cfp: final call for DMACH 2011

cfp: DMACH 2011 Digital Media and its Applications in Cultural Heritage

Organized by The Center for the Study of Architecture in the Arab Region, Jordan Al-Turath Foundation, Saudi Arabia

In collaboration with Queen Rania Institute of Tourism and Heritage, Hashemite University

16-17 March, 2011 Amman -Jordan

Over the past few years, a remarkable increase has occurred in the use of digital techniques for the documentation, management, and communication of cultural heritage. This has drastically transformed the way we capture, store, process, represent and disseminate information. The techniques employed have evolved from standard surveying and CAD tools and/or traditional photogrammetry into laser scanning virtual reality and fully automated video-based techniques. However, it is often argued that digital media tend to create and compile value-free content and thus are inefficient in capturing and communicating cultural and symbolic meanings. Digital media, as any other medium, tend to amplify or reduce the cultural phenomena as a result of their constraints and limitations. Thus the issue of using digital media for cultu

Abstract submission must be in English with a length of max. 500 words. Full paper submission could be in either English or Arabic. You are asked to identify the research track for your paper.

Abstracts should be e-mailed to scientific committee co-chairs (dmach11). Full paper submissions are required to be done online through the conference Website:

http://www.csaar-center.org/conference/DMACH2011/openconf/

Submissions will be peer reviewed.

All papers accepted for publication will be published inthe conference proceedings, which will be available to delegates at the time of registration. In addition, papers will be published in a volume of CSAAR Transactions on the Built Environment (ISSN 1992-7320).

Best Paper Award (3 Awards)

The Best Paper Award is presented to the individual(s) judged by a separate awards committee to have written the best paper appearing in DMACH & CSAAR conference proceedings. The Award shall be 300 USD and a certificate. In case there is more than one author for the paper, the award shall be divided equally among all authors and each shall receive a certificate. Judging shall be on the bases of general quality, originality, subject matter, and timeliness.

Playing with the Past book out end of October

According to Springer, my first (last?) book will be out October 29 2010.
http://www.springer.com/computer/information+systems+and+applications/book/978-1-84996-500-2
when I get a chance I must thank everyone who helped with case studies, images, references. They have been magnificent. The publication deadline was insane (my fault, not the publishers), so if there is a second edition I vow to catch and remedy any issues or errors that might pop up. Anyway, good to see it is in the pipeline, I really must ask if an image can go on the cover for the online version. And I promise the book is a little more interesting than the author bio. Ouch, must remedy that.

cfp:CAADRIA 2011

Circuit Bending, Breaking and Mending

The 16th International Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia

Dates: April 27-29, 2011
Host: School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle, Australia
Conference Web Site: http://www.caadria2011.com (to be activated on June 21, 2010)
CAADRIA 2011 Call for Papers – Abstracts Due September 1, 2010

Contemporary advances in design are shaped by computational design methods, strategies and technologies, regardless of whether these advances are manifested in the design and construction of a building, in related theory and analysis, or in the ways in which future designers and scholars are educated. Architectural computation in the post-digital era calls for new ideas that will transcend conventional boundaries and support creative insights through design and into design. “Circuit Bending, Breaking and Mending” provides an interdisciplinary context for challenging traditional paradigms and invites researchers and practitioners alike to (re)consider and (re)address design and computation with a particular focus on three themes:
Innovative design conceptualisation and support through computational theories and technologies.
Enhanced knowledge of architecture and design through computational analysis.
Improved approaches to design education through computational thinking and applications.

Young researchers currently involved in postgraduate studies are invited to submit their work-in-progress research papers to the CAADRIA 2011 Postgraduate Student Consortium.

Important Dates
Abstract submission: September 1, 2010
Full paper submission: November 15, 2010
Poster and Exhibition Submission: February 1, 2011
Postgraduate Student Consortium Submission: February 1, 2011
Young CAADRIA Award Application: February 1, 2011
Sasada Award Application: November 30, 2010

cfps for June

1-Jun-10Creative Industries ConferenceAuckland New Zealand6-Dec-10
1-Jun-10euromedDigital HeritageCyprus8-Nov-10
1-Jun-10Internet of ThingsTokyo Japan29-Nov-10
9-Jun-10VRSTVirtual Reality Software and TechnologyHong Kong6-Dec-10
11-Jun-10mlearn2010Mobile and contextual learningMalta19-Oct-10
15-Jun-10HICSSVirtual Worlds in the Workplace (workshop)Hawaii15-Jun-10
15-Jun-10dmach 2011digital media and its application in cultural heritageAmman Jordan12-Mar-11
18-Jun-10ICDCDesign CreativityKobe Japan29-Nov-10
25-Jun-10ozchi2010Brisbane Australia22-Nov-10
30-Jun-10eResearchWhere Computing Meets DataGold Coast Australia8-Nov-10
30-Jun-10ACE 2010Advances in Entertainment TechnologyTaipei Taiwan17-Nov-10
30-Jun-10VRCAIVR Continuum and Its Applications in IndustrySeoul Korea12-Dec-10

CFPS for May

DEADLINECONFERENCETHEMELOCATIONSTART
7-May-10ecap10Computing and PhilosophyMunich Germany4-Oct-10
10-May-10PDCParticipatory Design ConferenceSydney Australia29-Nov-10
10-May-10nordichiNordic Conf. on HCIReykjavik Iceland16-Oct-10
11-May-10siggraph asia 2010Seoul Korea15-Dec-10
15-May-10Vast 2010Science Technology & MuseumsParis France21-Sep-10
16-May-10Oz-IA/2010Information ArchitectureSydney Australia9-Oct-10
17-May-10Creative Industries ConferenceAuckland New Zealand6-Dec-10
24-May-10GET 2010IADIS Game & Entertainment TechnologiesFreiburg Germany26-Jul-10
26-May-10vsmm 2010Transdisciplinary CreativitySeoul Korea20-Oct-10

CFP: Interactive Entertainment New Zealand 21-23.12.2010

IE2010: The 7th Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment

21-23 November 2010, Wellington, New Zealand

http://ieconference.org/ie2010

The Fish of the Day:

In this current economic client of uncertainty, it is the creative and innovative minds that emerge as the leaders of change. IE2010 will cover how PLAY can contribute to both major and minor challenges we are facing in these roaring times. What can we learn from being inventive and playful? And how interactive entertainment can contribute towards facilitating these changes? What do we need as designers, developers, critical thinkers and researchers need to consider, bring in, promote when faced with these challenges? How play leads change?

*** Important Dates ***
Long Paper Submission and exhibition submission: 21 Aug 2010
Short Papers/Demo Submission: 1 Sep 2010
Author Notification: 1 Oct 2010
Camera Ready Papers: 1 Nov 2010

The Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment, in its seventh year, is a cross-disciplinary conference that brings together researchers from artificial intelligence, audio, cognitive science, cultural studies, drama, HCI, interactive media, media studies, psychology, computer graphics, as well as researchers from other disciplines working on new interactive entertainment specific technologies or providing critical analysis of games and interactive environments.

=== IE2010 will accept four kinds of submissions; all accepted submissions will be included in the conference proceedings.

Regular Papers – Maximum 10 pages.
Regular papers represents mature work where the work has been rigorously evaluated. All regular papers will be peer reviewed for technical merit, significance, clarity and relevance to
interactive entertainment. Accepted papers are required to present their research at the conference.

Short Papers – Maximum 3 pages.
Short papers represent novel work in progress that may not be yet as mature as regular submissions, but still represents a significant contribution to the field. All short papers will be peer reviewed for technical merit, significance, clarity and relevance to interactive entertainment.
Accepted papers are required to present a poster at the conference.

Demo Submissions – Maximum 1 page.
Technical demonstrations showing innovative and original approaches to interactive entertainment. Demo papers will be reviewed by the conference chair and the program chair for significance and relevance. All demo presenters are responsible are responsible for bringing the necessary equipment to the conference and setting up their demo at the conference.

Exhibition Submission – Maximum of 3 pages.
Exhibition papers can represent both mature and novel work. Applicants are asked to submit a short paper outlining and contextualising the work to be exhibited, including pictures. This will need provide a clear understanding of the proposed exhibited design work, its relationship with interactive entertainment supported by design argumentation.
The applicants are also required to provide a detailed description of what and how the work needs to be exhibited. All applicants are responsible for bringing the necessary equipment to the conference and setting up their demo at the conference, this includes digital exhibitions as well.

Refereeing Process All conference papers will be fully peer reviewed by an International Review Panel to ensure research dissemination of the highest quality. The peer review process involves abstracts being reviewed by members of the organizing Committee to ensure their suitability to the conference, and selected authors are then invited to submit a full draft paper. The full paper is then subjected to a peer review process by the International Review Panel. Successful authors have the opportunity to modify their papers to include recommendations from the International Review Panel. All approved papers are published in the CD-ROM conference proceedings.

=== Topics include but are not limited to:

* Art, Design, New Media, Social games – games as art forms, novel approaches to game design, mobile games and games that leverage from social networking tools, convergence and cross-platform media, cultural and media studies on games, policy and legislative responses to games

* Artificial Intelligence: path-planning, camera-control, terrain analysis, user-modeling, machine learning, interactive storytelling, NPC modelling, planning and general AI architectures.

* Games and Education: integrating games into traditional computer science classes as well as novel ways of teaching games, curriucula development at university, high-school or middle-school levels, special games based programs for attracting disadvantaged or underepresented groups.

* Game Design and Production – papers examining the game production process from conception to design to prototyping to bringing games to market

* Graphics, Animation and Interfaces – advances in graphics techniques with applications to games, new animation techniques, novel interfaces for games, mixed-reality. augmented-reality applications, mobile games,

* Games Backend – papers that show advances in technical fields that make games work, such as databases, networking, cryptography, security, programming languages,

IE2010 will not accept any paper that, at the time of submission, is under review for or has already been published or accepted for publication in a journal or another conference. This restriction does not apply to submissions for workshops and other venues with a limited
audience.

Accepted papers will be published in the IE2010 conference proceedings and also published in the ACM Digital Library. Please see http://ieconference.org/ for papers from previous years.

=== For the best student paper, IE2010 will waive the registration fee and provide a scholarship of up to $500 towards travel and accommodation expenses. There are also limited spots for student volunteers, please contact ie2010[at]ieconference.org if interested. Student volunteers will get a discount on the registration.

General inquiries should be forwarded to ie2010[at]ieconference.org

IE2010 Conference Chair: dr. Aukje Thomassen, Massey University, College of Creative Arts, Institute of Communication Design
IE2010 Program Committee Chair: dr. Erik Champion, Massey University, College of Creative Arts, Auckland School of Design

The Tartan Online : Minput makes movement a new way to control small electronics

Minput, a device that hopes to solve the problem of space and visibility in small devices and screens, is being developed by Chris Harrison and Scott Hudson, who are both part of Carnegie Mellon’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute. Harrison has already been featured in The Tartan for his work with Skinput, which turns the arm into a touchpad.

When sliding Minput over a surface, sensors on the bottom can register movement to control various software on the device. In this respect, Minput is a mouse with the computer screen attached, and it can be manipulated without having the user’s fingers block the screen.

Minput allows mouse control and optical tracking to be applied to small mobile devices.

According to a demonstration in Harrison’s video, Minput could be operated anywhere a user could possibly use the device, including on a table, on the leg of one’s pants, and on a user’s palm. Because there are two sensors on the device, a variety of motion can be detected, including twisting the device on a table. According to www.chrisharrison.com, the optical devices use negligible tracking power. According to the video, Minput supports three “input modalities,” or ways the user can manipulate the device. Gestural input modality involves motions like flicks and twists and was demonstrated using photo-browsing software. Flicking the device in a certain direction changes the image, while twisting changes the number of images on the screen, like a zooming function. These inputs can be changed to perform many functions on different programs. The variety of motions allows programs on the devices to change certain settings without having to navigate complex menus.

video at http://thetartan.org/2010/4/26/scitech/minput/slideshow?start=1

Unreal Development Kit

Chris Blundell at www.plutonicdesign.com told me he is highly impressed by the free editor and that it creates better game levels than found in the game!

But.. still only for PC..I do wonder how much it costs for a game to go commercial though when sold as an educational game by an educational institute-hundreds of thousands? Or do they take a percentage of the profits (which seems a more desirable option!)

It seems to me that a free game editor is one great leap for indie and educational games (i.e. Unity, XNA-kind of, UDK) but there also needs to be a cheap path to Playstation 3 or XBox..any such pathway out there? Perhaps Blender can be ported to Playstation or XBox?

CFP: Heritage Inquiries: A Designerly Approach to Human Values (DIS 2010)

August 16-17, 2010

An ACM DIS 2010 Workshop
http://www.dis2010.org/

URL: http://www.engagingexperience.dk/dis2010/

*********************************************************************************
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

This two-day workshop will bring together the interdisciplinary community of scholars and practitioners involved in the design of interactive systems and sharing a common interest in heritage matters.

The role of emerging technologies in the preservation of the things we value is increasingly at the forefront of people’s concerns. As designers of interactive systems, we are asked to better understand what people do and do not value. At the core is the question: what does it mean to be human? This understanding is central to how we design for a changing world [1]. Heritage matters represent a unique domain to explore fundamental human values, including remembering, being a community, and coming together as a society through separate understandings and attachments to artifacts, places and events. Because heritage is lived and practiced within situations that are “personal and yet social,” “private and yet public,” “of the present and yet of the past and the future” [2], such an exploration bears extraordinary opportunities for the future design of interactive systems. While fostering engaging ways for people to interact with heritage objects and matters, it opens up design inquiries that go beyond traditional museological concerns and contribute to basic research in human-centered design.

Through design activities embedded within Aarhus and its surroundings, participants will discuss the theoretical implications of design inquiries in the heritage domain with respect to the future design of interactive systems of social and cultural significance, focusing in particular on issues of everyday engagement. The workshop will also provide a key networking opportunity.

[1] R. Harper, T. Rodden, Y. Rogers, A. Sellen (2007). Being Human: Human-Computer Interaction in the Year 2020. Cambridge, England: Microsoft Research Ltd.
[2] E. Giaccardi, L. Palen, (2008). The Social Production of Heritage Through Cross-Media Interaction: Making Place for Place-Making. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 14:3, May 2008, pp. 282-298.

***********************************************************************
OBJECTIVES

Create an international network of scholars and practitioners engaged in heritage matters within the field of interaction design, elaborate a shared agenda of research themes and design considerations with particular emphasis on issues of everyday engagement in heritage matters.

Discussion of the theoretical implications of design inquiries in the heritage domain with respect to the design of interactive systems of social and cultural significance will address in particular the following questions:

  • How can designers inquire into people’s engagement in heritage matters?
  • How can interactive technology support or even promote the motivation and values underpinning engagement in heritage matters?
  • What characterizes heritage experience, and how can we design for it?
  • How can interactive technology support the social system of experiences and interpretations that makes the meaning of heritage evolve over time?
  • What structures of conversation do we need to designerly put in place to capture and reinforce the dialectical and often impalpable relations between people and their environment?
  • How can we design for publics that form and evolve around personal as well as societal heritage matters on the basis of common interests and affinities?

The workshop will also produce several publications, including an edited book.

***********************************************************************
INTENDED AUDIENCE

The workshop welcomes scholars and practitioners interested in discussing novel design inquiries from both design research and heritage studies. We welcome scholars and practitioners covering a wide range of areas of expertise, including:

  • interaction design
  • human-computer interaction
  • information technology
  • anthropology
  • sociology
  • archaeology
  • architecture
  • historical studies
  • human geography
  • museum and heritage studies
  • cultural studies
  • media and communication
  • new media arts

***********************************************************************
IMPORTANT DATES

Submission deadline: May 31, 2010
Notification to participants: June 28, 2010

Workshop participants will be selected on the basis of a submitted 2 to 4 page position paper. The position paper must outline the submitters view on the workshop theme and the reasons for interest in the topic including the following information:

– A theoretical account or investigation in the convergence of heritage matters and interaction design;
– A description of a method or project related to designing for heritage experience and interpretation.

Email submissions to:
elisa.giaccardi with the subject heading “DIS 2010 Workshop Submission”

All submissions must follow the ACM CHI formatting guidelines for extended abstracts which is available at: http://www.chi2010.org/authors/format.html

***********************************************************************
WORKSHOP ORGANIZERS

Elisa Giaccardi, Departamento de Informática + Instituto de Cultura y Tecnología, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Ole Sejer Iversen, Department of Information and Media Studies, University of Aarhus

CFP:DeSForM 2010: 3rd Call for Papers

After four successful workshops in Europe and an inspiring excursion to Taiwan in 2009, DeSForM returns to Europe. The Lucerne School of Art and Design is looking forward to inviting you to DeSForM 2010, an international workshop on Design & Semantics of Form & Movement, to be held on November 3 – 5, 2010, in Lucerne, a cultural vibrant city with a rich history in the centre of Switzerland.
6th International Workshop on Design & Semantics of Form & Movement

November 3 -5, 2010, Lucerne, Switzerland
Deadline: May 15, 2010
Further information: www.desform.org/2010

cfps for April

1-Apr-10ISAGA 2010Changing the world through meaningful playWashington USA5-Jul-10
1-Apr-10ecgblCopenhagen Denmark21-Oct-10
1-Apr-10sigradiBogota Columbia17-Oct-10
6-Apr-10once upon a placeArchitecture and FictionLisbon Portugal12-Oct-10
10-Apr-10vsmm 2010Transdisciplinary CreativitySeoul Korea20-Oct-10
13-Apr-10CHINZInteraction on the moveAuckland NZ8-Jul-10
15-Apr-10ecap10Computing and PhilosophyMunich Germany4-Oct-10
16-Apr-10Writing Architecturetextual and visual critique of buildingsBrisbane Australia22-Jul-10
20-Apr-10Desire 10Creativity and innovation in DesignAarhus Denmark16-Aug-10
30-Apr-10cyberworldsInternational Conference on CYBERWORLDSSingapore20-Oct-10
30-Apr-10contained memoryWellington New Zealand9-Dec-10

Skin the next input device

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8587486.stm

US researchers have found a way to work out where the tap touches and use that to control phones and music players. Coupled with a tiny projector the system can use the skin as a surface on which to display menu choices, a number pad or a screen. Early work suggests the system, called Skinput, can be learned with about 20 minutes of training. “The human body is the ultimate input device,” Chris Harrison, Skinput’s creator, told BBC News.

Further link to CMU invention: http://news.cs.cmu.edu/article.php?a=1322
Video: http://techblips.dailyradar.com/video/skinput-appropriating-the-body-as-an-input-surface-chi/

wanted: inspirational case studies of virtual heritage projects

I am writing a book (“Playing With the Past”)on virtual heritage for the HCI series published by Springer, and I am interested in hearing of leading, inspiring and unusual case studies in Virtual Heritage.
Permission to print an image or two and to link to relevant publications would also be appreciated. It also occurred to me that it would be useful to list research centres with a speciality in virtual heritage. I will add my current list to this blog in the next few days, feel free to suggest others. My email address is nzerik AT gmail dot com