Positive Technology Journal

Via Mind Hacks

NEURObotics is a newly-opened exhibition at London's Science Museum focusing on how emerging medical technology could expand human intelligence.

Topics include brain-scan lie detectors, enhancing brain function with TMS (magnetic pulses) and brain-computer interfaces.

The exhibition is free and runs until April 2007.


Link to Science Museum NEURObotics website.
Link to list of exhibits.
Link to BBC News story on the exhibition.

Via Networked Performance

Science & Consciousness Review, the online webzine/journal for the review of the scientific study of consciousness, is back online after a crash that occurred several months ago

By luis on Opportunities + Events + Resources

What role do videogames play in our lives today? As the boundaries between the virtual and the real blur more and more in the new gaming worlds we have come to inhabit, new conditions arise.

With the theme Gaming Realities, medi@terra 06 aims to explore the different dimensions and developments in the gaming fields and the impact they have on the different fields of society today. This year's Festival and International Conference set up to explore the diverse ideas, narratives, and ideologies involved in the video games.

Videogames express and reflect today's world, its aesthetics and technologies, give rise to new identities and new mentalities. Medi@terra Festival has invited individuals who have realised the importance and dimensions which this field has acquired, asking them to deposit their viewpoints and experiences with regard to the connections of the game to society, the identity and psychology of the player, the space and narration of the game, new technologies and conceptions and possibilities for the computer game to comprise the key art of 21st century.

'Gaming Realities: the Challenge of Digital Culture' is a three days International Conference [6-8 October, Athens] organised by Fournos Centre for the Digital Culture.

Via Usability News 

Event Date: 10 October 2006 to 10 October 2006
Behaviour & Information Technology 25th Anniversary Conference

An essential one-day conference with pre-event workshop examining 25 years of usable technology design and current concerns and challenges for usability experts worldwide

10th October 2006, The Grange City Hotel, London

This conference will provide a unique insight into the state of the art of usability design and will review the progress that has been made over the past 25 years in designing usable technology. It will highlight lessons for designers of today’s technology including web sites, games, mobile phones, kiosks, iTV and hand-held devices.

For more information visit www.tandfevents.com/bit 

Via Usability News 

Event Date: 11 September 2006 to 11 September 2006
Patrick Jordan will describe a framework for describing people holistically called 'The Four Pleasures'.
Date: Monday 11th September
Time: 6.30 for 6.45
Venue: Microsoft Research, Cambridge
Cost: The event is FREE and you do not need to be a UK UPA member to attend
Registration: Please email cambridge.usability@gmail.com to reserve a place.

Location map and directions: www.research.microsoft.com/aboutmsr/visitmsr/cambridge

An overview:
Products and services should bring pleasure to those who use them and profit to those who create them. To do this effectively they must connect with the consumer in a compelling manner. Effective innovation means designing products that meet both our practical and emotional needs. It speaks to our personalities and values — our hopes, fears, dreams and aspirations. If we are to connect fully with consumers then we have to fully understand them. Having a deep and thorough understanding of people is the key to designing the products and services that people will want to buy and that they will find useful and enjoyable.

This presentation outlines a framework for understanding people holistically. It is called ‘The Four Pleasures’.

This framework has been applied to the design and marketing of many of the world’s most successful products and services across all market types and sectors. It is used by many of the world’s leading brands including: Microsoft, Starbucks, Ford, Nokia, Gillette and Proctor and Gamble.

The ‘four pleasures’ divides human experience and motivation into the following four areas.

Physio-Pleasure: This is to do with the body - pleasures derived from the senses. In the context of products physio-pleasure would cover, for example, tactile and olfactory properties as well as ergonomic issues.
Socio-Pleasure: This is the enjoyment derived from relationships with others. Products and services may help to enhance or facilitate particular social situations and may confer social or cultural status on the user.
Psycho-Pleasure: This type of pleasure refers to people’s cognitive and emotional reactions, including their reactions to the products and services that they use.
Ideo-Pleasure: This concerns people’s values. It is important that the values embodied in products and services are consistent with the values of those for whom they have been designed.

The presentation will be illustrated with many examples of products and services that have been designed using this framework. These have proved to be extremely successful commercially as well as a huge hit with users. By understanding people holistically and designing to meet their needs we can create products and services which will have a significant and positive affect on both individuals and society as a whole. They will be a joy to use and will bring success to those who manufacture and supply them.

22-27 July 2007, Beijing International Convention Center, Beijing, P.R.China

Overview and Areas of Interest:

The HCI International 2007 jointly with the affiliated Conferences, which are held under one management and one Registration, invite you to Beijing, P.R. China to participate and contribute to the international forum for the dissemination and exchange of up-to-date scientific information on theoretical, generic and applied areas of HCI through the following modes of communication: Plenary / Keynote Presentation(s), Parallel Sessions, Poster Sessions and Tutorials. The Conference will start with three days of Tutorials. Parallel Sessions and Poster Sessions will be held during the last three days of the Conference.

Topics:

The Conference focuses on the following major thematic areas:

Human-Computer Interaction
Human Interface and the Management of Information
Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction
Ergonomics and Health Aspects of Work with Computers
Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics
Virtual Reality
Usability and Internationalization
Online Communities and Social Computing
Augmented Cognition
Digital Human Modeling

Via Human Technology

Sixth International Conference on Epigenetic Robotics: Modeling Cognitive Development in Robotic Systems

Dates: 20-22 September 2006
Location: Hopital de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France

From the conference website:

In the past 5 years, the Epigenetic Robotics annual workshop has established itself as a unique place where original research combining developmental sciences, neuroscience, biology, and cognitive robotics and artificial intelligence is being presented.

Epigenetic systems, either natural or artificial, share a prolonged developmental process through which varied and complex cognitive and perceptual structures emerge as a result of the interaction of an embodied system with a physical and social environment.

Epigenetic robotics includes the two-fold goal of understanding biological systems by the interdisciplinary integration between social and engineering sciences and, simultaneously, that of enabling robots and artificial systems to develop skills for any particular environment instead of programming them for solving particular goals for the environment in which they happen to reside.

Psychological theory and empirical evidence is being used to inform epigenetic robotic models, and these models should be used as theoretical tools to make experimental predictions in developmental psychology.

University of Paisley, Scotland, UK 25-26 October 2007

Over the last ten years, the way in which education and training is delivered has changed considerably with the advent of new technologies. One such new technology that holds considerable promise for helping to engage learners is Games-Based Learning (GBL).

The Conference offers an opportunity for scholars and practitioners interested in the issues related to GBL to share their thinking and research findings. The conference examines the question “Can Games-Based Learning Enhance Learning?” and seeks high-quality papers that address this question. Papers can cover various issues and aspects of GBL in education and training: technology and implementation issues associated with the development of GBL; use of mobile and MMOGs for learning; pedagogical issues associated with GBL; social and ethical issues in GBL; GBL best cases and practices, and other related aspects. We are particularly interested in empirical research that addresses whether GBL enhances learning. This Conference provides a forum for discussion, collaboration and intellectual exchange for all those interested in any of these fields of research or practice.

Important dates:
Abstract submission deadline: 17 May 2007
Notification of abstract acceptance: 24 May 2007
Full paper due for review: 5 July 2007
Notification of paper acceptance: 16 August 2007
Final paper due (with any changes): 6 September 2007

A full call for papers, online submission and registration forms and all other details are available on the conference website.

Phoenix, Arizona, 6-7 September 2006

From the conference website 

The Health Sciences, perhaps more than any other discipline, is dependent of images / video and the analysis of these images to be successful. This is true in biomedical research, health education and of course in clinical care. These images are increasingly digital and improving in resolution by orders of magnitude. This simultaneously allows more flexibility with the analysis of the image and much better analysis. The data resources are logically growing exponentially there is a growing need to share and compare images.

The ability to effectively use and share these resources is often a local issue with individual solutions being developed. There are exceptions and when they are discovered they are often treated as significant success stories. For example, the SUMMIT Project at Stanford University has created a significant set of stereoscopic and haptically enabled Digital Anatomy resources. These resources and the expertise at Stanford will be used across the nation and now internationally to teach anatomy courses.

As the health sciences continue to become more specialized and the educational resources become more difficult to locate, advanced networking that allows secure, reliable access to expertise and high quality resources is critical. The ability to create virtual organizations and collaborate with and among students, professors, researchers, and clinicians irrespective of location is of increasing value.

At the same time, large-capacity research networks (e.g., Internet2 and peered networks, GLORIAD) and high-quality video applications (e.g., DV-over-IP, developed by the WIDE Project and stereoscopic HD video-over-IP realized by GIST are making such virtual collaboration technically possible and financially affordable. However, the absence of (human) networking opportunities has hampered the development of sustainable testbeds and slowed the rate of innovation.

This workshop will focus on our ability to effectively use and manipulate image / video resources irrespective of their location. It will also showcase many emerging technologies relevant to the medical field. Most importantly, it will provide an opportunity for those in the medical community to learn alongside experts in the area of video technologies and large capacity networking about the challenges ahead and to begin a discussion about how those challenges can be met.

 

RFID and The Internet of Things

After a succesfull CrashCourse in May, Mediamatic now presents a second workshop on RFID and The Internet of Things: 11, 12, 13 September 2006 :: Confirmed lecturers and trainers: Julian Bleecker (US), Timo Arnall (Norway) and Arie Altena (NL).

RFID allows for the unique identification of objects, and any kind of online data can be linked to these unique ID's. If RFID becomes an open web-based platform, and users can tag, share, and contribute content to the digital existence of their own places and objects, we can truly speak of an Internet of Things. This opens perpectives for new sustainability scenario's, for new relations between people and the stuff they have, and for other locative applications.

The participants of this workshop will develop critical, utopian or nightmarish concepts for an Internet of Things in a hands-on way. Ideas can range from scripts for small new rituals to outlines of societal changes of epic scale. Prototypes can be tested with the workshop tools The Symbolic Table or the Nokia3220 phone with RFID reader.

The workshop has room for 16 designers, artists, thinkers and makers. Participation fee is €350 per person, ex BTW. Lunches, technical equipment and assistance are included. If you want to participate in this workshop, please register at our online registration form.

Via Pasta and Vinegar 

Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design: 

The Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design is a new initiative happening in Denmark. The two key promoters of this initiative are Heather Martin and Simona Maschi.

The aim is to create a high profile design institute, which is small but dynamic and which interfaces with academia and industry. The institute will become an international setting for new thinking in design and technology in Copenhagen. The institute will encourage multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary learning, teaching and consulting in Interaction Design. We imagine that people both from the academic and the industrial world will come to Copenhagen to work with us on innovative products, services and technology for the future. The institute aims to become an international centre of excellence in interaction design and innovation by 201

From the conference's website 

CSCW 2006 is the premier venue for Computer Supported Cooperative Work.

Please join us for the 20^th Anniversary of the first CSCW meeting! We have a number of special events planned as part of our Anniversary celebration.

CSCW has consistently been at the leading edge of thinking about the role of coordination and communication technologies in our lives. With your help, CSCW 2006 will play an important role in continuing this tradition. Come and help us make our 20^th Anniversary of CSCW a stimulating and exciting event.

New this year, CSCW will be running SIGCHI Best Awards programs for the Papers and Notes submission categories. These awards will recognize the most outstanding submissions in these categories.

Via Usability News 

Convivio 2006 is an Interaction Design summer school sponsored by the Convivio Network, an international and interdisciplinary consortium of designers and researchers that provides an infrastructure supporting the development of "convivial technologies" - ICT products, systems and services that enhance the quality of life and human interaction.

The focus of the upcoming (August 14 - 25, 2006) summer school session in Edinburgh, Scotland is "Visions, Boundaries and Transformations in Extending or Replacing Human Capacities."

The intensive 2-week summer school combines lectures, user research, atelier work, interaction design methods and social activities. This session follows previous summers in Ivrea, Italy; Rome, Italy; Split, Croatia; and Timisoara, Romania.

Masters and PhD students as well as new professionals are encouraged to apply here

Applications are due June 10, 2006.

To learn more about the summer school go here

Via Mind Hacks 

The upcoming edition of Time Magazine has a cover story about autism.  The story, entitled "Inside the Autistic Mind", is available online and discusses the recent developments in the psychology and neuroscience of autism.

Via The HealthCare IT Guy

Davidson Executive Conference Center 3415 South Figueroa Street :: Los Angeles, California 90089

The Games for Health Project, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, TATRC, and USC’s Annenberg School for Communication & Institute for Creative Technologies invite you to join us on May 9 for a full-day event devoted to the use of games and game technologies in health and healthcare, including an evening reception.

This one-day event, just before the opening of the Electronic Entertainment Expo will bring together researchers, game developers, and health & healthcare professionals for a series of talks devoted to how games and game technologies are addressing critical health & healthcare issues.

Talks will focus on:

• Health messaging using games
• Combat & emergency medicine
• Psychotherapy and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Pain Distraction & Anxiety
• Cancer treatment
• Disease management
• Coping with family ailments
• Cognitive health
• Off-the-Shelf consumer health & exergaming titles

26 June 2006 to 28 June 2006
International IEEE Workshop on Tangible Interaction in Collaborative Environments (TICE) at WETICE-2006

June 26 - June 28, 2006
The University of Manchester, Manchester, U.K.
Web site: http://wetice.co.umist.ac.uk/

OVERVIEW
--------

12th international conference on Human-Computer Interaction, , 22-27 July 2007, Beijing, China

From the website

The HCI International 2007 jointly with the affiliated Conferences, which are held under one management and one Registration, invite you to Beijing, P.R. China to participate and contribute to the international forum for the dissemination and exchange of up-to-date scientific information on theoretical, generic and applied areas of HCI through the following modes of communication: Plenary / Keynote Presentation(s), Parallel Sessions, Poster Sessions and Tutorials. The Conference will start with three days of Tutorials. Parallel Sessions and Poster Sessions will be held during the last three days of the Conference.

The Conference focuses on the following major thematic areas:

The topics listed under each thematic area are indicative of the broad spectrum of issues to be addressed and are not intended to limit the range of submissions.