Multimodal Sports Interaction: Wearables and HCI in Motion. A Ubicomp/ISWC 2024 Workshop
Feedback modalities are an essential aspect of the success and effectiveness of wearable systems that are used during mobile activities. In the past decades, researchers have explored a variety of feedback and feed-forward modalities systems aimed at mobile interactions. Dynamic activities such as sports inhibit interactions with devices generally but also offer opportunities for novel interaction experiences. The choice of modalities is essential to provide feedback that is understandable, timely, and does not interfere with the sports activity.
This well-balanced hands-on workshop aims to bring together practitioners and researchers working on and interested in mobile and wearable systems. Workshop participants will be offered a platform to collectively discuss and explore current approaches, methods, and tools related to feedback modalities for mobile interactions.
Topics of interest
The topics of interest for the workshop include theories, technologies, and applications related to the use of mobile sports wearables. Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:
- Multimodal feedback modalities for sports, going beyond visual, auditory and haptic feedback
- Mobile technology, including portable hardware, and software such as AI
- Wearable devices, from existing off-the-shelf devices to research prototypes utilising sensors and actuators
- Applications in indoor/outdoor sports
- Truly mobile interaction design approaches for wearable systems in sport
- Accessibility and inclusivity through interaction design
- Methods for longitudinal studies with mobile and wearable systems for sports.
Workshop Structure
The workshop will be 6 hours long. Activities include a presentation by an invited speaker, brief participants’ presentations, content discussion, and quick-and-dirty prototyping to explore novel multimodal wearable and mobile systems for sports.
- Activity one: Workshop introduction and keynote speaker.
- Activity two: Participants will present/demonstrate their examples of good and bad systems, and are encouraged to cluster them to the truly mobile interaction framework.
- Activity three: Participants will be divided into groups and engage in quick-and-dirty prototyping to conceptualize novel multimodal feedback for a specific sports activity.
- Activity four: Participants present/demonstrate the concepts. These will be clustered again according to the truly mobile interaction framework.
The workshop will conclude with identifying the next steps for mobile wearable systems for sports.
Position paper submission:
Apply by e-mailing Expression of Interest (UPDATED)
As deadlines for submission via PCS (with inclusion of the position papers to the ACM digital library) has passed, we offer the following option to apply for the workshop.
Send an e-mail to Vincent.vanrheden@plus.ac.at with an expression of interest including:
- Background: Describing the participant’s experience using wearable, mobile or interactive systems in sports or movement-centered HCI practices, as well as their previous research practice in the area.
- (Optional) Sport systems and experiences: Two good and two bad examples of modality usage in sports, arguing the choice of the examples. For each example describe how the feedback modality was utilized and the type of feedback that was given and argue why this was a good or bad approach and consider alternative modalities and provide key insights and challenges. If possible, add a representative image. These examples can be industry or research projects, including one’s own. Note: participants are still expected to present this in the workshop.
- (Optional) Participants are encouraged to bring material for quick-and-dirty prototyping to explore novel feedback modalities (e.g. actuators, wearables, mobile systems that can be repurposed). Consider providing a short (visual) description of these materials and how they can be used.
· Application deadline: 15.09.2024
· Notification to authors: 20.09.2024
· Workshop date: 05.10.2024
Submissions will be reviewed by the organizers and selected according to their relevance to the workshop and the likelihood of sparking discussions and inspire novel feedback approaches and modalities. . Please note that at least one author of each accepted submission must attend the workshop, and UbiComp/ISWC 2024 is in-person only. For more information, visit: https://www.ubicomp.org/ubicomp-iswc-2024/workshops-and-symposia/ or feel free to reach out to Vincent.vanrheden@plus.ac.at
Workshop proposal: van Rheden, V., Montoya, M., Elvitigala, D., Meschtscherjakov, A., Mueller, F. 
Organizers:
Vincent van Rheden, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria, vincent.vanrheden@plus.ac.at
Maria Montoya Vega, Exertion Games Lab, Monash University Melbourne, Australia, maria@exertiongameslab.org
Don Samitha Elvitigala, Exertion Games Lab, Monash University Melbourne, Australia, don.samitha@exertiongameslab.org
Alexander Meschtscherjakov, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria, alexander.meschtscherjakov@plus.ac.at
Florian ‘Floyd’ Mueller, Exertion Games Lab, Monash University Melbourne, Australia, floyd@exertiongameslab.org