated ways of understanding the complex cultural and social fabric of urban locations.

This workshop will interrogate some of these processes, opening up a debate as to their use and value. It will discuss systems for social and cultural mapping, the tools available for this, the possibilities of graphic representation and how the results of these processes may be made useful to end-users.

Joost Beunderman is an urban policy researcher at Demos and directed ‘Glasgow Dreaming’. Alistair Turnham is an expert in GIS mapping which he used in the PlaySpace Mapping project. Stephen Wikeley is a graphic designer at Baumam Lyons Architects. David Barrie directed Urban Farming, Middlesborough (Dott07) and the Wishing Tree Project, Chongqing.

Venue:
The Leeds School of Architecture, Landscape and Design Hepworth Room Hepworth Point Claypit Lane Leeds LS2 8BQ.

Additional information: Fiona Bromiley, 0113 812 4087, G.F.Bromiley@leedsmet.ac.uk.

Workshop participants include: the Leeds LoveItShareIt forum; Bauman Lyons Architects; the Leeds Design Activism Group; staff and postgraduate students of The Leeds School of Architecture, Landscape and Design, Leeds Metropolitan University and the Dept. of Geography, Leeds University.

7-9 May 2008: Leicestershire, UK. Second Announcement. vizNET 2008

The 2nd Interdisciplinary Workshop on Intersections in Visualization Practices and Techniques

http://www.viznet.ac.uk/viznet2008

Hosted by vizNET and 3DvisA

New visualization technologies, practices and techniques have drawn science and the arts ever closer together, and the exchange of ideas between the two has become increasingly important. This workshop is about how to create and represent information or ideas through visualization techniques with a view to achieving better understanding through collaboration in visualization. The workshop is an opportunity for researchers working in science and engineering or the arts and humanities to develop practical experience across a broad range of visualization practice and thus a framework for articulating new ideas about working together.

Who should attend?
– Arts and Humanities researchers, performers and artists, expert in one or more areas of visualization, who would like an
introduction to, and overview of, other areas of visualization, including the latest research results, ideas and applications.
– Arts and Humanities researchers, performers and artists, new to visualization, who would like and introduction to, and overview of, the latest visualization practices and techniques.
– Arts and Humanities researchers, performers and artists who would like to contribute their expertise and insight to define
the grand challenges in visualization in the Arts and Humanities, and in the emerging intersections in visualization between the Arts and Humanities and the Sciences and Engineering.

Networking focus and invitation to participate

vizNET 2008 is an excellent opportunity to network and to look for potential collaborators for your next research project while
gaining an overview of what is available and who is working in what areas. You can showcase your latest visualization results
in a 2-3 minute video, an A1 poster (printed for you by vizNET), and by giving a demo at your poster. In addition, information
about your submitted video or poster will be included in the delegate pack.

Call for video: http://www.viznet.ac.uk/viznet2008/callforvideo
Call for posters: http://www.viznet.ac.uk/viznet2008/callforposters

Format of workshop

Full programme available at http://www.viznet.ac.uk/viznet2008/programme

7 May: Full day workshop with an up-front participant focus: a video showcase, participant introductions and poster viewings,
and an intersections orientation workshop in networking across domains. We follow with vizNET introductions to modelling &
simulation and data visualization, a presentation on visualization realism requirements in serious games & virtual
worlds, and live hands-on vizNET demos including stereoscopic visualization. A networking dinner for all participants concludes the first day.

8 May: Full day workshop with ten sessions providing introductions to, overviews of, and recent results in
– Data visualization
– Combining real world and abstract visualization in the Humanities
– 3D capture
– Game engines for visualization
– Humanities visualization (2)
– Motion capture in Sports Science visualization
– Audiovisualization in the Arts
– Web-based visualization
– Grid-based visualization

To be followed by a plenary session on how vizNET can help you to achieve your visualization needs, and the presentation of the
best poster award.

9 May: Half-day workshop beginning with technical sessions; followed by the grand challenges in visualisation, and intersections in visualisation workshops.

Will there be follow-up activities?

vizNET 2008 is hosted by vizNET (http://www.viznet.ac.uk ), the UK Visualization Support Network, and 3DvisA (http://3dvisa.cch.kcl.ac.uk/index.html), the 3D Visualisation in the Arts Network. Your input will assist us to determine which communities of practice and which areas of visualization could benefit from dedicated courses and training materials. It will also assist us to identify emerging Intersections (http://www.viznet.ac.uk/intersections ) in visualization practices and techniques within which additional network support could facilitate cross-domain collaboration.

Further information

For further information contact: Julie Tolmie, Julie.tolmie@kcl.ac.uk or John O’Brien, J.T.OBrien@lboro.ac.uk.

A Special Journal Issue of Interacting with Computers Planned publication date: September 2008

Note: the deadline for this issue has passed, but the issue may interest you when it comes out

Following the successful Physicality 2006 and Physicality 2007 International Workshops, which demonstrated the growing multi-disciplinary interest in this area of work, we invite submissions for this special issue on Physicality and Interaction for the interdisciplinary journal Interacting with Computers.

We live in an increasingly digital world yet our bodies and minds are naturally designed to interact with the physical. The products of the 21st century are and will be a synthesis of digital and physical elements embedded in new physical and social environments. As we design more hybrid physical/digital products, the distinctions for the user become blurred. It is therefore increasingly important that we understand what we gain, lose or confuse by the added digitality.

Augmented physical artefacts can be tailored and adapted to operate within a wide range of ecological settings. However, they also become more complex and require a fairly intensive design process to make them not simply practical and functional but also engaging. As a result, the need becomes even more pressing to comprehend the underlying computational intricacies, the physical form, properties and behaviour, the physical and social contexts, and the issues of aesthetics and creativity.

The issues in this field impact many areas of study: architecture, art, cognitive science, geography, human-computer interaction, philosophy, product design, sociology, tangible interface and ubiquitous computing.

15-18 October 2008: Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference (EPIC) 2008 “Loi, Daria A” Copenhagen, Denmark

NAPA/AAA’s Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference (EPIC) 2008

Call for Papers

The EPIC theme for 2008 is Being Seen: Paradoxes and Practices of (In)Visibility.

On the streets of Copenhagen you see bicycles everywhere. Neighborhoods of the worlds’ impoverished are as painfully visible to those who pass by or through them as they are invisible the halls of Wall Street. Businesses attempt to make performance of their firm visible through numbers and spreadsheets, while creativity is frequently referred to as “thinking outside the box.” Composers bring their music to light through notations and scores, chefs bring their art into view only to have it disappear, and voters attempt to have their opinions represented through the choices they make at the polls.

A conference is a chance to come together and show each other what we think and the things we do. At EPIC2008 we invite you to explore the paradoxes and practices of (In)Visibility and bring to light the concepts, theories, plans, worries, approaches and ideas that can expand and advance the practices of ethnographic work in and of industry. Submissions may be theoretical, conceptual, paradigm shifting or descriptive in nature. Submissions undergo a double- blind peer referee process and those selected for presentation will be published in the EPIC2008 Conference Proceedings. Submissions cannot have been previously published.

Papers: Abstract submission deadline April 18, 2008
Workshops: Proposal submission deadline May 19, 2008
Artifacts Submission deadline June 30, 2008 [Note updated deadline!]

We want you and your work to be seen! Come show your stuff – submit your paper, workshop or artifact now!

Melissa Cefkin (IBM Research) and Martha Cotton (HLB) EPIC2008 Co-Organizers info@epic2008.com

http://www.epic2008.com

11-13 June 2008: SBIM 2008 Fifth Eurographics workshop on Sketch-Based Interfaces and Modeling, Annecy, France co-located with NPAR 2008 and the Annecy Animation Film Festival.

Although computers are indispensable tools, pencil and paper still reign in the early stages of design in domains such as engineering, architectural design and in the entertainment industry, from 3D animation to video games. Enabled by advances in pen-based computer hardware, digital sketch-based interfaces are emerging as a way to combine the quick and intuitive feel of paper with the advantages of digital technology. However, fully realizing the potential of these sketch-based systems requires effective user interface design and underlying algorithms to analyse the input. Interpreting the users’ sketches as advanced 2D or 3D models is a fascinating research area that builds on human perception, shape recognition and geometric modeling techniques. In addition to sketching from scratch, many tasks related to modeling, editing and control can be made more efficient through systems that allow the user to annotate existing data, from text and diagrams to images, videos or 3D shapes.

The workshop will explore models, algorithms and technologies needed to enable effective sketch-based interfaces. It will investigate novel methods for classification and recognition of hand- drawn shapes, and the ways of using these techniques for creating or editing digital models, from text and 2D diagrams to 3D shapes. Likewise, the workshop will explore the application of sketch-based interfaces to domains as diverse as 3D computer graphics and animation, CAD, diagram editing, note taking, etc. Finally, the workshop will welcome empirical user studies aimed at clarifying the nature of sketch-based interfaces and comparing them to other interaction techniques.

Created in 2004, SBIM provides a unique venue for researchers and students interested in sketch-based techniques to interact with one another, share lessons learned, show new results and discuss open issues.

This year, the workshop will be held in Annecy, France, a friendly little town surrounded by the beautiful French Alps. It will take place during the famous Annecy Animation Film Festival and be held back to back with NPAR’2008 (the premier conference for techniques in expressive rendering and animation), encouraging participation in both events. The two-days workshop will include paper presentations (single track), coffee breaks, a social event and invited talks. All are welcome to attend the workshop; submission of a paper is not required for attendance.

The proceedings will be published in the EG Workshop series and made available online through the Eurographics Digital Library.

http://www.eg.org/sbm

We have started work in earnest on City Eco Lab, a ‘nomadic market of projects’ that takes place in November in St Etienne, France. The concept is simple: literally millions of people are active in projects which, in different ways, are the building blocks of one planet living. These projects deal with different aspects of daily life: food, water, energy, mobility, school, and economy. But many of these projects are invisible, even locally. So it can feel, depressingly, as if nothing is happening. City Eco Lab, by making some of these projects visible to the wider populace, starts people talking about ways they might be improved – or about doing similar projects themselves. The live projects we are researching from the St Etienne region (it’s an hour right from Lyon as you head south) will be shown side-by-side with best practice projects from other parts of the world. There will also be a tool shed with resources to help people improve their projects: tools for designing, tools for modelling and making things, tools for monitoring local flows, tools for finding and sharing resources.In the middle of this market (it’s in a 5,000 square metre former gun factory) will be a campfire zone for encounters between citizens, project leaders, tool makers, and designers. The event is hosted by the St Etienne Cite du Design; its designers are Exyzt and Gaelle Gabillet. Yes, we do want your suggestions for best-practice projects to show next to the St Etienne projects: for now, a short email, a weblink and a pic will suffice: john [at] doorsofperception [dot] com.

Biennale Internationale Design 15-30 November 2008, Saint-Etienne.
http://www.citedudesign.com/2008.html

DRS endorses Changing the Change – the international conference on the role and potential of design research in the transition towards sustainability in Torino, Italy, July 10-12 2008.

In association with the conference and Torino World Design Capital 2008 a Summer School for students is being organised on the theme of ‘Designing Connected Places’. The Summer School is open for applications from students:

http://www.torinoworlddesigncapital.it/summerschool/

Designing Connected Places is an international summer design school. But there is much more. It is also a programme for action throughout Piemonte. Using the tools of design, solutions will be outlined for 6 problems expressed by 6 local bodies. These are: health and well-being, food and new food networks, urban mobility, security and quality of life in the city, new production systems, and forms of representation of the region and its communities.

The summer school brings out a new definition of the “local” and a new role of design: a connected local, understood as local in the era of networks and high connectivity, understood as a concept able to promote original development strategies.

A select group of young designers of different nationalities will be called on to participate. Guided and stimulated by project leaders and visiting professors of great and proven international experience, they will work intensely for a week on themes indicated by local “clients” and prepared by meta-design work conducted by a group of researchers from various design schools.

Designing Connected Places is:
– 6 themed workshops at Pollenzo
– 1 transversal design session in Torino
– 6 meetings with international visiting professors (open to the public)

The official language of Designing Connected Places is English.

http://www.changingthechange.org/

The Second PEACH Summer School: 9-11th July 2008, Dubrovnik, Croatia
“Technologies and Applications”

Are you a presence researcher or PhD student? Are you looking to find out more about the latest presence research, technologies and applications? If so then the second PEACH Summer School is for you.

PEACH is an EU FP6 Coordination Action on Presence. Its objective is to stimulate, structure and support the presence research community, with a special focus on the challenges associated with the interdisciplinary character of the field. It also has the objective of producing visions and roadmaps to support ongoing and future research. The Summer School is the ideal place to join the leaders in the field for a series of lectures and presentations. There are also working groups, which will focus on the latest technologies and applications along with poster/demo sessions where you will present your work to other attendees and experts.

SPEAKERS INCLUDE
Prof Mel Slater, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (PRESENCCIA IP-EU
Project)
Prof Franco Tecchia, PERCRO – Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna
Prof Mavi Sanchez-Vives, Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi
i Sunyer (PRESENCCIA IP-EU Project)
Prof Selim Balcisoy, Sabanci University
Prof Benoit Macq, Université catholique de Louvain
Dr Xavier Marichal, Alterface S.A.
Dr Ralph Schroeder, Oxford Internet Institute
Dr Eric Meyer, Oxford Internet Institute
Prof Jeremy Bailenson, Stanford University
Prof Dominic Massaro, University of California, Santa Cruz
Prof Miriam Reiner, Technion (PRESENCCIA and IMMERSENCE IP-EU Project)
Fulvio Dominici, Ultramundum Foundation
Gianluca Zaffiro, Telecom Italia
Prof Igor Pandži?, University of Zagreb
Dr Marco Gillies, University College London
Dr Rod McCall, Fraunhofer FIT (IPCity EU Project)
Claudia Redaelli, ITIA
Prof. Martyn Bracewell, University of Wales, Bangor

For more information visit: http://peach.tel.fer.hr/

The deadline for registration is the 18th April.