****NEWS UPDATES****
We have been invited to contribute a special issue on Ambient 
Information Systems in the International Journal of Ambient Computing 
and Intelligence (IJACI). The authors of the best papers submitted to 
AIS2008 will be invited to submit extensions to their papers in this 
special issue. Both short and long papers will be considered for inclusion.

With this news in mind we have decided to extend the deadline for 
submission by 2 weeks to the 11th June. The new CFP is below.


===================================================
CFP: Workshop: Ambient Information Systems (AIS2008)
http://ambientinformation.org/
At Ubicomp 2008 (http://ubicomp.org/ubicomp2008/)
Sunday, September 21, 2008, COEX, Seoul, South Korea

Short work-in-progress papers (up to 4 pages), Long papers (up to 10 pages)
Demonstrators, designs, and artwork

*New Deadline: Submissions due: July 11th 2008 by 11:59pm PST
*
Authors of the best submitted papers will be invited to contribute to a 
special issue on Ambient Information Systems in the International 
Journal of Ambient Computing and Intelligence (IJACI).
===================================================

OVERVIEW

Ambient Information Systems describe a large set of applications that 
publish information in a highly non-intrusive manner, following on from 
Mark Weiser's concept of calm technology. Building on the success of 
AIS2007 at Pervasive 2007, this workshop will bring together researchers 
working in the areas of ambient displays, peripheral displays, slow 
technology, glanceable displays, and calm technology, to discuss and 
collaborate on developing new design approaches for creating ambient 
information systems. We are calling for paper submissions describing 
early-stage and mature research on Ambient Information Systems and for 
demonstrators across the spectrum from technology to art and design.

MOTIVATION

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 technologies will manifest in novel 
devices and as devices embedded in common objects such as refrigerators, 
automobiles, toys, furniture, clothes, and possibly our own 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 increasingly overwhelm us 
with information. Our belief is that information should move seamlessly 
between the periphery and the center of one's attention, and that good 
technology is highly transparent. We see ambient information systems as 
a way to support these ideas.

Some work has already been done to create interesting ambient 
information systems (e.g., AmbientDevices' Stock Orb, Koert van 
Mensvoort's Datafountain, 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 
fragmented, and suffering from a lack of consensus on terminology, 
methodology, plausibility, and general agreement on how to think about 
such technologies. We see this workshop as an opportunity for invited 
participants to explore and discuss such issues.

OBJECTIVE

The workshop will be used as an opportunity to work as a group to 
identify problems in the design, development, and evaluation of AIS and 
to derive fundamental challenges of AIS research. Attendees should 
develop a deeper understanding of the challenges that need to be 
addressed and some potential solutions to the problems that have been 
encountered by others. The group discussions throughout the workshop 
will also be used to encourage new collaborations within the community.

We will publish the accepted submissions and slides on the workshop's 
website upon receiving consent from the authors. The publication of 
submissions to the website will not be considered official publications 
and therefore will not prohibit attendees from developing their work 
further and publishing it elsewhere. This will be made clear on the 
website and on the online proceedings. After the workshop, the 
organizers will contact relevant journals with the goal of producing a 
special issue on ambient information systems containing extended 
versions of the best papers from this workshop. The organizers will also 
put together a document outlining the grand challenges for the field of 
ambient information systems with a view to publishing either in the 
special issue or as a stand-alone journal publication.
WORKSHOP TOPICS

The workshop topics are for the most part listed as a set of questions:

    * How are ambient information systems distinct from other 
information technologies?
    * What are examples of useful heuristics, frameworks, taxonomies, or 
design principles for the implementation of ambient information?
    * Should Ambient Information Systems move beyond the traditional 
scope of vision; is there merit in Ambient Noise, Ambient Smells, 
Tactile Ambience, and Ambient Taste?
    * How much ambient information can one perceive and comprehend?
    * What, if any, are the appropriate interaction methods for these 
information devices?
    * Where should ambient systems be placed to improve their chances of 
being used, without becoming distracting or annoying?
    * What sorts of information are best conveyed by an ambient display?
    * What are the appropriate methods for evaluating ambient 
information systems, particularly those that are not necessarily task-based?
    * How do we describe the values of these particular technologies in 
our everyday lives?
    * How can we make use of existing technologies? (e.g. smart 
materials, wearable systems, etc.)
    * What knowledge from other domains should we apply? (e.g. from art, 
cognitive science, design, psychology, sociology)

We are also particularly interested to hear about ambient information 
systems in the following areas:

    * Resource Consumption, e.g., power, heat, water, food, and for 
shared or personal resources
    * Work and workload "progress" (e.g., explicitly or implicitly 
gathered data, or those based on a workflow)

If you have any topics you'd like to suggest please comment on the 
topics list on the website: http://ambientinformation.org/topics/

WORKSHOP FORMAT

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

SUBMISSIONS

We invite submissions including descriptions of works in progress, 
research contributions, position statements, demonstrations, and vision 
papers. Submissions should be whatever length is most appropriate for 
the presented idea, but we ask that it be no longer than 10 pages in the 
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: 
[log in to unmask]
SPECIAL ISSUE OF IJACI

Authors of the best submitted papers will be invited to contribute to a 
special issue on Ambient Information Systems in the International 
Journal of Ambient Computing and Intelligence (IJACI) to appear later in 
2008. Both short and long papers will be considered for inclusion.
DEADLINES AND DATES

Submissions due: July 11th 2008 by 11:59pm PST
Acceptance notifications by: July 25th 2008

WORKSHOP ORGANIZERS

William R. Hazlewood ([log in to unmask])
School of Informatics, Indiana University @ Bloomington

Lorcan Coyle ([log in to unmask])
Systems Research Group, University College Dublin

Youn-kyung Lim ([log in to unmask])
Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

Zach Pousman ([log in to unmask])
Georgia Institute of Technology

PROGRAM COMMITTEE (subject to additions)

Frank Bentley, Motorola Labs, USA
Jodi Forlizzi, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
Steve Neely, University College Dublin, Ireland
Aaron Quigley, University College Dublin, Ireland
Albrecht Schmidt, Research Group Embedded Interaction, Germany
John Stasko, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
Erik Stolterman, Indiana University, USA
Martin Tomitsch, Vienna University of Technology, Austria
Andrew Vande Moere, University of Sydney, Australia