Introduction to the special issue on interaction beyond the desktop

After coming back from CHI2012 in Austin I found my paper copy of the April 2012 issue of IEEE Computer magazine in my letter box. This is our special issue on interaction beyond the desktop. Having the physical copy is always nice (it is because I probably grew up with paper magazines ;-).

This guest editors’ introduction [1] is an experiment as we include photos from all papers on the theme. The rational is, that probably most people will not have the paper copy in their hand. When having the digital version the overview of the papers is harder to manage, that is why we think including the photos helps to make readers curious to look at the papers in the issue. Please let us know if you think this is a good idea…

[1] Albrecht Schmidt and Elizabeth Churchill. Interaction Beyond the Keyboard. IEEE Computer, April 2012, pp. 21–24. (PDF). Link to the article in Computing Now.

cfp: IEEE Special Issue on Interaction Beyond the Keyboard

IEEE Computer will have a special issue on "Interaction beyond the Keyboard" ... and till Nov 1st 2011 you still have a chance to submit :-)

--- from the call (http://www.computer.org/portal/web/computingnow/cocfp4) ---
Final submissions due: 1 November 2011
Publication date: April 2012

IEEE Computer seeks submissions for an April 2012 special issue on interaction beyond the keyboard.

Interaction with computers has become an integral part of daily life for most people. When making a phone call, listening to music, taking a photo, getting money from an ATM, or driving a car, we operate computer systems with complex functionalities. As technologies progress, the proliferation of computing technologies increases, and simple user interfaces and ease of use are becoming key success factors for a wide range of products.

Although the keyboard and mouse are still the dominant user interfaces in home and office environments, with the massive increase in mobile device usage and the many new interaction technologies available, the way we interact with computers is becoming richer and more diverse. Touch-enabled surfaces, natural gestures, implicit interaction, and tangible user interfaces mark some of these trends.

The overall goal of interaction beyond the keyboard is to create natural and intuitive forms of human-computer interaction that make it easier for people to achieve their goals while using computers as tools.

For this special issue, we seek original research that describes groundbreaking new devices, methods, and approaches to human-computer interaction in a world of ubiquitous computer use. In particular, we're looking for exciting work that is concerned with the following topics:

• interactive surfaces and tabletop computing;
• mobile computing user interfaces and interaction while on the go;
• tangible interaction and graspable user interfaces;
• embedded user interfaces and embodied interaction;
• natural interaction and gestures; and
• user interfaces based on physiological sensors and actuators.

Articles should be understandable to a broad audience of computing science and engineering professionals. The writing should be practical and original, avoiding a focus on theory, mathematics, jargon, and abstract concepts. All manuscripts are subject to peer-review on both technical merit and relevance to Computer's readership. Accepted papers will be professionally edited for content and style.

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please see: http://www.computer.org/portal/web/computingnow/cocfp4

How will computing change the world? Our view in Computing Now.

Together with Marc Langheinrich and Kristian Kersting we wrote an article on how computing is going to change our world [1] and featured in Computing Now. We discuss how upcoming technologies will change the our perception. Besides others we make the bold statement "By the middle of this century, the boundaries between direct and remote perception will become blurred".


We discuss how our perception is extended and augmented by technical means and how this will eventually lead to a new augmented sense of ubiquitous perception. We expect this will radically change the way we live and hence ethical considerations are central. We make the argument that ethics become a major design factor. We are looking forward to feedback on this vision - even if you disagree.

[1] Albrecht Schmidt, Marc Langheinrich, Kritian Kersting, "Perception beyond the Here and Now," Computer, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 86-88, Feb. 2011, doi:10.1109/MC.2011.54 (PDF)