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Call for Position papers
Workshop on
AMBIENT COMPUTING IN A
CRITICAL, QUALITY OF LIFE PERSPECTIVE
Sunday, 21 August 2005, Aarhus Denmark
as part of
CRITICAL COMPUTING -- Between Sense and Sensibility
The Fourth Decennial Aarhus Conference, August 2005
First Deadline: July 1, 2005 (see below)
http://www.daimi.au.dk/~olavb/AQLWS
========================================================
SUMMARY
Ambient, pervasive, and ubiquitous computing have been seen as the
key to a future where people in an almost effortless way can do
incredible things by means of technology they do not perceive. The
aim of the workshop is to examine quality of life issues in relation
to these visions.
BACKGROUND
Ambient computing is currently a field in strong development, and a
vision that has been supported e.g. within the European IST program.
Ambient computing is about moving computing capabilities beyond the
desktop and about constantly and seamlessly adapting configurations
of technology to changing situations and needs. Key issues in ambient
computing include:
* Invisibility, e.g. that computing is embedded in other everyday objects
* Construction, e.g. that new possibilities can be obtained by
putting existing components together.
* Heterogeneity, e.g. that components should function in many
fundamentally different contexts and configurations.
* Change, e.g. reflecting that the needs and the technologies are
changing continuously.
* Scalability, e.g. that solutions that work with few users and in a
limited context, should also work in almost unlimited contexts.
Gradually a number of interesting technologies are becoming available
commercially and a large number of promising systems and concepts are
being developed in the research laboratories, pointing to a future
where amazing things can be accomplished for the users by the
technology without the users knowing that the computers are there and
what they do.
However, from a critical perspective this vision of ambient computing
is problematic because it leaves the users without control and
because the focus most often is on efficient and smart gadgets as
such. Only in very few cases is the focus of ambient computing on
systems supporting people in understanding what is going on at the
level they choose, and supporting them in suggesting courses of
action rather than acting automatically. There seems to be a need for
a balanced view emphasizing how ambient systems need to be visible,
how they can be deconstructed, how coherence can be achieved, how
they can provide stability and understandability, and in particular
how users can stay in control when dealing with a huge number of
autonomous components.
Furthermore, there is room for both deeper and broader perspectives
on the consequences of ambient computing technologies. How can such
technologies enhance the quality of life, in work settings, in the
home, in healthcare, etc? Do ambient technologies generate specific
social, psychological or cultural challenges that we have to be
concerned with? Which new theoretical, conceptual, analytical, or
empirical perspectives do ambient technologies create a call/need
for? Do researchers in ambient computing have a specific social
responsibility?
Whereas some of the established critical perspectives, e.g. in
participatory design, have been caught or absorbed in the mainstream
and thereby lost their critical edge, ambient computing may be the
new battleground for a revitalized critical agenda.
AIM OF THE WORKSHOP
The aim of this one-day workshop is to bring researchers from various
fields together in order to develop new critical perspectives on
quality of life related issues in ambient computing. We invite
submissions based on discussions of specific projects/products in
context as well as submissions taking off from an intellectual
perspective or a specific theoretical position.
Possible questions to be addressed in the workshop include, but are
not limited to:
* What are the impacts of ambient computing for the quality of working life?
* What are the impacts on social life?
* What are the impacts on cultural experience?
* Does ambient computing represent a fantasy of computers in the
service of users?
* Do social or other critical perspectives gain another meaning in
ambient computing?
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Potential participants should submit a brief position paper
addressing the issue of quality of life in ambient computing. Upon
acceptance, workshop participants will be asked to produce a poster
with their example (technology, use scenarios, observations,
perspective etc), that will be used during the workshop, e.g. to
consult during the group sessions. Posters should be concrete, e.g.
by being based on a scenario or study.
Position papers addressing quality of life issues in ambient
computing in a critical perspective can be up to 4 pages in the
ACM/SIGCHI publication format.
Position papers should be submitted via email to [log in to unmask] no
later than 1 July 2005. For later submission please contact the
organizers or refer to the workshop website on updates.
Workshop website: http://www.daimi.au.dk/~olavb/AQLWS
ORGANIZERS
Olav W. Bertelsen, University of Aarhus, Denmark
Patrizia Marti, University of Siena, Italy
Dan Shapiro, Lancaster University, England
More information about the main conference can be found at:
http://www.aarhus2005.org
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