October 7, 2010 to October 8, 2010
SSPNet Workshop: “Accounting for Social Variables in Human Computer Interaction”
7-8 October 2010
Telecom ParisTech, Paris, France
The SSPNET workshop on social variables in the context of HCI is concerned with the proper way of analyzing and synthesizing social cues in the context of Human Computer Interaction, in particular, human-agent and human-robot interaction. A particular challenge this domain of research if faced with is that the relation between the form and meaning of social signals can change dynamically with the context. There contextual parameters that play a role in determining what a signal actually means in a particular context are manifold. The setting, the task, differences between individuals related to gender, age or personality, differences in the roles people take, cultural differences, and differences in usage or stance (is it said seriously or in jest) are just a few. This raises the question how the coupling of form and meaning should be specified for use in systems such as virtual humans and social robots.
Within SSPNet, a general framework is being drawn up that tries to get a grip on the many variables that influence the form and meaning relationship. The framework sets the relevant variables and types of relationship between them to capture the complexity of Social Signal Processing. The framework taps into the wealth of literature from various disciplines. The aim of this endeavor – which is formally part of SSPNet’s WP9 – is not just theoretical, but also practical. The way one conceptualizes social signals has a large impact on what one considers social signal processing to be and even more importantly it more or less dictates the right way to proceed with the study of social signal processing. A good example of this is the direct relation that exists between the conceptualization of social signals and the definition of representation languages for the annotation of corpora or the specification of robot and agent behaviors.
In this workshop, we want to present the current ways in which the discussions on the general framework have had an impact on the current practice in SSPNet or how they should have an impact. The starting point is the work that is being carried out in WP9 on politeness and representation languages, which will be presented at the workshop. But as stated above, the topic of the workshop is broader than WP9′s focus on this topic and therefore the workshop reaches out to other researchers, primarily in SSPNet to contribute actively through presentations and discussions so as to foster interaction and enhance cohesion within the wider network. Several researchers outside of the network, that have worked in the area of the workshop themes and that have complementary competencies with SSPNet partners, are being invited as well.
Participants to the workshop are encouraged to show their work. The presentations are not aimed at dealing solely with WP9′s topic of politeness but will address broader perspectives.
In particular, they should address pertinent variables describing social context.
Thus, the workshop will address different issues among others:
- Definition of the General Framework encompassing the pertinent variables describing social context
- Understanding, modeling, and evaluating the role of specific social signal such as smiles and turn-taking in HCI.
- Particular framework related issues such as FML – Representation Language.
- Pertinence of using the Semaine platform.
- Integration of the various conducted studies within the General Framework.
Please send an email, before Sept 24th, to Catherine.Pelachaud@telecom-paristech.fr if you intend to participate to this event and indicate whether you will give a presentation.
Organizers:
- Dirk Heylen, University of Twente
- Catherine Pelachaud, CNRS, Telecom ParisTech
- Mark Schröder, DFKI
Important dates:
- 24th of September: intention to participate to the workshop
- 7-8th of October: Workshop
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