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CFP: Workshop: Issues in the Design and Evaluation of Ambient Information Systems

To be held at Pervasive 2007: The 5th International Conference on Pervasive Computing

Sunday, May 13, 2007, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Workshop website:
http://informatics.indiana.edu/subtletech

Conference website:
http://www.dgp.toronto.edu/conferences/pervasive2007/index.phtml/

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DEADLINES AND DATES
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Submissions due: Jan 26 2007 by 11:59pm PST
Notifications by: Mar 2nd 2007
Final version due: Mar 29th 2007 by 11:59pm PST


MOTIVATION
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The current research in pervasive and ubiquitous computing suggests a future in which we
are surrounded by innumerable information sources all competing for our attention. These
are likely to manifest as both novel devices and as devices embedded in common objects
such as refrigerators, automobiles, toys, furniture, clothes, even our bodies. While this
vision of the future has prompted great advancements in context-aware computing, wireless
connectivity, multi-sensor platforms, smart materials, and location-tracking
technologies, there is a concern that this proliferation of technology will cause us to
become increasingly overwhelmed by information. This scenario moves us away from Weiser's
notion of calm technology, which proposes that information should move seamlessly between
the periphery and the center of our attention. Weiser stated that good technology should
not be experienced as technology at all, and we believe that ambient information systems
could support this claim.

Ambient information systems (which include ambient, peripheral, glance-able, and subtle
displays) are non-invasive and provide useful information while blending smoothly into
our surroundings. These technologies are meant to be minimally attended and perceivable
from outside the range of a person's direct attention, providing pre-attentive processing
without being overly distracting. Examples range from large ubiquitous public displays to
small bouncing icons on the Macintosh's dock.

There have been many interesting implementations of ambient information systems (e.g.,
AmbientDevices?Stock Orb, Koert van Mensvoort's Datafountain, Philips Electronics'
Ambilight, Jafarinami et al.'s Breakaway, Mynatt et al.'s Audio Aura and Digital Family
Portrait, and Mankoff et al.'s Daylight Display and BusMobile). However, ambient
information systems research is is suffering from a lack of consensus on terminology,
methodology, plausibility, and the general design space of ambient information. We see
this workshop as an opportunity for invited participants to explore and discuss such
issues.

OBJECTIVE
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The purpose of this workshop is to explore topics of ambient information with respect to
the various technologies and smart materials with which they might be implemented;
identify problems in design, development, and evaluation; and derive new fundamental
questions that need to be addressed. Workshop attendees should leave with a better
understanding of what ambient is and next steps to further research in this domain.

Questions we would like to address in this workshop include:

· How are ambient information systems distinct from other information technologies?
(i.e., what defines technology as being ambient?)
· What are the appropriate methods for evaluating ambient information systems?
· How much ambient information can one perceive and comprehend correctly?
· What sorts of information are best conveyed by an ambient display?
· What are examples of useful heuristics, frameworks, taxonomies, or design principles for
implementation of ambient information?
· What, if any, are the appropriate interaction methods for these information devices?
· How can we best make use of existing technologies? (e.g. smart materials, wearable
systems, etc.)
· How do we measure the impact of ambient information systems?
· What knowledge from other domains should we apply such systems? (e.g. art, cognitive
science, design, psychology, sociology)


WORKSHOP FORMAT
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The workshop format will consist of a short presentation by each participant, which
should conclude with a problem statement relative to the workshop topics. These problem
statements will be ordered, and the participants will decide which are most relevant to
future research on ambient and subtle information systems. We will then break out into
groups and discuss strategies for addressing the selected topics.


SUBMISSIONS
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We invite submissions including descriptions of works in progress, research
contributions, position statements and demonstrations. Submissions should attempt to
address one or more of the aforementioned questions regarding the design and evaluation
of ambient information technologies. Submissions should be between 4 and 6 pages long in
ACM SIGCHI Proceedings format (http://www.sigchi.org/chipubform/). Each submission must
conclude with a specific question regarding issues faced conducting research in this
domain.

Please send you submission in PDF format to: whazlewo@indiana.edu


WORKSHOP ORGANIZERS
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William R. Hazlewood (whazlewo@indiana.edu)
School of Informatics, Indiana University @ Bloomington

Lorcan Coyle (lorcan.coyle@ucd.ie)
Systems Research Group, University College Dublin

Sunny Consolvo (sunny.consolvo@intel.com)
Intel Research, Seattle



PROGRAM COMMITTEE (subject to additions)
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Liam Bannon, University of Limerick, Ireland
Jodi Forlizzi, Carnegie Mellon University, US
Tara Matthews, UC Berkeley, US
Aaron Quigley, University College Dublin, Ireland
Leslie Sharpe, Indiana University, US
Ian Smith, Intel Research Seattle, US
John T. Stasko, Georgia Institute of Technology, US
Erik Stolterman, Indiana University, US