INTERACT 2013 – Opening Plenary

At this year’s INTERACT conference crossWorlds presented the publication ‘Diverse Ecologies – Interdisciplinary Development for Cultural Education’. Within their work crossWorlds researchers Heidt, Kanellopoulos, Pfeiffer and Rosenthal explore the implications of highly interdisciplinary research settings. Showing how differences between project participants can act as assets, they argue for a design process infused by multiperspectivity, disciplinary diversity and mutual sensitivity. The presentation at Cape Town, South Africa was met with a high amount of interest and sparked many engaging scientific discussions.
INTERACT’s motto ‘conference with a conscience’ also provided a helpful climate for articulation of ethical motivations underwriting design processes at crossWorlds. The conference thus provided a unique venue for discussion of ethical commitment as well as practical design. Hence, experiences made, positions exchanged and insights acquired have proven to contribute invaluably to ongoing research. Situated within multi-cultural Cape Town, INTERACT attracted participants from 37 countries, contributing to an atmosphere of diversity, curiosity and mutual tolerance.

CHI ’13 Opening Plenary

crossWorlds fellows Kalja Kanellopoulos and Michael Heidt were invited to present their paper ‘Stubborn Materialities / Unruly Aesthetics’ at CHI ’13. The participation in the workshop ‘Crafting Interactive Systems’ included a talk as well as acting as panellists for the session ‘technology as critique’. Focussing on a reconceptualization of the relationship between artistic and scientific practices, both researchers explored the potentials inherent in digital materialities. According to their positions, displacements introduced by interactive art open new expressive possibilities for aesthetic unmasking of power relations. The presentation sparked lively discussions as well as obtaining strongly positive feedback.
Throughout the conference, the field of HCI articulated itself as driven by a highly dynamic community. An atmosphere of openness towards heterodox thought was perceived as helpful intellectual catalyst, creating exciting opportunities for integration of scientific, artistic and designerly practices.
ACM CHI is widely acknowledged as the most prestigious conference in the field of Human-Computer-Interaction. This year’s CHI was the largest and most multicultural event hosted so far with around 3300 attendees, representing a total of 54 nations.