We invite submissions in all areas of Human–Computer Interaction. Held every two years, NordiCHI is one of the key venues for HCI research in Europe, bringing together an international community of researchers and practitioners.

The NordiCHI 2026 theme is Pulse – exploring the energy that drives us. Pulse reflects both the dynamic highs and calm lows of life, keeping us thriving, and will inspire keynotes and discussions throughout the conference. Vaasa is known for both its vibrant energy industry as the Nordic energy cluster and the tranquillity of its surrounding nature and UNESCO World Heritage site. Vaasa provides a fitting backdrop for reflecting on the future of HCI.

The conference welcomes the full breadth of HCI research, including contributions that advance theory, methodology, technology, or practice. NordiCHI has traditionally highlighted human-centred, values-driven work that bridges design inquiry and empirical study, often engaging societal contexts (e.g., health, education, sustainability, fairness), participatory methods, and critical/reflective perspectives. Technical work is welcome when it meaningfully engages interaction (e.g., explainability, HRI, XR, toolkits) and is supported by appropriate user-centred evidence; purely algorithmic or systems papers without a substantive HCI contribution are typically out of scope. We welcome submissions addressing the conference theme, however it is by no means a requirement to do so.

Topics of Interest

We welcome contributions across the breadth of HCI, including but not limited to:

Collaborative Technologies: collaborative systems, cooperation through computers, crowdsourcing studies and tools, domains applications (e.g., health and wellbeing, education and lifelong learning, future of work, etc.)
Design & Interaction: interaction techniques and modalities, visualization, VR/AR, tangible and embodied interaction, play and game experiences, design theories and methods.
Human–Centred AI: generative AI and creativity support, explainability and transparency, human-in-the-loop and interactive machine learning, trust, control, and evaluation of AI-mediated experiences.
Societal Challenges & Values: sustainability, accessibility, inclusion and diversity, digital wellbeing, privacy and security, critical and justice oriented HCI.
Systems, Toolkits & Computational Interaction: engineering interactive systems, toolkits and infrastructure, fabrication and novel devices, input/output sensing, model-driven interaction.
Understanding People: studies of behaviour, cognition, perception, and experience using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods; lab, in-the-wild, and auto/participatory ethnographies.
User Experience: methodological innovations and reproducibility, visualization and visual analytics, domain applications (e.g., mobility, smart environments).