For ACI2020 we invite a wide range of contributions that have the potential to promote a constructive dialogue around animal-centred research and design of interactive technology, and to foster the development of ACI as a discipline (This link will take you to an external web site. We are not responsible for their content.).

As with previous editions, ACI2020 is in co-operation with ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) and SIGCHI (Special interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction) and accepted contributions will be published in the ACM Digital Library within the ACI2020 Proceedings Volume.

Conference theme

This year's conferene theme is Embodied Dialogues. On the one hand, the theme implicitly refers to the challenges and opportunities that arise when designing and developing interactive technology for and with users and participants who do not communicate through what we term 'natural language', which makes supporting embodied exchanges all the more important. On the other hand, the theme alludes to the possibilities open by technologies such as the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence, thanks to which computing applications are increasingly embedded into the infrastructures and objects of the physical environment in which multispecies agents operate and interact. Although specifically focussed, the theme is very broad in the connections that can be made from multiple angles, in order to encourage engagement with and contributions to the conference from a wide range of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. Submissions that relate to this year's conference theme are especially welcome, but high quality submissions are welcome regardless.

Contribution areas

Relevant contribution areas might include: 

    Design: for example, interaction modalities that may need to be developed in order to make technology accessible to other animals; novel designs for users with different sensorial apparatuses, cognitive capabilities, and ergonomic characteristics; multisensory interfaces and alternative interactional paradigms appropriate for ACI; design solutions developed within ACI applications that could inform design within interaction design or animal studies 
    Methodology: for example, methodological frameworks enabling animals to actively participate in the design process as legitimate stakeholders, contributors and users; multidisciplinary methodologies that can be called upon when designing with animals or investigating how technology affects them and their interactions with humans; methodologies that can be derived from other disciplines; more-than-human approaches developed within ACI that could contribute to other disciplines 
    Theory: for example, main challenges that ACI researchers may encounter in conceptualizing the interaction between humans, animals and technology; ways of interpreting the outcomes of applied studies, concrete designs and research practices to articulate such interactions; existing theoretical frameworks from other disciplines, that ACI theories can draw from or contribute to 
    Ethics: for example, legitimate technological applications for ACI; implications of ACI’s animal-centered perspective for conducting research that involves animal participants; ethical frameworks that may or may not be suitable to support the development of ACI; relation between ethics and methodology in ACI; potential influence of ACI ethics on ethical aspects of HCI research 
    Applications: for example, ACI applications relating to animal studies or husbandry, or practices involving animals in a range of contexts; applications that mediate the interaction between humans and other animals, or interactions among other animals; animal technologies that do or do not constitute good examples of or models for ACI. 

Assessment criteria 

Regardless of whether they relate to this year's conference theme, all submissions will be assessed based on the following criteria: 

    Contribution to the field. The submission should make a novel and significant contribution to the field of ACI, proportionate to the category of submission (e.g. full papers should make a more substantial contribution compared to extended abstracts associated with video-posters). 
    Quality of the submission. The submission should be of high quality, both with regards to its content (e.g., the work presented should be well motivated in relation to existing issues and related work; approaches and methodologies should be appropriately chosen and rigorously implemented; the significance of research findings should be properly discussed; arguments should be carefully constructed and claims adequately supported) and with regards to its presentation (e.g., the submission’s structure should be appropriate to the type of contribution; the work should be described clearly; the use of language should be correct; terminology should be accessible to non-specialists or any specialist terminology should be explained). 
    Transparency of the approach. The submission should clearly express how the process of thinking about and conducting the presented work relates to ACI’s animal-centred perspective. This includes design, methodological and ethical considerations. In particular, each submission should include an explanation of how animals have been involved or represented, or their role and perspective have been accounted for, in the work and, if applicable, what ethical perspective or frameworks have been applied.