Premier human-computer interaction conference opens May 4 in Glasgow

New York, NY, April 23, 2019 – The Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction (SIGCHI) will hold its annual flagship conference, the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2019), in Glasgow, UK, on May 4-9, 2019. CHI is widely recognized as the most important global showcase for human-computer interaction.

Held annually since 1982, the CHI conference has consistently grown in prominence and attendance. Over the years, dozens of widely used products and technologies have debuted at CHI prior to market deployment, including the Internet of Things (IoT), smart homes, wearable devices, fitness tracking, social networking, instant text messaging, human-robot interaction, multi-touch and 3D interaction, and tangible interfaces, among others. As the premier worldwide forum for the exchange of information on all aspects of HCI, the CHI conference is often the first public demonstration of such advanced technologies.

“CHI offers a unique look into the inspiring visions of future technologies,” said Stephen Brewster, CHI 2019 Co-chair. “This year, we are proud to host the conference in the United Kingdom for the first time ever. We are also excited to continue the commitment to make CHI, and CHI content, more widely accessible, including livestreaming most paper sessions. As the premier international conference celebrating HCI innovation and exploring its tremendous potential, CHI 2019 promises to reflect the myriad ways these technologies are changing the ways in which we live and work.”

The theme of this year’s conference is “Weaving the Threads of CHI.” “In organizing this year’s event, we sought to celebrate the different threads of CHI: individuals from multiple disciplines, computing professionals and academics alike, reflecting different cultures, sectors, communities, and backgrounds, weaving into one cohesive community, with the shared end of developing technologies to work for people and for society,” added CHI 2019 Co-chair Geraldine Fitzpatrick. “We reflected this celebration of our differences and our commonalities in our Celtic knot logo, a symbol of strength and friendship.”

Additionally, a special UX practitioner event will be held to create better links between UX practitioners and researchers.

HIGHLIGHTS OF CHI 2019

(Below is a partial list of events. For a complete calendar of accepted papers, workshops, and courses, visit the CHI 2019 Full Schedule of Events).

Aleks Krotoski

“Touchies and Feelies: Everything I Know about Human Interfaces”

An award-winning broadcaster, journalist and academic who has been studying and writing about technology and interactivity since 1999, Krotoski is the host of The Guardian’s Tech Weekly podcast, and the BBC series “Digital Human”; she also holds fellowships at the University of Oxford and at the London School of Economics. Krotoski will share what baking, beach volleyball, parenting and radio storytelling have taught her about how we interact with each other, ourselves and the world around us–and what this tells us about the possibilities for future social, digital humans.

Ivan Poupyrev

Poupyrev is an award-winning technology leader, scientist, and designer working at the cutting edge of interactive technologies. He is currently Director of Engineering in Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects division, where he leads a team focused on inventing and developing interaction technologies and products for future digital lifestyle. Fast Company recognized him as one of the World’s 100 Most Creative People. Poupyrev will deliver the closing keynote of CHI2019, discussing his explorations of the present and the future where technology, connectivity and intelligence are woven into the very fabric of our lives.

“Online Grocery Delivery Services: An Opportunity to Address Food Disparities in Transportation-scarce Areas”

Tawanna R. Dillahunt, Sylvia Simioni, Xuecong Xu, University of Michigan

Online grocery delivery services present new opportunities to address food disparities, especially in underserved areas. This study evaluates such services’ potential to provide healthy-food access and influence healthy-food purchase among individuals living in transportation-scarce and low-resource areas, and also contributes policy recommendations to bolster affordability of healthy-food access and design opportunities to promote healthy foods to support the adoption and use of these services among low-resource and transportation-scarce groups.

“What Makes a Good Conversation? Challenges in Designing Truly Conversational Agents”

Leigh Clark, University College Dublin; Nadia Pantidi, University College Cork; Orla Cooney, University College Dublin; Philip Doyle, Sage Ireland, Diego Garaialde, Justin Edwards, University College Dublin; Brendan Spillane, Trinity College Dublin; Christine Murad, Cosmin Munteanu, University of Toronto; Vincent Wade, Trinity College Dublin; Benjamin R. Cowan, University College Dublin

Conversational agents promise conversational interaction but fail to deliver. The authors aim to understand what people value in conversation and how this should manifest in agents. Findings from a series of semi-structured interviews show people make a clear dichotomy between social and functional roles of conversation, emphasizing the long-term dynamics of bond and trust along with the importance of context and relationship stage in the types of conversations they have. Drawing on these findings the authors discuss key challenges for conversational agent design, most notably the need to redefine the design parameters for conversational agent interaction.

“Engagement with Mental Health Screening on Mobile Devices: Results from an Antenatal Feasibility Study”

Kevin Doherty, Trinity College Dublin; José Marcano-Belisario, Martin Cohn, Nikolaos Mastellos, Imperial College London; Cecily Morrison, Microsoft Research Cambridge; Josip Car, Imperial College London; Gavin Doherty, Trinity College Dublin

This paper presents the results of the first feasibility study to examine the potential of mobile devices
to engage women in antenatal (pre-birth) mental health screenings given that it is estimated that at least 50 percent of perinatal (the period immediately before and after birth) depression (PND) cases go undiagnosed. PDN affects up to 15 percent of women within the United Kingdom and has a lasting impact on a woman’s quality of life, birth outcomes and her child’s development. Using a mobile application, 254 women attending 14 National Health Service midwifery clinics provided 2,280 momentary and retrospective reports of their wellbeing over a 9-month period, engaging with this technology regardless of age, education, wellbeing, number of children, marital or employment status, or past diagnosis of depression.

“‘I Feel It Is My Responsibility to Stream’: Streaming and Engaging with Intangible Cultural Heritage through Livestreaming”

Zhicong Lu, University of Toronto; Michelle Annett, University of Alberta; Mingming Fan, University of Toronto ; Nikolaos Mastellos, Imperial College London; Cecily Morrison, Microsoft Research Cambridge; Josip Car, Imperial College London; Gavin Doherty, Trinity College Dublin

To better understand the practices, opportunities, and challenges inherent in sharing and safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage through livestreaming, the authors conducted a qualitative investigation, finding that ICH streamers had altruistic motivations and engaged with viewers using multiple modalities beyond livestreams. The authors also found that livestreaming encouraged real-time interaction and sociality, while non-live, curated videos attracted attention from a broader audience and assisted in the archiving of knowledge, many practices are still in danger of being lost or forgotten forever. With the increased popularity of livestreaming in China, some streamers have begun to use livestreaming to showcase and promote ICH activities.

CHI 2019 Workshop Highlights

“Exploring Participatory Design Methods to Engage with Arab Communities”

Ebtisam Alabdulqader, Newcastle University; Shaimaa Lazem, City for Scientific Research and Technology Applications; Mohamed Khamis, LMU Munich; Susan Dray, Dray & Associates

This workshop invites Arab and non-Arab researchers to discuss the extent to which participatory approaches are culturally and methodologically challenged in the Arab context. The workshop’s aim is to share experiences on designing with Arab communities, discuss and develop the facets of an Arab participatory design research agenda.

“Interacting with Autonomous Vehicles: Learning from other Domains”

Alexander Meschtscherjakov, University of Salzburg; Manfred Tscheligi, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH; Bastian Pfleging, LMU Munich; Shadan Sadeghian, OFFIS Institute for Information Technology; Wendy Ju, Cornell Tech; Philippe Palanque, University of Toulouse; Andreas Riener, Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt; Bilge Mutlu, University of Wisconsin; Andrew Kun, University of New Hampshire

This workshop aims at research and designs that have been done in areas where humans interact with autonomous systems such as automated vehicles, Human-Robot-Interaction (HRI), aeronautics and space, conversational agents, and smart devices. We discuss what can be learnt from other domains for the design and evaluation of autonomous vehicles.

A video highlighting demonstrations at the conference is here.

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About the ACM CHI Conference

Originally a small conference for psychologists interested in user interface design, the annual CHI conference has grown to include a diverse group of interaction designers, computer scientists, engineering psychologists, developers, and performing artists. CHI also addresses the organizational integration of technology, and the use of technology in all areas of life.

About SIGCHI

SIGCHI, the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction, is the premier international society for professionals, academics and students who are interested in human-technology and human-computer interaction (HCI). SIGCHI serves as a forum for ideas on how people communicate and interact with computer systems. This interdisciplinary group of computer scientists, software engineers, psychologists, interaction designers, graphic designers, sociologists, and anthropologists is committed to designing useful, usable technology which has the potential to transform individual lives.

About ACM

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field’s challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession’s collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.