Novel interactive systems often combine digital representations with physical, real-world artifacts.  Such tangible user interfaces (TUI) offer new ways for users to collaborate with others, manipulate data, to interact with humans and computers. 

It is argued that ‘natural collaboration’ is supported when people can reach out and touch with their fingers or assemble around a table [2].  Other participants and their physical chains of actions support coordination, while material artifacts or a tangible tabletop act as mediators.  The use of gestures, interventions with tokens, modifications and content manipulation extend the possibilities of collaboration and co-construction.  Participants do not just have to discuss in a confrontational way face-to-face. 

The material artifacts take a key role in tangible user interfaces and materialize the possible modes of collaboration and interaction.  Therefore their collaborative aspects are central to participants exchange and interactions with each other and a TUI, e.g., the ColorTable [3] – a tangible tabletop supporting negotiation process to collaboratively plan future urban scenarios in participatory settings. 

The aims of this workshop are to further explore potentials of collaborating with and supported by tangibles – their integration into the interaction, their material features and how these contribute to participants’ collaboration and modes of interaction.  Therefore we look forward to further learn and understand the various modes of collaboration offered by TUIs and exchange our experiences throughout fieldwork, design cases and research projects.  Beyond that we want to encourage the discourse about the aspects and complexity of collaborative work and design with tangible interfaces in theory and practice.

The workshop is planned for a full day, starting with a keynote and includes demonstrations.  The combination of practical experiences and theoretical concepts will be a good basis for research exchange and support researchers to further explore and develop natural collaboration possibilities and cooperative concepts mediated by TUIs.  Next to conference proceedings, the workshop organizers plan to edit a special issue of presented papers in a research and design journal.  

The Workshop topics include (but are not limited to) the following:

You are invited to submit original and unpublished research works on above and other topics related to materiality of collaboration and tangible user interfaces (TUI).  Submitted papers must not have been published or simultaneously submitted elsewhere.  We call for the following types of contributions: full papers (max. length 8 pages), short papers (max. length of 2 pages), and demonstrations (submitted as one-page abstracts).  Submission should include a cover page with authors' names, affiliation addresses, fax numbers, phone numbers, and email addresses.  Please, indicate clearly the corresponding author, the type of submission, and an abstract of no more than 450 words.  The manuscripts should be using the two-column IEEE format.  Additional pages will be charged additional fee.  Please include page numbers on all preliminary submissions to make it easier for reviewers to provide helpful comments.  Submit a PDF copy of your full manuscript using the workshop submission web site at http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=mctui2011.  

Only PDF files will be accepted, uploaded through the above online link.  Each paper will receive a minimum of three reviews.  Papers will be selected based on their originality, relevance, contributions, technical clarity and presentation.  Submission implies the willingness of at least one of the authors to register and present the paper, if accepted.  Authors of accepted papers must guarantee that their papers will be registered and presented at the workshop.  

Accepted papers will be published in the Conference proceedings.  Instructions for final manuscript format and requirements will be posted on the CTS 2011 Conference web site.  It is our intent to have the proceedings formally published in hard and soft copies and be available at the time of the conference.  The proceedings is projected to be included in the IEEE Digital Library and indexed accordingly. 

For further information or questions about the workshop and the paper submission procedure and demonstration ideas, please contact the workshop organizers.  

International Program Committee:  

All submitted papers will be reviewed by the workshop technical program committee members following similar criteria used in CTS 2011.

(Further confirmations of committee members are planned but pending - this list is to be competed shortly.)