Call For Participation ASSETS '98 The 3rd ACM/SIGCAPH Conference on Assistive Technologies http://www.acm.org/sigcaph April 15-17, 1998 Marina del Rey Hotel Marina del Rey, California USA 1. INTRODUCTION We live in an age of incredible technological change! Change that has made life easier for most and has empowered the majority of our population. But, there is another side to this coin. While empowering most, technology has also had the effect of making some even more disadvantaged than they we before the explosion in computer-based tools. Among these are the physically chal- lenged segment of our society. In the best case, the speed of development of assistive technologies has not kept pace with technological advancement. Among those that would benefit from assistive technologies are individuals who are: - mobility impaired; - visually impaired; - elderly; - hearing impaired; and, - communication and educationally impaired. The ACM ASSETS series of conferences has presented a forum for those in the research and development domain associated with these issues. ASSETS presents an environment in which attendees and presenters can interact in public presentations and private discussions of issues in assistive technologies. Without the pressure of parallel sessions and vendor displays, the ASSETS meetings are intended to create an atmosphere of intellectual exchange in both formal and informal sessions. Some of the computer-assisted areas to be explored at ASSETS are: Enhanced communication for those with disabilities: Web technology, automated sign languages, speech-based interfaces, and tactile interfaces Multimodal interfaces: Redundant means of communication providing more flexibility for those with special needs Integration into the workplace: Devices that make the workplace more accessible - Special Educational Needs: Educational techniques and tools for those with learning disabilities Assisting Elderly People: Interfaces for the increasing numbers of elderly computer users II. THE CONFERENCE Sponsored by the ACM's Special Interest Group on Computers and the Physically Handicapped, ASSETS'98 will be the third in a continuing series of conferences whose goal is to provide a forum in which researchers and developers, from academia and industry, can meet to exchange ideas and report on new developments relating to computer-based systems to help people. The conference scope spans disabilities and special needs of all types, including but not limited to: sensory (hearing, vision); motor (orthopedic); cognitive (learning, speech, mental); and emotional. The meeting is designed in a way to encourage the exchange of ideas both in the formal paper sessions as well as informal evening sessions and social interactions. The conference will have NO parallel tracks in order to encourage total group participation. III. TECHNICAL SESSIONS TECHNICAL PAPERS submissions are invited. Acceptance standards will be at the highest level as one would expect at any ACM conference. We strongly encourage papers submitted by graduate students. Some, but not all, of the different forms submissions include: Presentation of original and significant research. Results of relevant and rigorous empirical studies. Description of the "look and feel" and discussion of the internal workings of an implemented system. Work discussing the conceptual framework of investigations in the domain of research in assistive technologies. Position papers. Authors are encouraged to send a short VIDEOTAPE with their paper, if possible, to clarify and reinforce the concepts discussed. Papers must be up to 8 pages in length, set in 11 point type, and formatted in ACM two-column conference style. A font similar to Times is preferred. PANEL PROPOSALS up to 3 pages in length on timely and controversial topics are also welcome. These submissions should be formatted like a technical paper, and will if accepted be included in the conference proceedings. They should include: An introduction by the organizer/moderator. Position statements from each panelist. Brief biographical sketches of all participants. IV. INFORMAL SESSIONS In addition to the traditional technical sessions, we plan to hold several evening sessions. These meetings will be of a very informal nature and will not require the referring process. Some ideas that we are considering are: Birds-of-a-feather meetings than can be easily organized during the conference; Short student presentations on works-in-progress. Again there will be no refereeing process, but participants are encouraged to inform the program chair of intentions to participate in these sessions; Briefings by representatives of funding agencies, public and private, of opportunities sup- ported by their organization. Again, please contact the program chair of your intentions in advance. ALL TECHNICAL SESSION PAPERS WILL BE REFEREED, and no more papers will be accepted than can be comfortably presented in a single track (no parallel sessions). Authors of accepted papers will be required to prepare an electronic version for the on-line conference proceedings which will supplement the traditional printed volume. Authors will also be asked to submit an electronic version of their paper for review purposes prior to acceptance, in ASCII or other human-readable format. Send 7 copies of full papers along with 2 copies of any accompanying videos, and 4 copies of panel proposals, to the Program Chair: Meera Blattner Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory L-307 P.O. Box 808 Livermore, CA 94551 For express services use: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory L307 7000 East Ave. Livermore, CA 94550 V. BEST PAPER AWARDS Awards will be made to presenters in several different categories, for example: Best technical session paper; Best student paper; Best presentation. Papers to be considered for the best student presentation award, should have the name of the student as first author and the submission cover letter should indicate the first author is a student. The selection process will be carried out by members of the program committee based on both the technical paper and the presentation. ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1997 QUESTIONS regarding submissions should be directed to the Program Chair; for information regarding registration or other matters, please contact the General Chair. Here's how to reach these people: General Chair: Arthur I. Karshmer New Mexico State University 505/646-3724 505/646-1002 fax arthur@cs.nmsu.edu http://gonzo.cs.nmsu.edu Program Chair: Meera Blattner University of California, Davis and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 510/422-3503 510/423-4139 fax blattner@llnl.gov http://www.llnl.gov/das/das_admin/staff/blattner.html Treasurer: Harriet Fell Northeastern University Boston, MA 02115 617/373-2198 617/373-5121 fax fell@ccs.neu.edu BONUS: Plan now to attend two key conferences for the price of a single air ticket! ASSETS'98 will immediately precede CHI'98, which will take place in Los Angeles on April 18-25, 1998. THE HOTEL is the Marina del Rey Hotel which is located right on the marina and has beautiful views in all directions. We have negotiated a special room rate for conference participant of US$105 per night, single or double. To make reservations at the hotel, please call the hotel directly at 310/301-1000 or 800/882-4000 and ask for the special ASSETS 98 rates. TRAVEL HELP: Arrangements have been made with BreakAway Travel in Denver to help you arrange the air/land portions of your travel. Simply call 800/635-8369 or 303/290-8900 and ask for the Assets 98 desk. The FAX number is 303/290-8971 and their email address is breaktrv@aol.com Program Committee: Julio Gonzalez Abascal, Euskal Herriko University (Basque Country, Spain) Anton Civit Balcells, The University of Sevilla (Spain) Stephen Brewster, University of Glascow (UK) Alireza Darvishi, University of Zurich (Switzerland) Patrick Demasco, Intelligent Compression Technologies, Inc Alistair D.N. Edwards, University of York (UK) Harriet Fell, Northeastern University (USA) David L. Jaffe, Palo Alto VA Health Care System (USA) Robert Jacob, Tufts University (USA) Leonard Kasday, AT&T (USA) Shiro Kawai, Square USA (USA) Rick Kazman, Carnegie Mellon (USA) R. Benjamin Knapp, San Jose State University (USA) Marilyn Mantei, University of Toronto (Canada) Michael Muller, Microsoft (USA) Elisabeth Mynatt, Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (USA) David Patmore, Biocontrol Systems (USA) Helen Petrie, University of Hertfordshire (UK) Ian J. Pitt, Otto-von-Guericke-Universitaet (Germany) T.V. Raman, Adobe Systems (USA) Ina Satoshi, Tsukuba College of Technology (Japan) Gary Strong, National Science Foundation (USA) Maseo Sakauchi, University of Tokyo (Japan) Constantine Stephanidis, Institute of Computer Science, FORTH (Greece) Nicole Yankelovich, Sun Microsystems (USA) Michiaki Ysumura, Keio University (Japan) ========================================== | Arthur I. Karshmer | | Professor & Department Head | | Editor, ACM SIGCAPH Newsletter | | Computer Science Department | | PO Box 30001, Dept CS | | New Mexico State University | | Las Cruces, NM 88003 USA | ========================================== |email: arthur@cs.nmsu.edu | | art@karshmer.net | | SIGCAPH.Bulletin@cs.nmsu.edu | |Fax: [+1] (505) 646-1002 | |Voice: [+1] (505) 646-3724 | |www: http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/~arthur/ | ==========================================