CHI 2025: Walking the Future

Bridging Foot Augmentation into Next Steps of Human Augmentation:

A CHI 2025 Workshop

Over the past decade, a noticeable increase in literature can be seen in wearable foot interfaces, which have evolved from activity tracking to enhancing human capabilities. Our legs, being the largest body limbs, play an essential role in various functions such as locomotion, maintaining balance, supporting proper posture and providing ground-contact using our feet. Hence, foot augmentations offer the opportunity to augment our entire body. However, most prior research focuses on specific application areas, thus affording a research agenda to further understand the full potential of feet in designing augmentations and to contextualize it in the broader human augmentation space. To achieve this, in this workshop, we invite researchers and practitioners interested in designing human and foot augmentations. We will discuss how early foot interfaces helped in augmenting humans, and based on current work and trends in foot augmentation, we will formulate strategies for the next steps and discuss the applicability of such strategies in the broader space of human augmentation.

Where

Hybrid Workshop at CHI’25.

When

Saturday, 26 April 2025

What are the topics covered in the Workshop?

Past to Present – What can we learn from the history of foot augmentation, and what is the current state (e.g., modalities, technologies, methods)?
Present to Future – What are the strategies for the next steps in foot augmentation?
Foot to Human Augmentation – How do such strategies link to the broader space of human augmentation?

Call for Participation

The Walking the Future workshop aims to serve as a platform to foster discussions on foot augmentation among researchers, enthusiasts, and practitioners. Moreover, the workshop should form the bridge between learnings of the past to deriving design guidelines and research strategies for the future of foot augmentation. This hybrid workshop is open to anybody with experience in design and research in the field of human augmentation. To participate, you need to submit a two to three-page position paper (by Feb. 13, 2025) using the ACM Master Article Template (see form to upload your manuscript). We encourage your position paper to focus on at least one of the areas which would be discussed during the workshop – (a) modalities and methods for foot augmentation, (b) design and fabrication of systems to provide augmentations, (c) design challenges and guidelines, (d) connections between foot and human augmentation, or another area you believe is worth discussing. The paper should briefly introduce yourself and provide an overview of what you believe needs discussion during the workshop. You are highly encouraged to present your work in this context. Position papers will form the basis of the group discussions. Finally, participants will have a choice to have their accepted paper published on the workshop website. At least one author of an accepted position paper must attend the workshop (in-person or virtual) and register for at least one day of the conference.