alt.chi: Call for Participation

Quick Facts

• alt.chi consists of both external and invited submissions
• Submission Deadline: 14 Jan 2011
• Discussion Period: 22 Jan - 10 Feb 2011
• Final Notification: 11 Feb 2011
• Camera Ready: 18 Feb 2011
• Submit to: PCS system
  • see PCS Submission FAQ for new procedures.
• Submission Format: Camera-ready, 10 page paper in Extended Abstracts format, including an abstract of no more than 100 words and a brief submission history of the paper. Optional 5 minute video figure. The work should be submitted to the alt.chi submission system, which will be open in mid-December. Submitted papers will be openly discussed by members of the CHI community in an online discussion forum. Authors are welcome and encouraged to invite members of the community to discuss their paper.
• At the Conference: Accepted papers will be presented at the conference in talks between 10 and 20 minutes (including questions).
• Archives: Extended abstracts; DVD and ACM Digital Library

Message from the alt.chi Chairs

The CHI conference is the leading venue to present innovations in human computer interaction. The year's best work from researchers and practitioners is selected in a strictly competitive process. But this competition also inevitably means that many valuable contributions are never presented at CHI - and some might not even be submitted.

With alt.chi 2011, we want to continue the tradition of providing a venue for unusual, challenging and thought-provoking work that might not otherwise be seen at the conference. alt.chi is a place to experiment with how CHI submissions are presented, submitted, reviewed and selected. alt.chi is CHI's breathing room, the space for change, where new ideas can be tried out and experienced. alt.chi 2011 is your chance to express your controversial ideas about the current state and future directions of HCI research, and to present that paper you always wanted to write but you knew would never get through the conventional review process.

Daniel Wigdor, University of Toronto
Patrick Baudisch, Hasso Plattner Institute
Contact us: altchi@chi2011.org

What is alt.chi?

alt.chi invites controversial ideas (ignore the user?), novel prototypes (is this DUX -- Designing for User Experience?), "failed" but valuable user studies (null results?), bold experiments (no pain, no gain?), and anything else that can give a fresh perspective on CHI (paradigm shift?). We invite submissions that explore technical or practical limitations in technologies or methodologies (support for user laziness?); that introduce promising, although currently non-viable techniques (perhaps using Wizard-of-Oz methods); that critique the current state of the field (where's your formal experiment?); and that explore topics outside of current discussion (human-pillow interfaces?). How about replication studies (good for students!)? We invite work that would otherwise not have been presented at CHI 2011, because it is too controversial (or too embarrassing) or outside of the norm. In essence, any compelling paper which will provoke new ideas or stir up discussions within the CHI community is appropriate for alt.chi.

Preparing and Submitting your alt.chi Submission

Submissions must be formatted in Extended Abstracts format. Submissions may not be more than 10 pages long, and the abstract within the Extended Abstract should be no longer than 100 words. When submitting, if appropriate, authors will describe a brief history of the submissions, such as if it has been rejected from another forum. alt.chi submissions should not be accepted or under review anywhere else while in submission.

While alt.chi welcomes completely fresh submissions, we will also be inviting authors to submit their controversial or compelling work not accepted in other tracks. In particular, authors of highly discussed papers that are submitted but not accepted into the CHI Papers and Notes track will be invited to submit their work to alt.chi.

Optional Video Figure

Your submission may be accompanied by a short digital video figure or interactive illustration that is up to five minutes in length and no more than 100 MB final data size. Since not everyone who reads the paper may view the video figure, your submission must stand on its own without the figure, and will be reviewed as such. Some guidelines for creating video submissions can be found at: Guide to a Successful Video Submission.

alt.chi Decision Process

alt.chi is a juried track for CHI 2011. During the period between submissions and notifications, members of the CHI community will be invited to discuss the submission in a public, non-anonymous, forum*. Anyone who is interested will be able to view and discuss your work. Authors will be encouraged to invite appropriate members of the CHI community to comment on their work, and the alt.chi committee will also invite discussions. We want to encourage discussion and debate on what makes a good alt.chi (or regular CHI) submission, and, ultimately, what makes for a fruitful conference experience. After the discussion period, a jury of experts will evaluate the work based on how compelling it would be to CHI attendees, and the nature of the discussions which the submission produced.

*all reviewers will be required to consent to the review agreement prior to reviewing.

Upon Acceptance of your alt.chi Submission

Authors will be notified of acceptance or rejection by 11 Feb 2011. Final versions of accepted Extended Abstracts must be uploaded by 18 Feb 2011.

At the Conference

All accepted alt.chi papers will be presented at the conference.

After the Conference

Accepted alt.chi papers will be distributed in the CHI Conference Extended Abstracts, available at the conference on DVD and in the ACM Digital Library, where they will remain accessible to thousands of researchers and practitioners worldwide.