Editor-in-Chief, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI)

The ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI) has long been regarded as the flagship journal of the field. I’ve actually served on their editorial board since 2003, and thus have a long history with the endeavor.

So now that Shumin Zhai’s second term has come to a close, it is a great honor to report that I’ve assumed the helm as Editor-in-Chief. Shumin worked wonders in improving the efficiency and impact of the journal, diligent efforts that I am working hard to build upon. And I have many ideas and creative initiatives in the works that I hope can further advance the journal and help it to have even more impact.

The journal publishes original and significant research papers, and especially likes to see more systems-focused, long-term, or integrative contributions to human-computer interaction. TOCHI also publishes individual studies, methodologies, and techniques if we deem the contributions to be substantial enough. Occasionally impactful, well-argued, and well-supported essays on important  or emerging issues in human-computer interaction are published as well, though not often.

TOCHI prides itself on a rapid turn-around on manuscripts, with an average response time of about 50 days, and we often return manuscripts (particularly when there is not a good fit) much faster than that. We strive to make decisions within 90 days, and although that isn’t always possible, upon acceptance we do also feature very rapid publication. Digital editions of articles publish to the ACM Digital Library as soon as they are accepted, copyedited, and typeset. TOCHI can often, therefore, move articles into publication as fast as or faster than many of the popular conference venues.

Accepted papers at TOCHI also have the opportunity to present at participating SIGCHI conferences, which currently include CHI, CSCW, UIST, and MobileHCI. Authors therefore get the benefits of a rigorous reviewing process with a full journal revision cycle, plus the prestige of the TOCHI brand when you present new work to your colleagues at a top HCI conference.

To keep track of all the latest developments, you can get alerts for new TOCHI articles as they hit the Digital Library — never miss a key new result.  Or subscribe to our feed — just click on the little RSS link on the far right of the TOCHI landing page.

 

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Hinckley, K., Editor-in-Chief, ACM Transactions on CHI. Three-year term, commencing Sept. 1st, 2015. [TOCHI on the ACM Digital Library] 

The flagship journal of CHI.

Award: CHI Academy, 2014 Inductee

I’ve been a bit remiss in posting this, but as of April 2014, I’m a member of the CHI Academy, which is an honorary group that recognizes leaders in the field of Human-Computer interaction.

Among whom I can apparently I now include myself, strange as that  may seem.

I was completely surprised by this and can honestly say I never expected any special recognition. I’ve just been plugging away on my little devices and techniques, writing papers here and there, but I suppose over the decades it all adds up. I don’t know if this means that my work is especially good or that I’m just getting older, but either way I appreciate the gesture of recognition from my peers in the field.

I was in a bit of a ribald mood when I got the news, so when the award organizers asked me to reply with my bio I decided what the heck and decided to have some fun with it:

Ken Hinckley is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, where he has spent the last 17 years investigating novel input devices, device form-factors, and modalities of interaction.

He feels fortunate to have had the opportunity to collaborate with many CHI Academy members while working there, including noted trouble-makers such as Bill Buxton, Patrick Baudisch, and Eric Horvitz—as well as George Robertson, whom he owes a debt of gratitude for hiring him fresh out of grad school.

Ken is perhaps best know for his work on sensing techniques, cross-device interaction, and pen computing. He has published over 75 academic papers and is a named inventor on upwards of 150 patents. Ken holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Virginia, where he studied with Randy Pausch.

He has also published fiction in professional markets including Nature and Fiction River, and prides himself on still being able to hit 30-foot jump shots at age 44.

Not too shabby.

Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, there are no real perks associated with being a CHI Academy member as far as I’ve been able to figure. People do seem to ask me for reference letters just a tiny bit more frequently. And I definitely get more junk email from organizers of dubious-sounding conferences than before. No need for research heroics if you want a piece of that, just email me and I’d be happy to forward them along.

But the absolute most fun part of the whole deal was a small private celebration that noted futurist Bill Buxton organized at his ultra-modern home fronting Lake Ontario in Toronto, and where I was joined by my Microsoft Research colleagues Abigail Sellen, her husband Richard Harper, and John Tang. Abi is already a member (and an occasional collaborator whom I consider a friend), and Richard and John were inducted along with me into the Academy in 2014.

Bill Buxton needs no introduction among the avant garde of computing. And he’s well known in the design community as well, not to mention publishing on equestrianism and mountaineering, among other topics. In particular, his collection of interactive devices is arguably the most complete ever assembled. Only a tiny fraction of it is currently documented on-line. It contains everything from the world’s first radio and television remote controls, to the strangest keyboards ever conceived by mankind, and even the very first handcrafted wooden computer mice that started cropping up in the 1960’s.

The taxi dropped me off, I rang the doorbell, and when a tall man with rock-star hair gone gray and thinned precipitously by the ravages of time answered the door, I inquired:

“Is this, by any chance, the Buxton Home for Wayward Input Devices?”

To which Bill replied in the affirmative.

I indeed had the right place, I would fit right in here, and he showed me in.

Much of Bill’s collection lives off the premises, but his below-ground sanctum sanctorum was still walled by shelves bursting with transparent tubs packed with handheld gadgets that had arrived far before their time, historical mice and trackballs, and hybrid bastard devices of every conceivable description. And what little space remained was packed with books on design, sketching, and the history of mountaineering and the fur trade.

Despite his home office being situated below grade, natural light poured down into it through the huge front windows facing the inland sea, owing to the home’s modern design. Totally awesome space and would have looked right at home on the front page of Architectural Digest.

Bill showed us his origami kayak on the back deck, treated us all to some hand-crafted martinis in the open-plan kitchen, and arranged for transportation to the awards dinner via a 10-person white stretch limousine. We even made a brief pit stop so Bill could dash out and pick up a bottle of champagne at a package store.

Great fun.

I’ve known Bill since 1994, when he visited Randy Pausch’s lab at the University of Virginia, and ever since people have often assumed that he was my advisor. He never was in any official capacity, but I read all of his papers in that period and in many ways I looked up to him as my research hero. And now that we’ve worked together as colleagues for nearly 10 years (!), and with Randy’s passing, I often do still see him as a mentor.

Or is that de-mentor?

Probably a little bit of each, in all honesty (grin).

Yeah, the award was pretty cool and all, but it was the red carpet thrown out by Bill that I’ll always remember.

Hinckley, K., CHI Academy. Inducted April 27th, 2014 at CHI 2014 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for career research accomplishments and service to the ACM SIGCHI community (Association of Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction). [Ken Hinckley CHI Academy Bio] 

The CHI Academy is an honorary group of individuals who have made substantial contributions to the field of human-computer interaction. These are the principal leaders of the field, whose efforts have shaped the disciplines and/or industry, and led the research and/or innovation in human-computer interaction. The criteria for election to the CHI Academy are:

• Cumulative contributions to the field.
• Impact on the field through development of new research directions and/or innovations.
• Influence on the work of others.
• Reasonably active participant in the ACM SIGCHI community.

Contribute to MobileHCI 2015 and Help Advance the Frontiers of Mobility: Submissions Due Feb 6th, 2015.

Send us your work. If it makes us go “Wow!” we want it.

Along with Hans Gellersen of Lancaster University (UK), I’m proud to announce that I’m co-chairing the papers selection committee for the 2015 installment of the long-running MobileHCI conference (sponsored by the ACM and SIGCHI), to take place Aug 24th-Aug 27th, 2015, in wonderful and historic Copenhagen, Denmark.

MobileHCI is the premiere venue to publish and learn about state-of-the-art innovations and insights for all aspects of human-computer interaction as it pertains to mobility–whether in terms of the devices we use, the services we engage with, or the new patterns of human behavior emerging from the wilderness of the modern-day digital ecology.

Submissions due Feb 6th, 2015.

Call for Papers

MobileHCI seeks contributions in the form of innovations, insights, or analyses related to human experiences with mobility.

Our interpretation of mobility is inclusive and broadly construed. Likewise, our view of contribution encompasses technology, experience, methodology, and theory—or any mix thereof, and beyond. We seek richness and diversity in topic as well as approach, method, and viewpoint. If you can make a convincing case that you have something important to say about mobility, in all its many forms, we want to see your work.

In no particular order, this includes contributions in the form of:

Systems & infrastructures. The design, architecture, deployment, and evaluation of systems and infrastructures that support development of or interaction with mobile devices and services.

Devices & techniques: The design, construction, usage, and evaluation of devices and techniques that create valuable new capabilities for mobile human-computer interaction.

Applications & experiences. Descriptions of the design, empirical study of interactive applications, or analysis of usage trends that leverage mobile devices and systems.

Methodologies & tools. New methods and tools designed for or applied to studying or building mobile user interfaces, applications, and mobile users.

Theories & models. Critical analysis or organizing theory with clearly motivated relevance to the design or study of mobile human-computer interaction; taxonomies of design or devices; well-supported essays on emerging trends and practice in mobile human-computer interaction.

Visions & wildcards. Well-argued and well-supported visions of the future of mobile computing; non-traditional topics that bear on mobility; under-represented viewpoints and perspectives that convincingly bring something new to mobile research and practice. Surprise us with something new and compelling.

We seek contribution of ideas, as opposed to convention of form.

If you write a good paper—present clear, well-argued and well-cited ideas that are backed up with some form of compelling evidence (proof-of-concept implementations, system demonstrations, data analysis, user studies, or whatever methodology suits the contribution you are trying to make)—then we want to see your work, and if we agree it is good, we will accept it.

We are not particularly picky about page lengths or the structure of papers. Use the number of pages you need to convey a contribution, no more, no less.

Reviewers traditionally expect about 4pp for shorter contributions, and about 10pp for long-form contributions, but these are simply guideposts of what authors most commonly submit.

If you have a great 10 page paper with an intriguing set of ideas and the references spill over onto page 12, we are happy with that.

If you can convey a solid idea in 8 pages, that is fine too.

Or a four-pager with a clearly articulated nugget of contribution is always welcome.

Finally, keep the “Wow!” test in mind.

We are always happy to consider thought-provoking work that might not be perfect but clearly does inject new ideas into the discourse on mobile interaction, what it is now, what it could be in the future.

We would rather have 10 thought-provoking papers that break new ground in their own unique ways, than that one perfect paper that is dull and unassailable.

Send us your work. If it makes us go “Wow!” we want it. By the same token there is nothing wrong with solid work that advances the state of the art. We are excited to expand the many frontiers of mobility and we need your contributions to help us get there.

You can find full details in the online call for or papers at the MobileHCI 2015 website.

And be sure to spread the word to your peers and collaborators so that we can have a rich conference programme with a great diversity of neat projects and results to showcase the cutting edge of mobility.