Transforming Grounds

Being at CHI is, as everyone here can testify, overwhelming. Lots of people and ideas. It is exciting, even though difficult to make sense of it all. One observation that I have talked to some people about is the apparent interest in theoretical papers. Again this year we have had some sessions with theoretical papers where the room has been way too small. I take this as a sign that the field is really in need of more theory and that there is a shortage of good theoretical and philosophical papers. Personally, I find this exciting and I hope that it means that more people will take the time and effort to engage in theoretical and philosophical work. AND hopefully CHI organizers will remember to schedule these papers in bigger rooms in the future :-)

There are only a few days before CHI 2014 in Toronto. CHI is the largest and most important HCI conference in the world. It is also the most well organized conference I have ever been to. The value of CHI is, since it covers the whole field of HCI research, that it is the place where you can get a sense of what is going on, what are the new trends and ideas. Individual papers and presentations are to me less interesting than the way the whole conference moves, shifts and transforms. These shifts and changes are not always visible from year to year, but as soon as you take a longer view (I think even three years is long enough) you start to see that the field is constantly evolving. I get convinced that the changes are bigger and faster than most people believe when I talk to colleagues who have not been to CHI for a few years and have some strong opinions about the conference and you realize that their image of it does not correspond to what you experience. However, there are of cour...

Device Landscapes   Erik Stolterman I am working on the idea of device landscapes or ecologies of artifacts since some time back. Here are some notes on the topic. They are short and somewhat abstract, but they work for me. If you want to comment. add or change them, please let me know. ----------------------- A device landscape can be defined as “the landscape made up by all physical devices with some level of interactivity, made possible by digital technology, that one person owns or has access to and engages with” Device landscape analysis is about non-designed landscapes , that is, landscapes that are serendipitous, emerging, evolving and dynamic. A device landscape consists of (1)  elements (devices), (2)      relationships, and (3)         qualities of relationships. -      -        What constitutes a device, a rel...

I got an email today with a Call for Contributions for an edited book with the title:  Practical Wisdom in the Age of Technology: Insights, Issues and Questions for a New Millennium.  It seems to be an attempt to bring together the notion of practical wisdom with philosophical understandings of technology. In the Call for Contributions there are several topics interesting topics mentioned. The editors are: Nikunj Dalal, Ali Intezari, Marty Heitz Take and look!