Workshop | CHI 2013

In this hands-on workshop, we invite HCI researchers, designers and innovators to engage with the concept of time. Time is often taken for granted in HCI, yet engaging with the assumptions that underpin it could provide a resource for research and technology innovation.

This effort draws on recent attempts within HCI to utilise different ‘types’ of time in research and design. For example, Harper et al. employ Bergson’s distinction between temps and durée, temps referring to the objective measure and passing of time; durée to its experiential aspect; and Martin and Holtzman make a distinction between the ancient Greek concepts of Chronos, or time as a linear sequence of events, and Kairos, which refers to the idea that the only time that is important is now. These attempts to explicitly address different types of time speak to something that we are all aware of: time as experienced can be quite different to that of time as counted by a ticking clock or underpinned by a computer algorithm.

The workshop will be centred on design activities and discussion, which will be used to trigger different ways of thinking about time, clarify a vocabulary for it, and build community. Outcomes will be communicated via a booklet and this blog, which will be maintained beyond the workshop itself. The workshop will be held on Saturday the 27th of April, in conjunction with the CHI 2013 conference.

IMPORTANT DATES

  • 18 January 2013: Workshop submissions (extended from the 11th)
  • 8 February 2013: Notifications of acceptance (previously the 1st)
  • 27 April 2013: Workshop held in Paris, France

WORKSHOP SUBMISSIONS
We invite submissions of up to 3,000 words, as either:

  • A thought-piece or description of research, in the CHI archival format; or
  • A design concept, prototype or experience, illustrated through photography, video, website or similar, alongside a description of how it relates to the workshop theme.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Representations of time (e.g. timelines)
  • Representations of wear and making visible a history of action
  • The tempo of technologies
  • Time as a commodity
  • Time as speeding up in everyday life
  • Time and rhythms as an organising principle for everyday life
  • Time as socially constructed (e.g. night time, family time)
  • Slow technology
  • The experience of liveness

See the extended abstract for more details.

Submissions should be sent by email to sianl@microsoft.com. At least one author of each accepted position paper must attend the workshop and all participants must register for the workshop and for at least one day of the CHI 2013 conference.

ORGANIZERS
Siân Lindley and Robert Corish, Microsoft Research, UK
Elsa Vaara, Mobile Life Centre, Sweden
Pedro Ferreira and Vygandas Simbelis, School of Computer Science and Communication, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

Advertisement