CHI Fringe and Special Area Sessions

The CHI Fringe is new for 2003. Organized by the CHIPlace co-chairs, one or more sessions will be programmed to allow emerging and challenging topics to be presented at CHI 2003. Visit www.chiplace.org to track developments here.

Special sessions are planned for the three special areas related to the conference theme of Communicating via Interactive Digital Media. On Wednesday April 9th, a special session will take inspiration from the usability movement in HCI to reflect on how we can attend to the needs of the learner in developments of e-learning. On Thursday April 10th, a special session on Emotion and the Design of New Technology will complement Don Norman's closing plenary. Details of other special area sessions will be added to the CHI 2003 website at www.chi2003.org as they are finalized.

Mass communication and interaction: CHI and the fate of AOL TimeWarner, Tuesday, April 8, 12:30 - 4:00 pm

Chair: Nico Macdonald, Spy, UK

Speakers: Neil Budde, The Neil Budde Group, USA; Dan Gillmor, Mercury News, USA; Michael Schrage, MIT Media Lab, USA; Andrew Zolli, Z + Partners, USA

Digital computing and the Internet will clearly enable the transformation of publishing, broadcasting and other forms of mass interaction. In the past the players in these arenas have been technology-driven, ignoring the requirements and context of use of viewers and readers. Today we find a lack of imagination and innovation in forms of mass communication. This panel brings together some of the key thinkers and doers in the industry to consider:

The value of HCI and interaction design in mass communication
What companies are doing well and the barriers to their doing better
Where HCI-driven research and innovation are needed
How HCI ideas can be effectively deployed, and how HCI practice needs to adapt

eLearning: Developing Rich and Vibrant Learner Experiences, Wednesday, April 9, 11:30 am

Organizers:
Lisa Neal, eLearn Magazine and EDS, USA; Gavan Lintern, Aptima, USA

Speakers:
Nancy Brennan, Plimoth Plantation, USA; Steve Draper, University of Glasgow, UK; Masaaki Kurosu, National Institute of Multimedia Education, Japan; Ray Perez, Office of Naval Research Cognitive & Neural Science & Technology Division, USA; Jenny Preece, University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA

Advancements in technology have enhanced our potential to create and deliver eLearning, but instructional developments and research in this area have yet to effectively exploit or direct these opportunities. Emphasis has been on economy and reach over instructional effectiveness, innovation, and creativity. In this session, we take inspiration from the usability movement in HCI to reflect on how we can attend to the needs of the learner in the development of eLearning. The topics of this session are:

Disappointments: failed promises in a technological revolution
Changing direction: what are our learning objectives?
Successes: eLearning as a rich and vibrant learning experience

Interactionary, Wednesday, April 9, 2:30 - 4:00 pm

Session Chairs:
Mike Atyeo, Neo Insight, Canada; Alex Little, Tivoli Systems, USA

Teams:
Collegium, Carnegie-Mellon Human-Computer Interaction Institute, USA; Eindhoven Technical University (TU/e) User-System Interaction Program, Eindhoven, Netherlands; Nokia Options, Nokia Research Center, Helsinki, Finland

Panel Members:
Scott Berkun, Microsoft, USA; TBD

Emotion and the Design of New Technology, Thursday April 10th, 11:30 am

Organizer:
Jodi Forlizzi, Carnegie Mellon University, USA

Speakers:
Paul Hekkert, ID Studiolab TU Delft, The Netherlands; Kees Overbeeke, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands; Sara Kiesler, Carnegie Mellon University, USA; Aaron Marcus, Aaron Marcus and Associates, USA

Issues of emotion, affective response, and inclusive human concerns are exceedingly important in the HCI community. As people become more sensitive to dimensions of products that go beyond traditional aspects of usability, the need to understand and create emotional and aesthetic resonance between people and technology products increases. However, we have yet to discover a shared understanding and develop a shared language for emotion within the context of designing new technology. At CHI 2003, we will address these commonalities and differences with a special session on emotion and new technology development. Our ultimate goal is to increase knowledge related to emotion as it relates to the collaborative, interdisciplinary design of future technology.

Before the session, a product assessment workshop will be held in the main public area of the CHI conference, where experts on designing emotional product interactions will assess our emotional responses to a variety of products. The findings from these activities - salient characterizations and design findings about a variety of artifacts, services, and environments - will seed a panel session to discuss emotion and the implementation of new technology products during the conference.