CALL FOR PAPERS International Journal of Human-Computer Studies Special Issue on User Centered Design and Implementation of Virtual Environments Guest Editors: Michael Harrison and Shamus Smith, University of York, UK (The call is also available at http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/~shamus/specialissue.html) Much of the work concerned with virtual environments (VEs) has addressed the development of new rendering technologies or interaction techniques. As VE technology matures and becomes adopted in a wider range of applications there is, however, a need to better understand how this technology can be accommodated in software engineering practice. This process is being enabled in part by the development of "generic" virtual environment toolkits such as dVise and SuperScape. It is difficult to find reports that detail the process used to develop virtual environments, but given the maturity of the technology it would seem reasonable to suggest that prototyping and exploratory development play a significant role. However, if or when the technology of virtual environments becomes adopted in mainstream software systems and products, exploratory approaches become rather less attractive. Software developers must be concerned with making use of the most appropriate technology in a way that meets the requirements of the client, including quality criteria such as usability, robustness, maintainability, error-tolerance, etc. Our concern is not so much with the physical devices such as headsets and data gloves that have come to characterise VEs, but rather with addressing the highly interactive and dynamic nature of user-system interaction that this technology supports. The aim of this special issue is to bring together ideas and innovations describing techniques that will help virtual environment application designers construct solutions that are appropriate to users' tasks and requirements, irrespective of whether they use high-end immersive technology or PC-based VE systems. The degree of interest in this area was highlighted by the level of interest shown in a recent workshop held in York. (http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/~shamus/ve-call.html) Submissions are sought in areas including (but not limited to): * modelling and design of virtual environments * toolkit design for effective interaction * problems and issues involved in moving from virtual environment design to implementation * approaches taken, and proposals for future research Authors are encouraged to contact guest editors to discuss the suitability of their topics to the special issue. Important Dates --------------- January 14, 2000 Full papers due March 1, 2000 Notification of acceptance May 1, 2000 Final revisions due Perspective authors are encouraged to email guest editors to express their intention to submit a paper for this special issue. Submission ---------- Papers should be submitted in the IJHCS format, and will be reviewed by a review panel according to the usual standards of IJHCS. Authors of submitted papers may be invited to take part in the review process. Details of the IJHCS format can be found in the journal, and are available from http://www.academicpress.com/ijhcs. Authors should submit six hard copies of their paper, or an electronic copy (preferably in RTF, Postscript or PDF formats) by email, with full contact details, to the address below. Shamus Smith IJHCS Special Issue Department of Computer Science University of York York, YO10 5DD, UK. [log in to unmask] -- Dr Shamus Smith Department of Computer Science The University of York fax: +44 1904 432 767 Heslington, York, YO10 5DD tel: +44 1904 433 376 United Kingdom email: [log in to unmask] www: http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/~shamus/index.html %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%