Interactivity

Quick Facts

CHI 2024 will be a hybrid conference from May 11-16, 2024 in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, USA. Interactivity provides an opportunity for on-site demonstrations of interactive works, and accepted submissions are published in the ACM Digital Library.

Important Dates

All times are in Anywhere on Earth (AoE) time zone. When the deadline is day D, the last time to submit is when D ends AoE. Check your local time in AoE.

• Submission deadline: Wednesday, January 17th, 2024
• Notification: Thursday, February 15th, 2024
• E-rights completion deadline: Thursday, February 22nd, 2024
• Publication-ready deadline: Thursday, March 14th, 2024
• TAPS Closes: Thursday March 21, 2024

Submission Details

• Online submission: PCS Submission System
• Template: ACM Master Article Submission Templates (single column)

Submission Format

• Extended abstract: Up to 6 pages (excluding references) to appear in the ACM Digital Library upon acceptance
• Walk-through video: Max 5 minutes (will not be published)
• Still image for promotional use
• Envisioned Interaction, Floor Plan and Needs Form: Details describing how people will experience your demo and your on-site needs (will not be published; Word, Google Doc)

Selection Process

Reviewed (see Interactivity Selection Process below).

Message from the Interactivity Chairs

Interactivity is planned as an in-person event with live demonstrations on-site at CHI 2024 in Honolulu. Additionally, invited demonstrations will be playing as videos in the exhibit hall.

The Interactivity track is a high-visibility, high-impact forum of the Technical Program that allows you to present hands-on demonstrations, share novel interactive technologies, and stage interactive experiences. We encourage submissions from any area of human-computer interaction, including any practical application domains as well as interactive entertainment, art and design. Interactivity promotes and provokes discussion on novel technologies, and invites contributions from academia, industry, research, startups, maker communities, the arts, and design. If you have an interesting prototype, device, system, performance, exhibit, or installation, we want to know about it! In particular, we encourage submissions that improve or reflect on the sustainability, accessibility, and equity and inclusiveness in human-computer interaction, computer science, and society at large.

As the Interactivity track focuses on the in-person experience, it is allowed to submit work that has previously been presented as papers, as long as the demonstration adds a new and unique aspect to the experience. We do ask you to provide a publication history for previously published work and explain how the Interactivity would expand on it.

We look forward to receiving your proposals!

Lab Interactivities

We welcome submissions from research groups consisting of multiple demonstrations. This can mean that groups showcase multiple works spanning different themes, or multiple in-depth demonstrations on a single theme. Lab demos may include previously published work but should provide a unique experience. Please contact the Interactivity Chairs for more details and to discuss ideas about Lab demos.

Preparing and Submitting Your Interactivity Submission

Before the submission deadline, you must submit a 6-page (single column) article detailing the work, a walk-through video, a promotional image, and additional information detailing the requirements for the exhibit. All submissions should include all author names, affiliations, and contact information.

Interactivity Details

Submissions must have the following components:

1. Paper (due at submission)
2. Walkthrough Video (due at submission)
3. Still image (due at submission)
4. Envisioned Interaction, Floor Plan and Needs Form (due at submission)

Accepted submissions will be asked to provide the following additional components along with the publication-ready paper:

• Mandatory: Demonstration video (up to 5 minutes) for screening at the conference and inclusion in ACM Digital Library
• Optional: Preview video (30 second trailer) for pre-conference promotion and inclusion in ACM Digital Library

Please see the following CHI 2023 examples of successful Interactivity submissions:

• MOFA: Exploring Asymmetric Mixed Reality Design Strategy for Co-located Multiplayer Between Handheld and Head-mounted Augmented Reality
• Design and Fabrication of Body-Based Interfaces (Demo of Saarland HCI Lab)
• Demonstrating TactorBots: A Haptic Design Toolkit for Exploration of Emotional Robotic Touch

1. Paper

The paper should be up to 6 pages long in the CHI format (single column, excluding references). It should be self-contained and clearly describe the novelty and distinguishing ideas of your project, even for readers who are not able to view the related demonstration at the conference or associated videos. Your paper should include:

• A description of the system, installation, or exhibit and the problem it addresses. Where relevant, discuss the broader context and questions that your work promotes reflection upon.
• A description of the relevance of the work to the immediate CHI conference community, as well as to the broader CHI community, emphasizing its novelty, uniqueness, and rationale.

Authors must make their submissions (paper & video) accessible using recommendations found in the Guide to an Accessible Submission and Guide to a Successful Video Submission. Upon acceptance, during the TAPS process, your submission will be converted to a double-column format. The page limit only applies to the submitted 6-page single column paper, the length of the converted double-column paper is flexible.

2. Video

A video is the optimal medium to communicate your Interactivity demo to the reviewers. You must submit a walkthrough video in addition to your written documentation. The video can be no longer than 5 minutes and all uploaded content (PDF(s) + image + video) needs to fit within the overall submission size of 250 MB. Videos must also be made accessible and properly encoded. Check the CHI technical requirements for video content. Submitted videos will be used for review purposes and are not published, but you will have an opportunity to revise and submit videos for inclusion in the ACM Digital Library if accepted. Be sure to have permission for all content, and use rights-free music tracks.

3. Still Image

You are required to upload a still image of at least 1500 x 1200 px that represents your work, and a suitable image description. The image may be used for publications and conference publicity.

4. Envisioned Interaction, Floor Plan and Needs Form

Alongside your submission, you are also required to provide the envisioned interaction through the PCS Submission System. This is an explicit description of how the interactivity will be demonstrated and live performed if the submission gets accepted. This includes the use of physical space, how larger crowds are handled, and how the experience will be from an on-site attendee’s point of view. You will also be asked to upload a floor plan of your demonstration to help plan for the on-site logistics. The standard Interactivity booth is approximately 3*3 meters; if your demo requires more space, please ensure that your floor plan reflects this. We also require you to fill out and upload a Needs Form at submission time where you can request additional resources.

Due to the expected crowd during the Interactivity we will ask you to provide a plan for dealing with line-ups. We ask that you detail how you are going to limit your presentation time to a maximum of 5 minutes per person, and if possible make the experience visible and understandable for bystanders. This is especially important for demos based on wearables, AR/VR, haptics, and other forms of devices that allow only one visitor to experience them at a time.

Metadata Integrity

All submission metadata, including required fields in PCS like author names, affiliations, and order, must be complete and correct by the submission deadline.  This information is crucial to the integrity of the review process and author representation.  No changes to metadata after this deadline will be allowed.

Accessibility

Authors are strongly encouraged to work on improving the accessibility of their submissions before peer review begins, using recommendations found in the Guide to an Accessible Submission for their paper and in the technical requirements for video content for their video. For any questions or concerns about creating accessible submissions, please contact the Accessibility Chairs at accessibility@chi2024.acm.org.

Selection Process

Interactivity will be Reviewed and may include work that was invited or selected from other submissions. The selection process includes reviews by the co-chairs and Interactivity Jury. The members of the jury are:

• Mark Billinghurst, University of South Australia, Australia
• Jan Borchers, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
• Seungmoon Choi, POSTECH, Republic of Korea
• Mar Gonzalez-Franco, Google, USA
• Craig Green, University of Lincoln, UK
• Pedro Lopes, University of Chicago, USA
• Wendy Mackay, Inria, France
• Jun Rekimoto, University of Tokyo & Sony CSL, Japan
• Ana-Maria Salai, Sidekick Rx, Germany
• Jean Y. Song, DGIST, Republic of Korea
• Jürgen Steimle, Saarland University, Germany
• Sherry Tongshuang Wu, Carnegie Mellon University, USA

Note that due to the short turn-around time, you will not receive formal feedback on your submission other than the acceptance decision. Our intention is to ensure that the Interactivity track is exciting, while representing a range of projects being undertaken across diverse CHI communities. The selection will also take into account feasibility, available space at the conference, and other relevant information.

Submissions should not contain sensitive, private, or proprietary information that cannot be disclosed at publication time. Submissions should NOT be anonymous. However, confidentiality of submissions will be maintained during the selection process. All rejected submissions will be kept confidential in perpetuity.

Upon Acceptance of Your Interactivity Submission

Interactivity authors will be notified of acceptance or rejection on 15th February 2024. Authors of accepted submissions will receive instructions on how to prepare and submit the publication-ready version, and details on the presentation and scheduling of demonstrations at the conference. All authors must use the instructions for accessible PDFs to make the final generated PDF accessible. Videos must also be made accessible through the inclusion of captions in final submission.

Authors of accepted submissions will also be asked to submit a 30-second video preview summarizing the work, and a demonstration video up to 5 minutes showing the interactive system. The video preview is optional, but highly encouraged, as it will increase the visibility of your Interactivity before, at the conference, and in the ACM Digital Library in perpetuity. See here for technical requirements and guidelines for videos at CHI. Videos count towards the total submission size of 250MB, so we recommend that the publication-ready source files do not exceed 80MB.

Interactivity and Sustainability

We are committed to making Interactivity at CHI 2024 as sustainable as possible. While the in-person demos will by necessity require travel and transport of some demo materials and equipment, we encourage presenters to:

• Minimize transportation: Avoid transporting non-essential equipment. As much as possible use locally sourced materials rather than shipping or transporting them.
• Minimize waste: Avoid single-use materials and reduce excess packaging waste when transporting your materials (e.g., with reusable containers).
• Recycle and dispose responsibly: Use recyclable materials with minimal impact on the environment, and dispose of them in an environmentally friendly way (e.g., donating useful materials to local charities rather than taking them back).

We will also give special consideration to demos that directly address sustainability issues; please make this clear in your submission.

If you are unable to travel but still want to showcase an interactive project, we recommend submitting your work to the Video Showcase venue. This allows you to present a rich interactive scenario at the conference in the form of a video.

At the Conference

If accepted to the on-site Interactivity, you will be assigned a dedicated space in the exhibition hall at CHI 2024. You will be asked to present your exhibit during the opening reception and additional slots at the conference. We will provide more details on logistics including the exact floor plan closer to the conference.

As a standard, the organizers will provide you with a table, WiFi, and electrical outlets. Additionally, presenters can use the Needs requirement form to request extra equipment such as computer displays and speakers, which will be provided based on availability.

Paper and Hot-Desk Demos

There will be several additional ways to take part in Interactivity beyond the regular selected demos. The below opportunities do not follow the above submission format and will not receive a separate entry in the ACM Digital Library, but they will give you a chance to have your interactive work seen by the CHI 2024 attendees. More details will be shared closer to the conference date.

After the main Interactivity selection process, authors of accepted CHI papers will be given the option to submit their work as in-person Interactivity demos through a separate process. Note that this is very competitive and we may only be able to accept a small number of paper demos. (Paper authors can of course also choose to make separate submissions to the Interactivity Track, which, upon acceptance, will yield an entry in the ACM Digital Library.)

If you plan to attend the conference and have a project that you want to showcase, you may also be able to book one of the additional “Hot-Desks” that we will provide. These desks will be available on a first-come first-serve basis and do not need to have an accompanying paper accepted.

Presentation Time Slots at the Conference [Tentative, Subject to Change]

Interactivity will be shown during four slots at the conference:

1. Monday evening reception (tentatively 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm)
2. Tuesday morning break (10:15 am – 11:00 am)
3. Tuesday afternoon break (3:30 pm – 4:15 pm)
4. Tuesday evening job fair (5:30 pm – 7:30 pm)

Interactivity presenters are required to present during both the Monday evening reception and the Tuesday evening job fair (slot 1 and slot 4). Presenters are required to present during one of the two breaks (slot 2 or slot 3). We will send a survey for presenters asking for their preference during which of the two breaks they wish to present closer to the conference. Please note that we might not be able to accommodate all preferences, as we aim to have approximately half of the Interactivities during each break.

Setup and Teardown [tentative, subject to change]

Presenters can start setting up their Interactivities on Monday morning. For submissions that require more time for setup, we can aim to provide earlier access to the Exhibition Hall. Please contact the Interactivity Co-Chairs for more information.

Teardown will take place immediately after the Tuesday evening job fair, starting at 7:30 pm. All demos are required to tear down during this time as we will no longer have access to this part of the exhibition hall on Wednesday.

Jury Award Selection

The best demos will be selected by the Interactivity Jury during the conference:

• Jan Borchers, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
• Pedro Lopes, University of Chicago, USA
• Wendy Mackay, Inria, France
• Jun Rekimoto, University of Tokyo & Sony CSL, Japan
• Jean Y. Song, DGIST, Republic of Korea
• Sherry Tongshuang Wu, Carnegie Mellon University, USA

After the Conference

Accepted Interactivities papers and videos are distributed in the CHI Conference Extended Abstracts in the ACM Digital Library.