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HCI International News, Number 32, November 2008


HIGHLIGHTS


HCI International 2009 - Poster proposals submission

Poster sessions will accommodate the presentation of late-breaking scientific and professional news or work in progress. An abstract of 300 words should be submitted through the Conference Management System, and should include the essence of the planned presentation.
The deadline for poster proposals is Monday, 23 February 2009.

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HCI International 2009 - Invited parallel sessions

There are two different procedures for paper submission and selection in HCI International Conference series:

1. The ordinary process: Prospective authors submit extended abstracts of papers in one of the Conference Thematic Areas. Program Chairs organize and carry out the peer-review process, and a decision is communicated to the authors.

2. By invitation: The Conference has a long established tradition of inviting distinguished scientists and professionals in the HCI field to organize parallel sessions. Session organizers are responsible for inviting 7 prospective authors (academics, researchers and practitioners known in the field for their acknowledged work) to submit paper contributions. Session organizers are also responsible for organizing and carrying out the peer-review process either on an extended abstract or the full paper (it is up to them). It is also the responsibility of the session organizers to set up any intermediate deadlines with the authors in a way that would ensure that the camera-ready version of all session papers reach the Conference Organizers on time for inclusion in the Conference Proceedings.

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HCI International 2009 - Registration

Registration for the Conference will be available through the Conference Management System starting in early December 2008.

Early registration fees apply until 15 January 2009:
Discounted fee*: $595
Additional fee if NO discount applies: $100
Full Day Tutorial: $545
Half Day Tutorial: $280
Extra gala dinner ticket: $85

The Conference registration fee includes:

  • participation in all open technical sessions (i.e. Parallel Paper Presentations)
  • entrance in the exhibition
  • refreshment breaks
  • Conference proceedings in DVD
  • and one ticket for the Gala Dinner


* Note. All invited session organizers, presenters of invited papers, presenters of regularly submitted papers, Program Chairs, Program Board members, and members of cooperating or sponsoring organizations, receive this discounted registration fee. A supplemental registration fee of 100 US dollars is added, if you are not eligible for the discounted registration fee.
For more information about registration, including information about special offers, please visit the Conference website.

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HCI International 2009 - Student Volunteers

The HCII2009 Program for Student Volunteers gives university students from around the world the opportunity to attend and contribute to one of the most prestigious conferences in the field of computing and human-computer interaction. HCII2009 Student Volunteers will interact closely with researchers, academics and practitioners from various disciplines, meet other students from around the world, and promote personal and profession growth.

More information about Student Volunteering is available through the Conference website.

Important Dates:
- 31 December 2008: Preliminary Application Deadline
- 20 January 2009: Initial Acceptance and Reserve List Notification
- Rolling from January 2009: Reserve List Applications Accepted


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HCI International 2009 - Exhibition

In the context of the HCI International 2009 Conference Exhibition, exhibitors will have an ideal opportunity to exhibit their products and services to an international audience of over 2,300 researchers, academics, professionals and users in the field of HCI. Attendees will be able to examine state-of-the- art HCI technology and interact with manufacturing representatives, vendors, publishers, and potential employers. More information about the Exhibition can be found at the Conference website

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HCI International 2009 - Sponsorship

Organizations wishing to sponsor a special event or to be a general sponsor of the Conference are welcome to contact the Sponsorship Administration

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Innovative Solutions for HCI Research Noldus Information Technology bv, The Netherlands

Noldus Information Technology, supplier of software tools and integrated solutions for HCI research, has released The Observer ® XT 8.0.

The Observer XT is the professional software package for the collection, analysis and presentation of observational data. It can be applied to study observable behavior such as activities, movements, and human-computer interaction. Other data, for instance eye tracking data or data acquired with FaceReader™, can be uploaded into The Observer XT, so different datasets can be synchronized.

In The Observer XT 8.0 release, the software guides the user through the entire process of setting up a project and recording and analyzing data.
New in the 8.0 release:

  • Faster data scoring and editing speed up data gathering.
  • Handy task dialogs and video tutorials guide the user through the package.
  • Improved screen layouts make work easier and more efficient.
  • Better integration of video, data acquisition devices and external applications.
  • Built-in DivX video compression – no more need for a hardware MPEG encoder!

For more information, visit www.noldus.com, info@noldus.nl


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HCI in India 2008

In India the internet is growing at a rate of 27% [1] with 46 million [2] internet users in 2007. India has one of the fastest growing internet population. According to TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), there were 75.97 million wireless data subscribers at the end of June 2008 (capable of accessing data services including internet through mobile handsets (GSM/ CDMA)). This shows that Mobile computing is growing at an enormous rate with many mobile applications like Banking, Stocks, Jobs, Movies/Music, Chat/Mails, etc. Also, with recent Google trends, India ranks first for keyword search of "Usability".

Unlike US & Europe, where HCI people primarily come from Psychology, Industrial engineering or formal HCI background, in India HCI fields are dominated by people coming from the Design field (product design & visual design). One reason could be that Design in India is taught independent of medium (web, mobile, machines) and is focused on problem solving. Being already creative and good at problem solving, these Designers acquired new skills in Human Factors, Prototyping and Software Engineering that helped them transform into HCI specialists. Once again, Usability tests have been done since 1989, but more in context with Product Interfaces.

India's first design school, National Institute of Design (NID), was established in 1961 as an autonomous national institution for research, service and training in Industrial Design and Visual Communication. It was soon followed by the Industrial Design Center (IDC) and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 1973. But HCI as a formal field of education in India was initiated at NID in 2002 and at IDC, IIT in 2006. Currently, there are number of schools offering HCI diploma, master's & PhD courses. Many engineering schools are also offering HCI as elective courses. There is also a big pool of people who are graduates in Arts, Science & Engineering and who have acquired HCI skills through training, workshops, reading books, etc. and they have now become HCI practitioners.

HCI as a profession became popular in India in the late ‘90s as more and more US & European companies began to start their R&D activities in India. At the early stages, HCI was only applied for changing an existing design, but then it became more focused on Visual design, and now it is applied in the User research & complete design cycle. As per UPAhyderabad survey [3], the total number of HCI professionals in India in 2006 was about 600 with diverse professional titles. Currently, at the end of 2008, there would be more than 1500 HCI professionals [4], most of them working in software service companies, product companies and Internet companies. These companies have established HCI departments with Interaction design, Graphic design, Usability testing labs and User research teams. There are also a number of HCI consultants & companies.

India has local chapters of ACM SIGCHI, IXDA, BarCamps & UPA along with local usability communities [4]. The Indian HCI community is growing and working on complex interactions for Enterprise software’s, Dotcom sites, mobile devices and voice interfaces. Major companies like Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle, SAP, Nokia, eBay, IBM, Intel have established their user research centers in India.

Sameer Chavan
VP User Experience, Info Edge India
http://www.sameerchavan.com

References:

  1. http://www.iamai.in/Upload/Research/I-Cube-2007-Summary-Report-final.pdf
  2. http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2341
  3. http://upahyderabad.org/hci_professionals_salary_survey_2006.pdf
  4. HCI groups: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/hciidc/ (1600 members)

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Recent Interesting News and Articles

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Upcoming Conferences and Events in the HCI Area

December 2008

March 2009

April 2009

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Announcements

A New Quarterly Journal
AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction (THCI), Quarterly electronic-only journal, Publication starts in 2009. Editors-In-Chief: Dennis F. Galletta, University of Pittsburgh and Ping Zhang, Syracuse University

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Previous Issues of HCI International NEWS are available online.

http://www.hci-international.org/index.php?module=newsletter&MMN_position=3:3

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Contribute to HCI International NEWS

We welcome your contribution to the HCI International News. Please send to us interesting news, short articles, interesting websites, etc. We will consider your comments and contributions for upcoming issues. Please send your contribution to the Editor, Dr. Abbas Moallem.

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About HCI International NEWS

The HCI International NEWS is a newsletter that contains information about the HCI International 2009 Conference, book reviews, news from the field of HCI, as well as links to interesting articles and conferences. If you have any questions or comments, or if you would like to make a contribution, please contact the Editor, Dr. Abbas Moallem. The opinions that are expressed in this Newsletter are the sole responsibility of its authors and do not represent any institution or company.

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Last revision date: December 3, 2024
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