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24th International Conference
on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia


Enna, Italy

Workshops

W1

Full Day

A Sandbox for (Designing) Democratic Technologies

In the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence (AI) agents, designing the agent’s characteristics is crucial for shaping user experience. This workshop aims to establish a research community focused on AI agent persona design for various contexts, such as in-car assistants, educational tools, and smart home environments. We will explore critical aspects of persona design, such as voice, embodiment, and demographics, and their impact on user satisfaction and engagement. Through discussions and hands-on activities, we aim to propose practices and standards that enhance the ecological validity of agent personas. Topics include the design of conversational interfaces, the influence of agent personas on user experience, and approaches for creating contextually appropriate AI agents. This workshop will provide a platform for building a community dedicated to developing AI agent personas that better fit diverse, everyday interactions. The workshop provides a hands-on, collaborative forum for reimagining interactive systems in ways that promote democratic values, civic participation and societal care. Building on the evolving Sandbox for Democratic Technologies work, the workshop uses role-play, scenario-based design, and iterative, low-fidelity prototyping to critically examine how technologies, values and power relations are entangled and how interaction designers can contribute to constructing a positive, democratic digital society of the future. Participants will engage in three main sessions: introductions with position paper discussions, prototyping, and a collective reflection session. Each of these sessions is split up into smaller activities to encourage interaction and dialogue. The sandbox approach provides an experimental, safe, imaginative space for exploring contested priorities and testing new design directions without risk

Organizers: Nicholas Stevens, Jasmin Niess and Alma Leora Culén (University of Oslo)

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Important dates

Aug 21
Aug 28		 Short and full papers Submission Deadline
Aug 21
Aug 28		 Workshops and Tutorials Submission Deadline
Sep 1 Workshops and Tutorials Decision Notification
Oct 6 Short and full papers Decision Notification
Oct 9
Oct 13		 Posters
Submission Deadline
Oct 9
Oct 13		 Demos
Submission Deadline
Oct 9
Oct 20		 Doctoral Consortium Submission Deadline
Oct 16 Student Volunteers Application Deadline
Oct 20 Short and full papers Camera Ready
Oct 20 Workshops and Tutorials Camera Ready
Oct 23
Oct 25		 Posters
Decision Notification
Oct 23 Demos
Decision Notification
Oct 23 Doctoral Consortium Decision Notification
Oct 23 Student Volunteers Decision Notification
Nov 3 Posters
Camera Ready
Nov 3 Demos
Camera Ready
Nov 3 Doctoral Consortium
Camera Ready

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