- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

CfP: Mixed Reality Games Workshop @ Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) 2012
by Elizabeth Bonsignore 11 Oct '11

11 Oct '11

Mixed Reality Games Workshop @ Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) 2012 (Seattle, WA, Feb 11-15, 2012 http://www.cscw2012.org/) Call for Participation Collaborative technologies increasingly permeate our everyday lives. Mixed reality games use these technologies to entertain, motivate, educate, and inspire. We understand mixed reality games as goal-directed, structured play experiences that are not fully contained by virtual or physical worlds. They transform existing technologies, relationships, and places into a platform for gameplay. While the design of mixed reality games and interactive entertainments has received increasing attention across multiple disciplines, a focus on the collaborative potential of mixed reality formats, such as augmented and alternate reality games, has been lacking. We believe the CSCW community can play an essential and unique role in examining and designing the next generation of mixed reality games and technologies that support them. To this end, we seek to bring together researchers, designers, and players to advance an integrated mixed reality games’ research canon and outline key opportunities and challenges for future research and development. Our workshop goals are to: * Characterize the relationship between technology-mediated collaboration and mixed reality games in order to improve the design and products of each. * Establish an interdisciplinary community that intersects existing research groups from CSCW and Game Design/Studies that facilitates future collaboration on mixed reality games. Promote small-group formation for proposal writing, data sharing, and co-authoring. * Develop a preliminary mixed reality games research canon with a focus on collaborative, cooperative, and/or social components of game design/play. * Craft a research agenda for future projects, funding, and publications. Identify major research questions, known gaps in the literature, low-hanging fruit, and large-impact possibilities. Our workshop themes include, but are not limited to: * Design Patterns (or Meta-Game) discussions for mixed reality games * Collaborative tools and technologies used in game-design * Game mechanics and tools that support collaborative work/play * Empirical studies of games that require player collaboration, multi-player task management, shared storytelling * Mobile and augmented reality technologies that support context-aware games * Opportunities and challenges that arise from bringing mixed reality games into everyday life * Application areas for mixed reality games with a social, scientific, or educational purpose * Research methods for studying collaborative elements of mixed reality games * Mixed reality games as a testbed for novel collaborative tools * Group performance assessment measures in mixed reality games If you are interested in being a part of our efforts to develop a preliminary mixed reality games research agenda, please submit a 2-4 page position paper (ACM Extended Abstract format) via e-mail to mixedreality [at] affectivegaming.info. Deadline for submissions is November 25, 2011. Further background and details about this workshop can be found at: http://mixedrealitygames.selfloud.net/aboutmixedreality/. We recommend that your position papers: * Describe some aspect of your recent, current, upcoming, or ongoing work in the domain of mixed reality games as broadly described/scoped in our workshop description. * Pose one or more burning questions that you would like to discuss with other workshop participants; or suggest one or more key characteristics or design patterns you think should become part of a mixed reality games' research canon or taxonomy. * Include your name(s), affiliation(s), email address(es), title(s). * Provide a short biography containing your background(s) and areas of expertise. In lieu of -- or in addition to -- a short bio in your position paper, consider making a “meet henry” style intro in video or slideshow. We would post all of these on our workshop site as a virtual warm-up before we all meet face to face. (Example “meet henry” slideshow at: http://www.slideshare.net/chereemoore/meet-henry.) Note that this intro could be uploaded any time before February 1, 2012. * Specify what you want to get out of the workshop. How would you like to use the workshop as a stepping-stone? (e.g., as precursor to articles for a Special Issue somewhere? …another follow-on workshop? …a conference-based Alternate Reality Game? …etc.) Not required for submission, but strongly encouraged, since we'll be asking participants for it during the workshop itself: * Prepare a visual representation (sketch, diagram, concept model, photo, screenshot) of your core idea/question, because we plan to post it on a large shared wallpaper throughout the workshop. Multimedia pieces (videos, audio) are a definite plus. If accepted, here are some items for the workshop itself: * Since we will be doing lightning round talks during the early part of the workshop, please prepare a fast-deck of slides (estimate no more than 2-3 minute talk). These slides should be submitted in advance (no later than January 31, 2011). These slides may be in addition to the visual artifact that you bring to share your core idea, issue, or question for the workshop. * Please don't hesitate to bring an example of a game (or one of your favorite games) that you think: * Exemplifies some design/play issue for mixed reality games, or * Could be transformed into a mixed reality game, or * Would be just plain fun to play during the post-workshop Research-through-Play session. * The example you bring can be digital or physical – or BOTH! Sincerely, The organizers Elizabeth Bonsignore, University of Maryland Derek L. Hansen, Brigham Young University Zachary O. Toups, Texas A&M University Lennart E. Nacke, University of Ontario Institute of Technology Anastasia Salter, University of Baltimore Wayne G. Lutters, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Steve Benford, University of Nottingham

1 0

Recommendations for German Institutions
by Tracey M Benson 11 Oct '11

11 Oct '11

Hello everyone, I am looking to do some post doc research at a German university and i was wondering if some list members could recommend a host institution. My research is focused on a range of issues surrounding social equity, regional communities, collaboration UX design for flexible delivery and divergent means of accessing the Internet (can provide more info if requested). Also, I am interested in digital art practice, skill sharing and capacity building for communities. Any suggestions dear list? Regards Tracey -- Dr Tracey Meziane Benson (aka bytetime) Adjunct Postdoctoral Fellow || The Australian National University || School of Music You can find bytetime on twitter, delicious, scribd, flickr, linkedin, identica, slideshare and facebook. Skype me at mediakult websites: www.byte-time.net www.xconnectmedia.com www.fauxonomy.org blogs: geokult.com/ dorkbotcbr.wordpress.com/ mediakult.wordpress.com/ wiki: mediakult.wetpaint.com/

1 0

Job Opportunity: Postdoctoral Researcher, Social Semantic Web at DERI, NUI Galway
by Jodi Schneider 11 Oct '11

11 Oct '11

> Postdoctoral Researcher in Social Software / Social Semantic Web > ================================================================ > > Digital Enterprise Research Institute > ------------------------------------- > National University of Ireland, Galway > -------------------------------------- > Ref. No. NUIG 71-11 > -------------------- > > The National University of Ireland, Galway, is seeking > outstanding candidates for a Postdoctoral Researcher position in > the Social Semantic Web realm. This position will be within the > Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI). The National > University of Ireland, Galway is home to more than 15,000 > students across five Colleges with highly-active agendas in > teaching and research. The University recently reaffirmed its > research priorities and this placed Information and > Communications Technology as one of its leading priorities. The > Digital Enterprise Research Institute is a key focus of ICT > research at the University. > > The Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI), Galway, Ireland > was founded in 2003 following the granting of funds under the > Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) CSET initiative (Centres for > Science, Engineering and Technology). DERI is dedicated to > research aimed at enabling Networked Knowledge using Semantic Web > technologies. DERI is one of the leading research institutes in > the world in its domain and has attracted approximately €50 > million in direct research funding since 2003, together with > significant industry involvement. > > The successful candidate will co-lead a team of postdoctoral and > postgraduate researchers focusing on topics such as the Social > Web, the Semantic Web, Semantic Information Systems, Distributed > Social Networks, Ontology design for the Social Web, the Internet > of Things and the Social Web, Citizen Sensing, Linked Data and > the Social Semantic Web. He/she is expected to act as thesis > supervisor or co-supervisor for several PhD and Master students > and to become the principal scientific investigator on a number > of key DERI projects. The successful candidate will be expected > to compete successfully for national and international research > funding and develop national and international collaborations > with academia and industry, participate in standardisation and > education activities as well as support the institute > directorship with administrative and institute development tasks, > especially in relation to areas such as Digital Humanities or > Systems Biology. > > Additionally the successful candidate is expected to: > > * Increase the international reputation of the research group and > the institution through world-class research, publications, > standards and applications through collaborations with academic > and industry peer researchers. > * Contribute actively to the ongoing initiatives within the > College of Engineering and Informatics through participation at > College meetings and other relevant committees. > * Contribute to the established outreach programme of DERI > including primary, post-primary and third levels as well as to > local communities. > * Support technology transfer into the community and businesses > by identifying opportunities for (1) widely deployed open-source > applications and standards and (2) licenses and spinoffs from > research projects. > > Essential criteria for applicants: > > * Must have a PhD degree, with postdoctoral experience and > industrial experience if possible. > * Must be well published with a demonstrated track record in > high-class conferences, journals or books. > * Needs to have had experience as a member of Organising > Committees or Programme Committees for workshops and conferences. > * Needs to have international research experience. > * Must have experience working on project acquisition. > > It is also desirable that applicants will possess: > > * A clear vision for the realisation of world-class research. > * Team lead experience in a research group. > * An international reputation with a capacity to provide > leadership such as the Social Web, the Semantic Web, Semantic > Information Systems, Distributed Social Networks, Ontology design > for the Social Web, the Internet of Things and the Social Web, > Citizen Sensing, Linked Data and the Social Semantic Web. > * Proven record of theoretical and applied research on the Social > Web and the Semantic Web, warranted by a scientific publication > record in top-ranking workshops, conferences, journals and book > chapters (book(s) are a plus) and awards in international > challenges. > * A track record concerning participation in Organising > Committees and Programme Committees of international events > related to the Semantic Web and Social Software, such as the > European and International Semantic Web Conference. > * Proven experience in Web-related standardisation activities > (including W3C) as both author and editor. > * A proven ability to educate undergraduate and postgraduate > students through University lectures and daily supervision, as > well as peer researchers through tutorials in high-class > conferences, such as ISWC, WWW or SemTech. > * Evidence of participation in research grant acquisition > (national and international, from public bodies or from industry) > and the ability to help lead a research team. > * Industrial experience if possible, plus the ability to > collaborate with industry partners, and a strong commitment to > future industrial engagements. > * Excellent interpersonal communication and scientific writing > skills. > * Experience in participating in Institute-level initiatives and > committees, such as curriculum definition. > * Ability to identify outreach and business opportunities for > research projects, ranging from open-source applications to > licenses and spinoffs. > > Salary shall be internationally competitive. > > For informal discussion about this post please contact: > john.breslin(a)deri.org > > To Apply: Applicants should include a cover letter, curriculum > vitae, a list of publications, a research statement and the > names and addresses of at least three referees, via email (text, > postscript or PDF only) to: hr.ie(a)deri.org > > Applicants must put ref. no. NUIG 71-11 in subject line of e-mail > application. > > Closing date for receipt of applications is 5pm on Friday 11th > November 2011. > > Additional information available on www.deri.ie > > National University of Ireland, Galway is an equal opportunities > employer. > > -- > John Breslin www.johnbreslin.org > Lecturer, Engineering and Informatics, NUI Galway www.nuigalway.ie > Researcher, Social Software and Semantic Web, DERI www.deri.ie > General Chair, AAAI ICWSM-12, 4-8 June 2012, Dublin www.icwsm.org > johnbreslin on LinkedIn / Skype / Twitter / Facebook

1 0

Sneak Peek: Voting is open for the funniest #OBL:-) Tweet
by Stuart Shulman 10 Oct '11

10 Oct '11

Sneak peek: Early voting is open for the funniest bin Laden Tweet http://bit.ly/npzAlN Spoiler alert! If you are at #IR12 don't watch it! If you are not coming to #IR12, watch it and vote via Twitter. ~Stu -- Stuart Shulman President & CEO Texifter, LLC <http://www.texifter.com/> Have you tried DiscoverText? http://discovertext.com *Featuring the Facebook Graph & Twitter APIs*

1 0

Invite to Tech and Resistance Roundtables Site
by Ted Coopman 10 Oct '11

10 Oct '11

All, We have set up a website with participant position papers for the two Resistance and Technology Roundtables on Wednesday October 12, 10:15 - 11:45 AM (Resistance and Technology Roundtable Part 1: Regulation, Structure, and Resistance) and 1:00 - 2:30 PM (Resistance and Technology Roundtable Part 2: Leveraging Technologies of Resistance). https://resistancetechnologyrt.pbworks.com This started as a single roundtable, but quickly expanded to two based on interest. This has been a hot topic for those studying and/or participating in social movements, collective action, hackivism, IT policy, and politics among other areas. The discussion should be lively. We hope you can join us for all or part of this intellectual double-header! Abstract Recent successful and unsuccessful resistance actions such as the revolts in Iran, Tunisian, and Egypt, hackivism by Anonymous on corporate and organizational websites, as well as the ongoing Wikileaks release of State Department documents, highlight the role of digital technology in resistance to power. The limits and legitimacy of this activity is currently the subject of much debate. Issues include the definition of journalism and journalist, the limits and responsibilities of information and service providers, the scope of legitimate action in digital environments and the relevance of physical space analogies to such actions. Even the efficacy and centrality of digital communication in protest actions or movements has been hotly contested. While the use of technology in protests from the barricade to radio to Twitter play a role in resistance, the question is to what degree do these technologies enable or shape resistance and influence outcomes in comparison to other social, political, and cultural factors? Hope to see you there! -TED -- Ted M. Coopman Ph.D. Lecturer Department of Communication Studies San Jose State University http://www.sjsu.edu/people/ted.coopman/

1 0

Minecon - The Minecraft Convention (kind-of-CFP)
by Alex Leavitt 10 Oct '11

10 Oct '11

Are any other academics planning to attend Minecon in November? http://minecon.mojang.com/ I'm wondering if anyone would be interested in joining an academic panel at the convention. Email me off-list if that's you! Alex --- Alexander Leavitt PhD Student USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism http://alexleavitt.com Twitter: @alexleavitt

1 0

Deadline Reminder: CFP invisibility research
by Ravindra N. Mohabeer 10 Oct '11

10 Oct '11

Hi, Just one week left for the initial deadline for proposals for an edited collection on the construct of invisibility across a spectrum of subjects, time periods, and methodologies. Proposal deadline: OCTOBER 15 The CFP can be found here: http://ideacraft.tumblr.com/cfp If you are planning on submitting a proposal and might not meet the deadline, or if this is the first time you are reading this CFP and wish to submit a proposal and might not meet the deadline, please do be in touch and I can see if I can work out an alternate arrangement. To date many very interesting and varied proposals have come in across a range of subjects. Based on the proposals and committed papers thus far, this promises to be a very interesting collection. I am particularly interested in every proposal yet to arrive, but would particularly welcome anyone doing work in the following areas in addition: - invisibility in/as religion / worldview / theology - invisibility in/and the economy - disease / virus / viral spread - roads / maps / practices of representing space - 'black ops' / surveillance / sousveillance - back rooms / boardrooms - vice / 'private life' / taboos - secrets - compartmentalization Thanks and all the best from Canada where it is, today, Thanksgiving or, in the academic world, a day to realize how much work you have left to grade just prior to midway through the first semester. Ravi ------------------------------ Ravindra N. Mohabeer, PhD Media Studies Vancouver Island University ravindra.mohabeer(a)viu.ca ------------------------------ http://ideacraft.tumblr.com

1 0

Program Changes
by Karine Nahon 10 Oct '11

10 Oct '11

Hi Everyone, Please note that the most up-to-date program information is in the conftool system at https://www.conftool.net/aoir-ir12/index.php?page=browseSessions . We updated today the downloadable version of the program, which includes the most recent changes. You can find it at http://ir12.aoir.org/schedule . Take care and see you today or tomorrow Karine ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Karine Nahon - http://eKarine.org<http://ekarine.org/> Associate Professor The Information School, The retroV (Virality of Information) Group - http://retroV.org<http://retrov.org/> University of Washington Twitter - http://twitter.com/karineb Office tel. - (206) 685-6668

1 0

Tweetcloud - a word cloud tool for your tweet stream
by Stephen J Cavrak Jr 10 Oct '11

10 Oct '11

A friendly peep pointed me towards a nice tool ... TweetCloud http://tweetcloud.icodeforlove.com/ ? show the top [20] most used words in my cloud [up to 90 words] ? identifies people you mention the most ? shows related twitter users ? shows related clouds ? your account gets displayed when someone mentions or searches for you ... interesting fun ... ( if you want to check a sample cloud, 2 of mine are at http://tweetcloud.icodeforlove.com/62033 (handle: sjc) ... or you can check out Andre Zmievski at http://tweetcloud.icodeforlove.com/940631 [handle "a") ... enjoy ...

1 0

IT support for Occupy Seattle during AoIR?
by qCentral 10 Oct '11

10 Oct '11

hi folks, this is a little off-topic (for some) so apologies in advance: i spent the evening at the "Occupy Seattle" camp in Westlake Park @ 401 Pine St., just a few blocks from our conference hotel. their new website is: www.occupyseattle.org and they are also on Facebook (but trying to shift traffic to the website as well). if you are: 1) interested in helping them with tech support while you're here in Seattle for AoIR 2) interested in donating hardware/software to the camp, specifically: • deep cycle batteries • solar cells • teach-ins: 4:00-6:30pm • networking gear: routers//switches/access points • load balanced web hosting • social media endorsements • access to any data on current internet trends • projector • fast wi-fi everywhere 24/7 • useful information/reports on how the internet can be used to help movements/effective tactics from other protests (eg, Egypt) • information on mesh networking and/or 3) a local to the Seattle area and interested in helping with ongoing IT support PLEASE contact me OFF-LIST. i'll coordinate drop-offs of equipment 2x this week (end of the day, Tuesday and Thursday) and put people in touch with the working group handling IT for "Occupy Seattle" while i'm in town for the conference. the camp also needs some basic supplies for people who've come from out of state for the protest: Blankets (at least 40) Coats (any rain gear) Storage containers (plastic bins for organizing supplies) Cleaning supplies (brooms, dustpans, mops, buckets, and disinfectant) Epsom salts EPI pens (if you're a super allergic to bees, this is a special shout out to you!) If you would like to donate cash at the AoIR (you can email me @ qcentral(a)indiana.edu and I'll meet you anywhere to pick it up), I would be happy to go shopping for the items above and get them to the camp (I'll make a run Tuesday and Thursday). My personal goal is to help them get another portable toilet out there for overnight campers. They don't have PayPal set up on their website yet but they hope to soon so that's another option if you'd help out down the road. : ) Thanks for considering this request for help while we're all citizens of this fair city (apologies, again, to those who feel the list is not the proper forum for this request). Best, Mary _______________________ On sabbatical until January 9, 2012 Mary L. Gray, Ph.D. Associate Professor Communication and Culture Affiliate Faculty, Gender Studies Adjunct Faculty, American Studies Adjunct Faculty, Anthropology Indiana University 800 E. 3rd Street Bloomington, IN 47405 Email: mLg(a)indiana.edu URL: www.indiana.edu/~qcentral Phone: 812-855-4379 Fax: 812-855-6014 BLOG for "Out in the Country, Youth, Media, and Queer Visibility in Rural America" (NYU Press 2009) @ http://queercountry.fromthesquare.org/

5 4