Rethinking the Senses: A Workshop on Multisensory Embodied Experiences and Disability Interactions

The dynamic aspects of living with disability, life transitions, including ageing, psychological distress, long-term conditions such as chronic pain and new conditions such as long-COVID affect people’s abilities. Interactions with this diversity of embodiments can be enriched, empowered and augmented through using multisensory and cross-sensory modalities to create more inclusive technologies and experiences. This workshop will explore three related sub-domains: immersive multi-sensory experiences, embodied experiences, and disability interactions and design. The aim is to better understand how we can rethink the senses in technology design for disability interactions and the dynamic self, constructed through continuously changing sensing capabilities either because of changing ability or because of the empowering technology. This workshop will: (i) bring together HCI researchers from different areas, (ii) discuss tools, frameworks and methods, and (iii) form a multidisciplinary community to build synergies for further collaboration.

Submission and dates

We invite researchers, practitioners, and designers with an interest in creating inclusive multisensory interactions for people of all abilities to submit position papers of up to 4 pages in single-column SIGCHI submission template (including references) stating their existing work, a conceptual design, or their position with respect to the workshop topic. Submissions should also include up to two discussion points and issues that participants would like to discuss in the workshop. We also welcome alternate submissions in the form of presentation slides, design sketches, and posters. Authors must ensure the accessibility of their submission by following the SIGCHI Accessibility Guidelines (https://chi2021.acm.org/for-authors/presenting/papers/guide-to-an-accessible-submission)

Submissions can be made by February 12, 2021 by emailing to m.bandukda@ucl.ac.uk. Authors will be notified of the submissions by March 15. The submissions can be individual or group. If accepted, at least one author must attend the workshop at CHI2021 (via Zoom). All accepted submissions will be published on the website prior to the workshop. 

Workshop Organizers

The organizers are experts in HCI research relevant to multi-sensory technologies, affective computing and embodied experiences, accessibility and assistive technologies, and disability design and interactions.

Maryam Bandukda

Aneesha Singh

Catherine Holloway

Nadia Bianchi-Berthouze

Emeline Brule

Ana Tajadura-Jiménez

Oussama Metatla

Ana Javornik

Anja Thieme