Workshop on assistive augmentation

Jochen Huber, Jun Rekimoto, Masahiko Inami, Roy Shilkrot, Pattie Maes, Wong Meng Ee, Graham Pullin, Suranga Chandima Nanayakkara

Abstract: Our senses are the dominant channel for perceiving the world around us, some more central than the others, such as the sense of vision. Whether they have impairments or not, people often find themselves at the edge of sensorial capability and seek assistive or enhancing devices. We wish to put sensorial ability and disability on a continuum of usability for certain technology, rather than treat one or the other extreme as the focus. The overarching topic of the workshop proposed here is the design and development of assistive technology, user interfaces and interactions that seamlessly integrate with a user's mind, body and behavior, providing an enhanced perception. We call this "Assistive Augmentation". The workshop aims to establish conversation and idea exchange with researchers and practitioners at the junction of human-computer interfaces, assistive technology and human augmentation. The workshop will serve as a hub for the emerging community of assistive augmentation researchers.