[Our apologies if you receive multiple copies of this CfP]
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CfP: SOFTec 2012 - Workshop on Computer Mediated Social Offline Interactions
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*** September 8, Pittsburgh, US ***
*** in conjunction with Ubicomp 2012 ***
*** July 1 2012 - papers due ***
*** more info at http://uc.inf.usi.ch/events/softec12 ***
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SUMMARY AND THEME
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The proliferation of social networking sites and mobile technology allows us to
check on our friends and family, follow what experts in our field think, or simply
'check-in' online. While in many ways advantageous, the ability to be constantly
connected is significantly affecting our offline interaction behavior. Often enough,
people sharing a table today might ignore each other for stretches at a time, in
order to interact with far-away friends through mobile technology instead. The
goal of this workshop is to examine how we can build _technologies that promote
offline interactions_ -- "SOFTec" for short.
We plan to explore how SOFTec can be built with currently available devices and
technologies. Also we would like to discuss how SOFTec can be used for different
types of offline engagement (e.g., playful vs. serious) within different social groups
(e.g., crowds, couples, and groups) and different settings (e.g., home and work
environments). The workshop aims to establish a community interested in computer
mediated offline interaction.
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TOPICS OF INTEREST
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1) Identifying the technology
The potential candidate technologies for SOFTec would be social networks,
mobile devices, and large displays. However these are not the only ones.
- Enabling technologies, software architectures, and protocols for SOFTec.
- Mobile devices, large displays, and social networks as singular or mesh
technologies for SOFTec.
- Novel applications for mobile devices, large displays, and social networks
that would spur offline interaction.
- SOFTec content distribution mechanisms that work across different devices.
- Interaction concepts and metaphors for SOFTec.
- Frameworks and toolkits for enabling SOFTec technologies.
2) Settings: Public, Work, Home
As we move throughout the day we encounter different settings, namely, home,
work, and public space.
- Identifying SOFTec technologies that would work within and across public,
work, and home settings.
- Novel SOFTec applications for mobile devices, large displays, and social
networking sites that would work within these settings.
- Identifying challenges for SOFTec technologies within public, work, and
home settings.
3) Supporting interaction between different social groups
As we change settings through the day, the people around us also change. Hence,
we are often surrounded either by strangers or people we know, be in pairs or bigger
groups.
- SOFTec interfaces and interaction metaphors for stranger-crowds, couples, and
groups.
- Using mobile phones, social network data, and large displays to sense situations
that require SOFTec.
- Personalizing SOFTec interfaces for known groups.
4) Entertainment vs. serious engagement
Different people and settings require different types of social engagement.
- SOFTec content, interfaces, and interaction metaphors for entertainment.
- SOFTec content, interfaces, and interaction metaphors for serious engagement.
- Games as an example of SOFTec technology for entertaining and serious
engagement.
5) Identifying additional opportunities
Envisioned additional challenges for SOFTec would include:
- Experience and service design for SOFTec.
- Tools for measuring and assessing the impact of SOFTec technology.
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GOALS AND EXPECTED AUDIENCE
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The goal of the workshop is to jump-start a community that will focus on building
technology that nurtures offline interaction. As the goal of the workshop is to build a
community, we will aim at providing a summary of the workshop in an appropriate
journal venue, e.g., IEEE Pervasive computing conference column (example
publication: Marcus, F., Eric, P., Christine, S., and Paul, D. Pervasive computing
and environmental sustainability: two conference workshops. Pervasive Computing,
8, 1 (2009), 78-81).
Given the early stages of this research area, we would like to attract researchers from
various areas in:
- ubiquitous computing,
- social networking,
- interaction, user interface (UI), and user experience (UI) design,
- ethnography.
We also welcome researchers from outside these areas that have interest in computer
mediated technology for offline interaction.
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SUBMISSION FORMAT
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Workshop candidates are requested to send a position paper of 1-2 pages in the
Ubicomp papers format available at
http://www.ubicomp.org/ubicomp2012/calls/templates.html
about their research and link to the workshop theme. Participants will be selected
on the basis of the relevance of their work and interests and familiarity with the topic
by the workshop organizers.
All submissions should be sent to [log in to unmask] with "SOFTEC 2012
Submission" as an email subject.
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TIMELINE AND DEADLINES
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July 1, 2012 - Submission deadline of workshop papers
July 20, 2012 - Notification of acceptance
September 8, 2012 - Workshop at Ubicomp 2012
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ORGANIZERS
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Geraldine Fitzpatrick, Vienna University of Technology, Austria
Elaine M. Huang, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Vasillis Kostakos, University of Oulu, Finland
Marc Langheinrich, University of Lugano (USI), Switzerland
Nemanja Memarovic, University of Lugano (USI), Switzerland
**** http://uc.inf.usi.ch/events/softec12 ****
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