CHI 2019

CHI 2019
Name	CHI 2019
Location	Glasgow, Scotland
Dates	May 4–9, 2019
Organizer	Association for Computing Machinery

CHI 2019

CHI 2019 was the 37th annual conference of the Association for Computing Machinery's SIGCHI, held in Glasgow, Scotland, drawing researchers, practitioners, and students from across computing and design. The event featured peer-reviewed papers, keynotes, workshops, panels, tutorials, and an exhibition, with participation by leading figures and institutions in human–computer interaction, ubiquitous computing, and user experience. Glasgow venues hosted sessions that intersected with work from universities, technology companies, and research labs worldwide.

Overview

The conference convened delegates from organizations including the Association for Computing Machinery, Microsoft Research, Google Research, Apple Inc., and Facebook alongside academics from Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University College London, and University of Cambridge. Attendees engaged with themes related to privacy, accessibility, machine learning, human-robot interaction, and design ethics, reflecting influences from the Turing Award recipients and recent policy dialogues in European Union data regulations and standards. The program emphasized interdisciplinary collaboration among contributors affiliated with institutions such as the Alan Turing Institute, Imperial College London, ETH Zurich, University of Washington, and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

Conference Program

The program schedule included technical paper sessions, poster sessions, doctoral consortiums, an alt.chi track, and a student volunteer program managed in coordination with professional societies like the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and regional chapters of SIGCHI partners. Tutorials covered methods from labs at MIT Media Lab, MIT CSAIL, Bell Labs, and corporate research centers such as IBM Research and Nokia Bell Labs, while demos showcased products developed at Amazon, Samsung Research, Huawei, and startups incubated by Y Combinator. The program committee involved academics from Cornell University, Princeton University, Harvard University, University of Toronto, and Peking University.

Keynotes and Plenary Sessions

Keynote speakers represented a range of institutions, with addresses contextualizing technical advances alongside cultural and ethical frameworks influenced by figures from Harvard Kennedy School, Oxford University, and the Royal Society. Plenary sessions featured presenters whose work intersects with robotics labs at Toyota Research Institute, language technologies from OpenAI, and social computing analyses related to projects at Stanford AI Lab and Facebook AI Research. Panelists included representatives from policy-focused organizations such as the World Wide Web Consortium and the European Commission alongside leaders from The Interaction Design Foundation and major design firms like IDEO.

Papers and Notable Research Contributions

Accepted papers covered topics spanning ubiquitous computing, tangible interaction, wearable devices, accessibility technology, and algorithmic fairness, with contributions from research groups at University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan, Delft University of Technology, University of Sydney, and University of Melbourne. Notable studies examined human-AI collaboration inspired by work at DeepMind, multimodal interfaces drawing on research at Carnegie Mellon University, and privacy-preserving systems aligned with initiatives at Stanford University and the Max Planck Society. Other influential papers reported on field deployments in partnership with organizations such as NHS (England), UNICEF, World Health Organization, and municipalities collaborating with City of Glasgow authorities.

Workshops, Panels, and Tutorials

Workshops explored emergent topics including design ethics, participatory design, and speculative design practices influenced by collectives like Critical Art Ensemble and academic programs at Royal College of Art. Panels debated regulation and standards with participants from International Organization for Standardization, IEEE Standards Association, and advocacy groups such as Electronic Frontier Foundation and Privacy International. Tutorials provided hands-on training drawing from curricula at School of Visual Arts, Rhode Island School of Design, and university labs including HCI Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

Awards and Honors

The conference recognized exemplary contributions via awards administered by the SIGCHI Awards Committee, honoring researchers with recognitions analogous to prestige of the Turing Award, lifetime achievement accolades, best paper awards, and best poster distinctions. Recipients emerged from institutions such as University of California, San Diego, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, University of Edinburgh, Georgia Institute of Technology, and corporate research labs including Microsoft Research and Google Research.

Venue, Attendance, and Organization

CHI 2019 took place in venues across Glasgow, with events hosted at conference centers and university facilities coordinated with local partners such as the University of Glasgow and cultural institutions like the Glasgow Science Centre. The organizing committee brought together volunteers and staff from regional SIGCHI chapters, professional meeting planners, and sponsors including major technology firms and funding bodies like the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and national research councils. Attendance numbered in the thousands, drawing participants from continents represented by delegations from United States Department of Defense research programs, European universities, and Asia-Pacific institutions.

Category:Human–computer interaction conferences