16 Nov 2012

Call for Book Chapters: Hyperconnectivity and the Future of Internet Communication

posted in: Uncategorized |

Call for Chapters: Hyperconnectivity and the Future of Internet Communication
Proposals Submission Deadline: December 15, 2012
Full Chapters Due: March 15, 2013

Introduction
Over the past few decades, there has been a revolution in computing and communication. Machines that once occupied whole rooms have moved to the desktop, the lap and palm, and into clothing itself. Stand-alone systems are now networked with each other and a wide range of different devices across vast distances. For the first time in human history, we have become instantly globally connected, leading to a hyperconnected society and a 168 (24×7) world.

One of the consequences of this revolution is an explosion in interactive internet media technologies. Interactive media is one of the main developments that emerged as a product of the technological, intellectual, and cultural innovations of the late 20th century. Interactive media means much more than the convergence of telecommunications, traditional media, and computing. Using Marshall McLuhans definition of media as an extension of man, new media includes all the various forms in which we as humans can extend our senses and brains into the world. It includes new technologies that allow us to facilitate these new communications and create natural and humanistic methods of interfacing with machines, as well as other people, remotely over large distances using the full range of human gestures such as touch, sight, sound, and even smell. Thus, new media includes new ways of communication between people, between cultures and races, between humans and machines, and between machines and machines. The vision of new media is that it will bring about radical developments in every aspect of human life in the form of new kinds of symbioses between humans and computers, new ways of communication between people, and new forms of social organization and interaction. New research and products in internet communication will bring a new sense of presence of humans in the real and virtual worlds. Although there are many books related to internet technologies, the aspect of communication with all human senses in a constant hyperconnected manner still requires much scholarly research. This book will be at the forefront of scholarship in multisensory hyperconnected human communication and be of great resource to scholars and experts.

Objective of the Book
This book will examine and expose future internet communication technologies and telexistence paradigms to allow a hyperconnected presence of all our five senses, as well as non-verbal and emotional communication, through digital networks and the physical world of humans and devices/gadgets. It will examine the human communication habits and preferences in the internet age and the possibilities of new media being truly extensions of man. Researchers need to go beyond this approach and focus on human emotions and nonverbal language as key components in the communication process. Case studies will examine corresponding new forms of communication, culture, economy and business, healthcare, learning, and play.

Target Audience
In order for businesses and countries to flourish commercially and culturally in the new millennium, it is necessary for them to understand and foster the growth of interactive media technologies and open-minded creative experimentations. This book will provide new perspectives on the field of internet media for communication, learning, and entertainment. The potential audience of this book will be scientists, engineers, and researchers of internet and digital media communications. In addition, the proposed book will aid the prospective audience, e.g. university lecturers and professors, students, researchers, and developers of internet technologies. It will allow a fundamental understanding of hyperconnectivity with all human senses, and will provide a great resource for scholarship as well as internet application development.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to the following:

Future internet communication technologies concerning multisensory and hyperconnected human communications. The chapter topics may include sub-topics related to:
*Affective Computing? Augmented, Mixed, and Virtual Reality
*Avatars and Autonomous Characters
*Cultural Computing
*Digital Broadcasting/Podcasting
*Educational
*Emerging World
*Entertainment
*Interaction and Experience Design
*Funology
*Game Design, Programming, and Production
*Human-Robot Interaction
*Children-Computer Interaction
*Location-Based Interaction
*Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing
*Persuasive Computing
*Smart Gadgets and Toys
*Social Networks
*Tangible Interfaces
*Urban Communities
*Visual Arts

Submission Procedure
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before December 15, 2012, a 2-3 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by December 30, 2012 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by March 15, 2013. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Publisher
This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference,” “Business Science Reference,” and “Engineering Science Reference” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com. This book is anticipated to be released in early 2014.

Important Dates
December 15, 2012: Proposal Submission Deadline
December 30, 2012: Notification of Acceptance
March 15, 2013: Full Chapter Submission
April 30, 2013: Review Results Returned
June 30, 2013: Final Chapter Submission

Editors

Adrian David Cheok (Keio University, Tokyo, Japan)

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document):

Adrian David Cheok
Keio University
adriancheok@kmd.keio.ac.jp
www.adriancheok.info

13 Nov 2012

Shantanu Prakash, founder of Educomp visit to Keio Media Design

posted in: Uncategorized |
Mr. Shantanu Prakash, founder of Educomp, a leading company which is providing digital content to youth across Asia and America. The company can really change the world, because more than 20 million youths are studying at Educomp schools. Imagine the effect this can have on our future to make kids more creative, more imaginative.
I was deeply impressed to hear Mr. Prakash talk at our school. What came across to me deeply was he has a deep vision about the future of learning. Unlike most academics who talk about changing education in the age of hyperconnectivity, he is actually doing something about it. He built up his company from scratch, so is also an amazing entrepreneur. 
Some of the quotes from his talk at KMD.
“Education should prepare for the work place. Games promote team work and collaboration and asking questions – this is more relevant than traditional education which focuses on degree and grades of individual.”
“Knowledge transfer will be computerized and instead education will teach kind of higher level collaboration techniques and learning methods for life.”

30 Oct 2012

How to hug a chicken, taste bitterness via the Internet | SmartPlanet

posted in: Uncategorized |

How to hug a chicken, taste bitterness via the Internet | SmartPlanet

Electrical engineer Adrian Cheok is the first person to hug a chicken via the Internet. And now he’s building gear to transmit touch and taste – helping us hug kids and taste flavors from afar. IEEE Spectrum reports.

While at National University of Singapore, his 2005 Poultry Internet project  showcased his fascination of transmitting not just multimedia but also sensations over the Internet. Starting with haptics, the technology of touch, he built a system that would let pet owners send their animals a pat from their office.

First, he built haptic jackets for the chickens, embedding them with vibrating elements.

The chicken’s jacket was connected wirelessly to the Internet, and its coop was rigged with a webcam. Then, in his office, Cheok patted a chicken doll that had touch-sensitive sensors, and the squeeze was transmitted to the live bird while he watched. The chicken had been hugged.

A 2007 project – the Huggy Pajama – allowed faraway parents to give their kid a remote good-night hug by just by pressing buttons.

Right now, he’s working on a commercial product that would let a user send a squeeze (and a warm a sentiment) to the ring on someone else’s finger. A prototype could be ready by the start of 2013.

He’s also working on a digital lollipop that can electrically and thermally stimulate the tongue to produce basic flavors like bitter, sour, salty, or sweet .

Cheok thinks multisensory communication gadgets will usher in the next stage of the Internet. “I believe we need to move from the age of information, which we have reached today, into the age of experience,” he says.

“The ultimate Internet,” he adds, “will integrate all our senses.”

Now at Now at Keio University’s Graduate School of Media Design, Cheok’s nurturing the next generation of creative innovators.

[Via IEEE Spectrum]

Image: Adrian Cheok

Janet Fang

About Janet Fang

Janet Fang is a contributing editor for SmartPlanet.

19 Oct 2012

Call for Chapters: Hyperconnectivity and the Future of Internet Communication

posted in: Uncategorized |

Call for Chapters: Hyperconnectivity and the Future of Internet Communication

Editors

Adrian David Cheok (Keio University, Tokyo, Japan)

 

Call for Chapters

Proposals Submission Deadline: November 15, 2012
Full Chapters Due: March 15, 2013

Introduction 
Over the past few decades, there has been a revolution in computing and communication. Machines that once occupied whole rooms have moved to the desktop, the lap and palm, and into clothing itself. Stand-alone systems are now networked with each other and a wide range of different devices across vast distances. For the first time in human history, we have become instantly globally connected, leading to a hyperconnected society and a 168 (24×7) world.

One of the consequences of this revolution is an explosion in interactive internet media technologies. Interactive media is one of the main developments that emerged as a product of the technological, intellectual, and cultural innovations of the late 20th century. Interactive media means much more than the convergence of telecommunications, traditional media, and computing. Using Marshall McLuhans definition of media as an extension of man, new media includes all the various forms in which we as humans can extend our senses and brains into the world. It includes new technologies that allow us to facilitate these new communications and create natural and humanistic methods of interfacing with machines, as well as other people, remotely over large distances using the full range of human gestures such as touch, sight, sound, and even smell. Thus, new media includes new ways of communication between people, between cultures and races, between humans and machines, and between machines and machines. The vision of new media is that it will bring about radical developments in every aspect of human life in the form of new kinds of symbioses between humans and computers, new ways of communication between people, and new forms of social organization and interaction. New research and products in internet communication will bring a new sense of presence of humans in the real and virtual worlds. Although there are many books related to internet technologies, the aspect of communication with all human senses in a constant hyperconnected manner still requires much scholarly research. This book will be at the forefront of scholarship in multisensory hyperconnected human communication and be of great resource to scholars and experts.

Objective of the Book
This book will examine and expose future internet communication technologies and telexistence paradigms to allow a hyperconnected presence of all our five senses, as well as non-verbal and emotional communication, through digital networks and the physical world of humans and devices/gadgets. It will examine the human communication habits and preferences in the internet age and the possibilities of new media being truly extensions of man. Researchers need to go beyond this approach and focus on human emotions and nonverbal language as key components in the communication process. Case studies will examine corresponding new forms of communication, culture, economy and business, healthcare, learning, and play.

Target Audience 
In order for businesses and countries to flourish commercially and culturally in the new millennium, it is necessary for them to understand and foster the growth of interactive media technologies and open-minded creative experimentations. This book will provide new perspectives on the field of internet media for communication, learning, and entertainment. The potential audience of this book will be scientists, engineers, and researchers of internet and digital media communications. In addition, the proposed book will aid the prospective audience, e.g. university lecturers and professors, students, researchers, and developers of internet technologies. It will allow a fundamental understanding of hyperconnectivity with all human senses, and will provide a great resource for scholarship as well as internet application development.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to the following:

Future internet communication technologies concerning multisensory and hyperconnected human communications. The chapter topics may include sub-topics related to:
*Affective Computing? Augmented, Mixed, and Virtual Reality
*Avatars and Autonomous Characters
*Cultural Computing
*Digital Broadcasting/Podcasting
*Educational
*Emerging World
*Entertainment
*Interaction and Experience Design
*Funology
*Game Design, Programming, and Production
*Human-Robot Interaction
*Children-Computer Interaction
*Location-Based Interaction
*Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing
*Persuasive Computing
*Smart Gadgets and Toys
*Social Networks
*Tangible Interfaces
*Urban Communities
*Visual Arts

Submission Procedure 
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before November 15, 2012, a 2-3 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by November 30, 2012 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by March 15, 2013. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Publisher
This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference,” “Business Science Reference,” and “Engineering Science Reference” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com. This book is anticipated to be released in early 2014.

Important Dates
November 15, 2012:        Proposal Submission Deadline
November 30, 2012:        Notification of Acceptance
March 15, 2013:               Full Chapter Submission
April 30, 2013:                  Review Results Returned
June 30, 2013:                 Final Chapter Submission

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document):

Adrian David Cheok
Keio University
adriancheok@kmd.keio.ac.jp
www.adriancheok.info

14 Oct 2012

WIT Bootcamp: Adrian David Cheok to speak on Panel on Innovation: So What’s The Secret Sauce?

posted in: Keynote Speeches and Talks, Uncategorized |

9.10-10.00 Innovation: So What’s The Secret Sauce?
Is there a secret formula for innovation? Is it about the right team? How do you create the right environment for innovation. We ask a panel of experts to share their views on what are the crucial ingredients that differentiate great companies from good.

Opening Volley:
Rod Cuthbert, Interim Chairman, Rome2Rio

Panel:
Adrian Currie, Board Management Member, Priceline Group
Rajnish Kapur, Chief Innovation & Customer Experience Officer, MakeMyTrip
Stephan Ekbergh, CEO, Travelstart
Prof Adrian David Cheok, Professor, Keio University Graduate School of Media Design, Tokyo, Japan
Kingsley Wood, Business Development, Asia Pacific, Amazon Asia-Pacific Resources
Arun Verma, Techology & Innovation, AirAsia

8 Oct 2012

ACE 2012 Nepal

posted in: Uncategorized |

ACE 2012: 9th Advances in Computer Entertainment Conference Register now to attend! This is the 9th ACE conference, and the first time that an international entertainment computing conference is being held in the emerging world. The theme of ACE 2012 is “Entertaining the Whole World”. Kathmandu in Nepal “The Roof of the World” has been chosen as venue. We are pleased to announce the very high quality and very interesting and exciting work you will be able to see in Nepal. We received about 140 submissions in the various categories (papers, posters, demonstrations, workshops, panels). From the regular paper submissions 10 papers were accepted for long presentations (about 14%). You will also be able to see cutting edge entertainment demos from ACE delegates coming from around the world at the World Trade Center of Nepal. For the first time this year, we will also be conducting Entertainment Workshops for Kids. Our second day of the conference will take place at local schools in Nepal. Not only will local Nepal youth be able to attend our regular sessions, but at the same time ACE delegates will be conducting Entertainment Workshops for Kids. The research in this work is going to change our concepts of electronic entertainment in radical new ways. Register now, and don’t miss your chance to see these works presented and interact with the authors in Nepal! Venue: Kathmandu, Nepal, 3-5 November, 2012 ACE 2012 home page http://www.ace2012.info/ Follow us on Twitter Join us on Facebook For general questions about ACE 2012 please contact info@ace2012.info Unsubscribe by email

24 Sep 2012

MHCI Steering Committee Meeting

posted in: Uncategorized |

This year I have been Chair of the Mobile HCI Steering meeting, and at the MHCI conference in San Francisco on Saturday 22nd September 2012 we had the annual committee meeting. 

Most of the meeting was fairly standard and smooth. Reports from the 2012 conference, update from the 2013 conference committee, etc.

We had to then vote for the location of the conference in 2014. There were four candidates. In the initial vote we had a dead tie for the first place. We then had more in depth discussions about the locations, the pros and cons of each in detail. We then had another vote, by secret ballot. This time again there was a tie. We had again more and more in depth discussions. We then went for another vote but we didn’t reach a conclusion. Basically, it was very difficult for all to agree on one, since we had such good candidates. It was the first time I chaired the MHCI meeting, so it was really interesting for me to try to guide these proceedings. I really appreciated the in depth and considered debates. It was really interesting yet exhausting. Finally after 3 and a half hours we decided to take a rest and decide at a follow up meeting. To me it seemed that often when trying to optimize a solution, especially in a human group, it is difficult to have a balance between analysis and decision. We need to have some kind of balance between explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge. 

UPDATE: Please note the committee had a difficult time to decide because all the bids were so good. It was so difficult to find a clear winner with four excellent bids. Please keep watch for the official decision after the next meetings.

Photo of 2012 Steering Committee.

18 Sep 2012

Information is food

posted in: Uncategorized |

Information is food

I have been thinking for a while about information overload. Modern life seems to be a never ending deluge of email and other information. One could almost spend their entire time answering emails and not doing any “real” work.

I had been thinking that communication is a basic need similar to food. If you think about babies, they could not survive without communication, similarly to they could not survive without food.

However, I had hypothesized that unlike food, our brain has no natural ability to know then there is too much communication. I think this is because in all of human history we have never had the situation where we could have too much communication. For hundreds of thousands of years of human history when our brain developed we were in small groups in a hunter gatherer society. Some studies estimate the small groups would be about 30 to 50 people. Thus we had a natural limit to communication. Unlike food, where we have a brain signalling system when we have over consumed (and we feel full), our brains would never have to evolve a signal that there has been enough communication consumption. 

Our hyperconnected era is a tiny sliver of human history, too short for evolution. Therefore our brain has not had a chance to signal too us when there is too much communication. Thus I think this leads us to become addicted to the limitless communication of email, twitter, facebook, youtube etc. If you are like me, you also have a growing, backlog of videos to watch later on youtube, Ted. An ever increasing number of articles to read on “Pocket”. Let alone the media in our physical world, such as hundreds of unread books and hundreds of unwatched videos.

This talk on Ted seems to address these concerns partly by stating that food and information are essentially a very similar basic consumption to the human body. There is a very interesting research mentioned to say that at the basic level metabolism is the same for primates so there is a trade off between tissue to process food (our stomachs) and tissue to process information (our brains). 

The hypothesis that we didn’t evolve abolity to have a brain signal for too much consumption needs more research by evolutionary biologists (I would greatly appreciate if anyone would like to contact me to discuss this). However at this stage I think we can say that information is similar to consumption of food. Too much is not good for you, and in fact destructive to your health. Because we do not have a natural brain signal to notify we have consumed too much information (as in food), we need to consciously force ourselves to have a limit (and to have a diet etc.).

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