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> News > Sixteenth Newsletter

HCI International News, Number 16, May 2006


HIGHLIGHTS


HCI in China: Challenges and Opportunities

The pervasive use of IT is transforming China. Until the end of 2005, 111 million Chinese had gone online, and the overall internet cost of the country in the year of 2005 was beyond 100 billion Yuan, indicating the huge scale of the market. Mobile phone use is even more popular than internet use in China, though more costly than internet access. As of the end of 2005, the number of mobile phone users reached 393.4 million, and the number of GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) subscribers reached 71.0 million with an annual increasing rate of 172.3%. The extreme popularity of SMSs (Short Message Services) resulted in a record of 304 billion short messages sent in 2005. Now these striking statistics are continuously updated from day to day.

The rapid development and the wide adoption of technologies demand as well as catalyze the development of research in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in China. In the past decade, HCI research in China has grown at a steady pace. Numerous institutions specialized in HCI research developed from Psychology or Engineering backgrounds at academic organizations, including Zhejiang University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Tsinghua University. International companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Motorola, Intel, eBay, Nokia, Samsung, and Siemens have established research centers and/or labs in China so as to capitalize on the great intelligence resource and to explore the tremendous market potential.

Diverse HCI topics from distinct disciplines are studied in these laboratories and institutions. Investigated topics fall under three major areas:

  1. User Interface technology: Consistent enhancements of Chinese input methods, Mobile User Interfaces, and Multimodal User Interfaces have been developed by Chinese HCI professionals.
  2. Human performance in HCI: Attempts to understand the effects of software and hardware design on human performance are made in this area.
  3. Usability and product/service development: Local companies have increasingly recognized the importance of usability and user experience research.

At present HCI professionals in China are facing both great challenges and opportunities. They have successfully demonstrated the importance of HCI in product/service development. However, the contribution of HCI to the profit of a business is not clearly defined in China. New methodologies are needed for improving and evaluating enjoyment and emotional satisfaction since to date most HCI research projects in China have focused on performance. The HCI professional community is growing. Founded in 1989, the Chinese Ergonomics Society has several technical groups and 450 members. The China chapter of ACM CHI and UPA China were both founded in 2004, and each has about 100 members. Overall speaking, the professional community is still under development in China. Moreover, more education and training programs for HCI are needed, together with greater attention to fundamental HCI research in China.

P.L. Patrick Rau
Professor, Department of Industrial Engineering
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

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Call for Papers: HCI International 2007

The HCI International 2007 jointly with the affiliated Conferences, which are held under one management and one Registration, invite you to Beijing, P.R. China, to participate and contribute to the international forum for the dissemination and exchange of up-to-date scientific information on theoretical, generic and applied areas of HCI through the following modes of communication: Plenary / Keynote Presentation(s), Parallel Sessions, Poster Sessions and Tutorials. You are invited to submit your proposal on all related topics. For more information, please visit the Conference website.

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Sponsorship of HCI International 2007

Organizations wishing to sponsor a special event or to be a general sponsor of the Conference are welcome to contact the Sponsorship Administration.

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Participate in a survey conducted in 9 countries

Win $US 250 for completing an online survey!
You are invited to participate in a survey conducted in 9 countries by Dr. Dianne Cyr at Simon Fraser University in Canada. The study is about how to build loyalty in online business environments. You are required to view and navigate the SonyStyle website, and then answer a survey about that experience. After completion of the survey, you may enter your name for a draw for a $US 250 gift certificate for Amazon.com.

To complete a survey, you must be 18 years old or older, and be from one of the countries listed below. Furthermore, you must have grown up and lived most of your life in that country, and should not have lived in any other country for the last 2 years. Click on the relevant link, and all the information you need will be presented in the language of the respective country. Please feel free to circulate the survey to friends, family or others.

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Recent Interesting Articles

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Upcoming Conferences and Events in the HCI Area

May

June

September

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Conferences and Events Announcement

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Previous Issues of HCI International News are available online

http://www.hcii2007.org/hcii_news.html
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Contribute to HCI International News

We welcome your contribution to the HCI International News. Please send us interesting news, short articles, interesting websites, etc. We will consider your comments and contributions for upcoming issues. Please send your contribution to the Editor, Dr. Abbas Moallem.

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About HCI International News

The HCI International News is a newsletter about Human - Computer Interaction topics, the HCII 2007 Conference deadlines and activities, the HCII 2007 Exhibition, news in the area of Human - Computer Interaction, and more. If you have any questions or comments, or if you would like to contribute, please contact the Editor, Dr. Abbas Moallem. The opinions that are expressed in this Newsletter are the sole responsibility of its authors and do not represent any institution or company.

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