[chisigmail] CfP At Home with IT: Pervasive Computing in the Domestic Space

[Balbo, Sandrine]

on behalf of Steve Howard.
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  Special Theme Issue of

Personal and Ubiquitous Computing
<http://www.personal-ubicomp.com/>

"At Home with IT: Pervasive Computing in the Domestic Space"
<http://www.cs.aau.dk/~dubois/cfp-puc.html>

Since Debbie Hindus' pivotal call to take seriously information
technology in the home, domestic applications of ICT have grown
significantly. Current literature promotes two overall approaches to IT
in the domestic space. Firstly, attention has been given to
'instrumental' activity such as surveillance, coordination, scheduling,
information management, shopping etc. In contrast, technologies for
personal use rather than instrumental activity are receiving growing
attention from both research and industry. Whilst the design of
technology for traditional 'goal oriented' activity benefits from the
long tradition of use-centred design that pervades a number of
interrelated disciplines (Human-Computer Interaction, Computer-Supported
Cooperative Work, Information Systems etc.) designing personal
technologies for activities in the domestic space, which go beyond
traditional goal oriented use, involves new challenges.

In this special issue, we are concerned with design of personal
technologies for activities that take place in or around the home and
make up the social fabric of that home when the 'work' of family life is
abstracted out. We are interested in technology design and use for human
activity that is not easily conceptualised in terms of 'tasks', or
'goals', and is not necessarily well-assessed using traditional measures
of use such as 'effectiveness' and 'efficiency'.

Example topics might include (but are certainly not limited to):

- accounts of the particular challenges of studying and designing for
domestic activity
theorising technology in the home
- understanding and supporting phatic activity
- technologies for maintaining a sense of presence in absence when
family members are separated by distance
- accounts of the exchange of intimate messages across distance and time
passing the time pleasantly
- 'decorating' a home using with ambient technology

Three formats of submission are requested:

- long papers, with a particular focus on empirical work (10-15 pages)
- shorter 'technology sketches' emphasising innovative solutions (3-5
pages, pictures of artefact required)
- short interviews with key players (1-2 pages, photo of interviewee
required)

Long papers should conform to the usual format of the journal, see
<http://www.personal-ubicomp.com/instructions.pdf>.

Authors of 'Technology Sketches' and 'Interviews' should contact one of
the editors prior to submission.

Timescale:

Deadline for submissions: October 1st 2005
Feedback to authors: December 15th 2005
Camera ready copy: March 1st 2006

Editors:

Steve Howard, showard at unimelb.edu.au, The University of
Melbourne/Aalborg University

Jesper Kjeldskov, jesper at cs.aau.dk, Aalborg University

Mikael B. Skov, dubois at cs.aau.dk, Aalborg University