CFP: Physicality 2009 Int. Workshop @HCI 2009

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CfP: Physicality 2009 – towards a less-GUI interface
Third International Workshop on Physicality
in conjunction with HCI 2009 Conference
http://www.physicality.org/physicality2009/
1 September 2009, Cambridge University, UK
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As digital technology invades more and more of the devices and products that surround
us, it is increasingly important that interaction designers and product designers are able
to make sense of the subtle interactions between physical form and activity and the way
these influence and are influenced by digital functionality and interaction. We need to
take seriously the physical nature of the devices with which we interact and the nature of
our own bodies and brains so we can produce better design.

Despite the dramatic increase in power and functionality in contemporary information
appliances, interaction methods continue to be heavily dependent on more and more
overloaded small graphical user interfaces. Tiny screens are proliferating on appliances in
the home, devices in cars and on the phones, and media players we carry on our bodies.
However, an ageing population means that such screens may have increasingly limited
utility, and even for those with full sight, staring at a tiny screen is not always optimal
whether operating a remote whilst watch TV, or navigating down a busy street.

This multi-disciplinary workshop is the third in its series and we would like to explore
"towards a less-GUI interface" as a theme, especially the extent to which effective
physical design can reduce the reliance on such screens or obviate them entirely. We
welcome position papers that address this theme, but also those covering other areas of
physicality including:
• enabling technologies for haptic input and output.
• physicality and fidelity in design;
• design at the physical-digital frontier;
• philosophy of physicality;
• artefact-focussed social interaction;
• physically-inspired interaction in virtual worlds;
• creativity and materiality;
• interactive art and performance;
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Important Dates
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Submission Deadline 17 May 2009
Acceptance Notification 31 May 2009
Camera-ready Deadline 17 August 2009
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We invite submissions in the form of a 2-6 page position paper in ACM Format (see web
site for more details). We would also like to encourage contributions in other forms (e.g.
demonstration, artwork, performance) but please contact us. Submissions and enquiries
should be sent to:
<devina AT physicality.org>

All submissions will be peer-reviewed and judged on the basis of originality, contribution
to the field, technical and presentation quality, and relevance to the workshop. All
accepted contributions will be published in the workshop proceedings as either short or
long papers.

The workshop will include invited talks, short individual presentations and a design
session based on the main theme. There will also be a poster session that will allow
participants to showcase their work or demonstrations.

Previous workshops in the Physicality series have attracted a mixture of designers and
technologists, artists and architects, psychologists and philosophers; we expect a similar
eclectic and enthusiastic combination of researchers and practitioners from industry and
academia for this event.

The workshop is sponsored by DEPtH: Designing for Physicality research project, an
AHRC/EPSRC funded Designing for the 21st century Initiative.
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Organisers
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Dr. Devina Ramduny-Ellis (InfoLab 21, Lancaster University, UK)
Prof. Alan Dix (InfoLab21, Lancaster University, UK)
Dr. Steve Gill (National Centre for Product Design & Development Research, UWIC,UK)
Joanna Hare (National Centre for Product Design & Development Research, UWIC, UK)
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Related Links
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British HCI 2009 conference - http://www.hci2009.org
Physicality web site - http://www.physicality.org
Physicality 2007 workshop - http://www.physicality.org/physicality2007
Physicality 2006 workshop - http://www.physicality.org/physicality2006
Designing for the 21st century Initiative - http://www.design21.dundee.ac.uk/index.htm