The 3rd COGAIN Annual Conference on
Communication by Gaze Interaction

COGAIN 2007:
Gaze-based Creativity, Interacting with Games and On-line Communities

3-4 September 2007
Centre for Excellence in Performance Arts (CEPA/PACE)
De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

Overview

The conference is the third COGAIN conference. It is dedicated to gaze-based communication with computer systems by anyone, but primarily by people who have different types of disability.

Paper submissions are invited on all aspects of gaze-based communications. This year's special theme, however, is using gaze to interact with games and virtual on-line communities, as well as with applications to express creativity. Gaze can add considerable interaction bandwidth for able-bodied or mainstream end-users, if measuring gaze position is not intrusive. Profoundly disabled people may find great enjoyment from participation in virtual communities as their disability need no longer be a barrier between them and the able-bodied world. Gaze-based interaction techniques can enable this. There is then the added challenge of fast real-time interaction if this end-user group is to participate in a world or game on an equal footing with able-bodied participants. Computer games have become such a large part of the entertainment culture, and making use of where the player is looking has yet to be exploited. Disabled people too should be able to fully engage with this form of entertainment and gaze communication offers a means to realise this. Attentive gaze responsive interfaces and applications are the focus of increasing attention. Different electronic forms of creativity and artistic expression for both disabled and able bodied people alike can benefit from the knowledge of where the user is currently looking.

COGAIN (COmmunication by GAze INteraction) is a European Union funded research Network of Excellence, which comprises 25 universities, manufacturers and end-user organizations from across the European Union together with partners from across the globe. More information about the COGAIN network can be found at www.cogain.org.

COGAIN 2007 Call for Papers (pdf)

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Themes

The theme of the conference is using gaze to interact with games and virtual on-line communities, as well as with applications to express creativity.

The conference committee invites the submission of short papers particularly in the following areas, although submissions in any area related to gaze-based interaction will be considered.

• Gaze-based interaction with virtual worlds
• Gaze and creativity
• Gaming using gaze as an input modality
• Attentive interfaces and inferring user intent from gaze
• Text entry by means of gaze
• Applications using gaze
• Usability studies of gaze-based techniques
• End-user experience studies
• Innovations in eyetracking systems
• Low cost gaze tracking systems
• Gaze and environmental control
• Gaze and personal mobility control
• Using gaze with other modalities including BCI

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Program

Day 1 (Monday, 3 September 2007): Academic Sessions

Academic Program for easy printing

Day 2 (Tuesday, 4 September 2007): End-User and Industry Sessions

The end-user and industry sessions (Day 2) will contain presentations from end-users of gaze-based systems, from representatives of end-user organizations and from industry, as well as opportunities for end-users and researchers to try out the latest systems from the device manufacturers.

List of Exhibitors (pdf)

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Exhibition

On Day 2 (Tuesday, 4 September 2007), eye tracking device manufacturers and developers are welcome to demonstrate their products. Each attendant will be granted a space to present and demonstrate free of charge, but the project will not reimburse the attendants for travel costs or accommodation and will not make any hotel reservations.

If you are interested in demonstrating your product at the COGAIN 2007, and have questions, please contact stina.boedeker@cogain.org.

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Important dates

The following deadlines are necessary to ensure timely production of the conference deliverables.

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Submission of papers

Authors are requested to submit their short papers using the COGAIN conference format:
Download the MS Word template (.doc)
Download the LaTeX template (class files packet, .zip)

The submitted short papers will be blind reviewed. A condition of acceptance is that at least one of the authors will attend the conference.

As a guide a short paper should be taken to mean about three pages of text (c. 1000 - 1500 words), plus supporting images/diagrams/tables. The text should be clear enough to allow reviewers to judge the potential of the paper’s suitability for COGAIN 2007. The official language of the conference will be English. The suitability of the paper will be judged by the reviewers on the following criteria:

• Originality
• Statements of main results obtained so far (need not be final results)
• Clear identification of future research needs
• Clarity of presentation
• Technical soundness

The short paper should include in addition a cover page with: Title; All authors’ names (underline surname), affiliations, and addresses; Name of author to contact for correspondence; Email address and fax number of contact; Up to 5 keywords to describe the paper; Requirements for video presentation equipment.

Authors are requested to email their paper to the conference chair:

howell.istance@cogain.org

Howell Istance, COGAIN 2007, School of Computing, De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK. Tel: +44 (0)116 2506103

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Proceedings

COGAIN 2007 Proceedings (PDF)

Photos from COGAIN 2007

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Venue

The Conference will be held in Leicester, UK, at:

Centre for Excellence in Performance Arts (CEPA/PACE)
De Montfort University
The Gateway
Leicester LE1 9BH
[CEPA/PACE location on Google maps]

Getting to DMU (pdf) - Please read this if you intend to come by car to the DMU campus. It includes information about public pay car parks; parking is limited, thus we recommend using public transport or taxi to get to the DMU campus.

The Conference Venue.
Centre for Excellence in Performance Arts (CEPA/PACE)

The conference venue is fully accessible. There is full wheel chair access, a lift and fully accessible toilets.

DMU Campus Centre.
Lunch will be served in here. A bar and cafe inside.

Special diets, vegetarian, vegan, can be available (please indicate these on the registration form).

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Registration

Please fill in the registration form (closed)

Accommodation can be booked separately, see a choice of recommended hotels below.

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Accommodation

Delegates should make their own hotel reservations. Recommended hotels (see below) as well as accessible restaurants and pubs nearby the conference venue have been marked on the COGAIN 2007 Google Maps.

Hotel Holiday Inn
129 St Nicholas Circle (see map)
£92/night "De Montfort university price"
Breakfast included, Internet connection
Close to the venue (walking distance)
Incl. Accessible rooms, recommended for conference visitors with special needs
For booking and more information, see Holiday Inn's web page
(select "Government Rate" on the web form and mention "De Montfort University" to get the correct price)

Hotel IBIS
St George's Way (see map)
£51/night
Breakfast included, Wireless net in the lobby and 2 floors
Some distance to the venue
For booking and more information, see IBIS's web page

Hotel Travelodge
Vaughan Way (entrance by Highcross Street, see map)
Price range: £26-£55 per room (2 fit in)
Breakfast not included
Not too far from the venue
For booking and more information, see Travelodge's web page

For more options, see a list of Leicester hotels.

General information about Leicester to travellers, including information about how to travel to Leicester by air, car or rail at Travel to Leicester web.
Weather Forecast for Leicester

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Conference committee

Chair:
Howell Istance (De Montfort University)

Kari-Jouko Räihä (University of Tampere)
Laura Farinetti (Politecnico di Torino)
Arantxa Villanueva (University of Navarre)
Martin Böhme (University of Lübeck)
Alastair Gale (Loughborough University)
Olga Štepánková (Czech Technical University)
Sebastian Pannasch (Dresden University of Technology)
Aulikki Hyrskykari (University of Tampere)
Richard Bates (De Montfort University)

We hope to see you in Leicester!

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Previous conferences

COGAIN 2005

• COGAIN 2005 Program
• COGAIN 2005 proceedings (PDF)
• Photos from COGAIN 2005

COGAIN 2006

• COGAIN 2006 Overview
• COGAIN 2006 Program
• COGAIN 2006 Proceedings (PDF)
• Photos from COGAIN 2006

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