HCI 2004: www.hci2004.org, September 6-10, 2004, Leeds, UK

There are only ten days left to register in advance for HCI2004, the
18th annual British Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Group conference.
After this date late registration will be subject to availability. (The
British HCI Group is a specialist group of the British Computing Society
(BCS), and they "strive to ensure that information technology serves
people".)

In the last few days an a rich collection of guest speakers, academic
papers, commercial presentations and less conventional events, has been
unveiled for HCI2004: Design for Life. 

The Design for Life theme attracted hundreds of submissions, from every
continent. Each was then subject to stringent peer-review - as with all
published academic work, and only the very finest survived to be join
the hundred or so in the programme. The full programme, for the four and
a half days from Monday 6th September, has just been released on the web
site at www.hci2004.org. The middle day (Wednesday 8th September) has
been designated "Industry Day", into which has been compressed the most
interesting work for practitioners, and single day tickets are available
for this.

Top-notch keynote speakers will set the tone for the conference - Dutch
design guru Kees Dorst kicks things off with a searing analysis of how
to cope with the moving goalposts of the product design world. The chair
of the BCS, Wendy Hall CBE, will map out where the web is heading, and
how the "Semantic Web" will bring real benefits to everyday users. IBM's
influential Tom Erickson continues the theme of meeting the needs of
everyone (and not just those of computer enthusiasts), when he
identifies how to make cyberspace a more social, even convivial place.

The conference is located in the picturesque Beckett Park campus of
Leeds Metropolitan University on the edge of the Dales. With an
exhibition from leading manufacturers of people-friendly technology and
publishers of influential books and journals, and a variety of
interactive experiences and arresting visual posters, this promises to
be a unique opportunity to get a handle on the future of computing
technology. An enjoyable range of social events provide perfect
networking opportunities.

The conference costs UKP495 (for Wed-Fri) with substantial discounts for
members of the British HCI Group (or of IEE, EACE, IEA or AFIHM) and
full time students can attend for less than half-price. Inexpensive
accommodation is available nearby through the conference office and a
range of professional tutorials is available on the Monday and Tuesday
at an additional daily cost of UKP100. A special one-day ticket is
available for UKP250 for the Wednesday. For more information see
www.hci2004.org.

Background

HCI2004 is the 18th Annual Conference of the British Human-Computer
Interaction (HCI) Group, a specialist group of the British Computer
Society, which seeks to ensure that information technology serves
people. Established in 1985, the conference has become the premier
annual conference on HCI in Europe. Attracting hundreds of researchers
and practitioners from over twenty countries, its published proceedings
(The People & Computers series) form an important part of the archive of
HCI research.

The HCI conference has always addressed the needs of practitioners and
researchers through a balance of conference activities - keynote
speakers, academic and industry papers, workshops, tutorials, posters,
interactive experiences and an exhibition. 

Each annual conference has a theme, and in 2004 it is Design for Life.
This includes design for quality of life - designing systems that are
liberating, humane and enabling, as well as design for real life -
ensuring what we do makes a difference in every day experience and is
relevant to the person on the street, in their communities, no matter
their age, culture or impairments. Finally it is about design for long
life: not focusing on passing phases and fads but on products that adapt
to changing needs and on approaches that can contribute to sustainable
developments.

For more information contact 

(For press releases/arranging interviews etc) Publicity Chair: Tom
McEwan Tel:+44 (0)131 455 2793 (until 4th Sept) +44 (0)773 990 6431
(5-10th Sept). [log in to unmask] 

(For general enquiries) HCI 2004 Conference Office: Jack Hunt, Leeds
Metropolitan University Room A131, Civic Quarter Campus, Leeds LS1 3HE,
United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)113 283 6749 Fax: +44 (0)113 283 3110 email:
[log in to unmask]