call for participation

Student Innovation Contest

Application Deadline	August 24, 2020, 5pm PDT
Acceptance Notification	August 31, 2020, 5pm PDT

Theme: Letting the Distance Bring us Together

Apply here: SIC registration page

We are excited to announce the theme of the 2020 student innovation contest: Letting the Distance Bring us Together. Exceptionally this year, we are taking the challenge to another level by shifting the focus from a specific hardware platform, to the design of solutions that would allow us to renew, repair, or strengthen the fabric of our society in these times of uncertainty.

Needless to say, the global pandemic we are facing has deeply affected most, if not all, facets of our academic, personal and social lives. For many, simple activities such as meeting with friends and family, attending classes, or purchasing groceries had to be relearned in an effort to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. The in-person social isolation experienced by significant portions of the population has already been shown to have serious detrimental effects on physical and mental well-being. However, on a larger scale, this situation has unearthed and/or emphasized deeply rooted inequalities and tensions within our society. People all over the planet are regrouping to protest for their rights, oftentimes going against public health recommendations.

The Challenge

With this theme, we are presenting student teams with the challenge to design and/or rethink technologies to attempt to attenuate, or solve, some of the most serious current issues. We leave to them the difficult decision to select and scope the problem they want to tackle within that broad space. Whether they decide to design tools that allow the effective continuation of research work within the current context, a videoconferencing platform that is more accessible to non-tech savvy, disabled, or elderly users, or a novel framework that allows local community-driven support groups to coordinate their efforts, we are expecting creative technological solutions that not only push the boundaries of human-computer interaction, but also propose tangible solutions to real world problems.

Uniquely this year, to encourage remote team work, no hardware platform will be provided. In addition, although we encourage building a functional prototype, it is not a requirement. We hope to also see submissions of creative conceptual prototypes. A convincing demonstration of the proposed solution’s practicality will be expected. Through these measures, we wish to ensure all participants’ safety and make the contest as accessible as possible to a broader community.

Contest Structure

Proposal Submission and Selection

The proposal submission deadline is August 24th, 2020 17:00 PDT.

To participate you must:

1. Complete the form on the SIC registration page (contact information, etc.)
2. Provide a link to supporting document (SIGCHI extended abstract format, 3-page max including references)

The extended abstract must clearly, yet succinctly, introduce the following elements. A committee composed of UIST community members will select up to 15 submissions for the next phase based on these criteria:

• Clarity of the problem statement
• Identification of the affected population
• Usefulness, creativity and complexity of the proposed solution
• Realistic hypothesized/anticipated impact

Acceptance decisions will be emailed to each team by August 31, 2020.

Final Manuscript and Video Submission

Accepted teams will receive feedback on their submission, and have the opportunity to meet with the chairs and/or other relevant mentors from the UIST community to discuss their project. This will allow accepted teams to further hone the scope of their submission, their design concept, and expand on the practicality of their concept towards the final submission.

Before October, teams will submit an updated extended abstract (maximum 6 pages including references), accompanied by a 3 minutes video to present their project. Submitted videos must follow UIST’s technical requirements. The final submission and the accompanying video should clearly demonstrate the practicality of the proposed solution by using, for example, a combination of the following techniques which together show both innovativeness and feasibility

• A completely or partially functional implementation of the concept
• An interactive mockup
• Wizard of Oz approach (WoZ), which might be demonstrated with a video
• A description of each sub-component of the system and how it would be implemented, or at least evidence that demonstrates their feasibility. E.g., technical diagrams, pseudo-code, references to existing literature showing feasibility.

It is important that your final submission clearly communicates what elements were implemented, WoZ’ed, etc.

Beyond these examples, the SIC is a perfect opportunity to explore methods and techniques that we are not familiar with in a low risk environment! We are hoping to see your creativity transpire beyond the design concept itself, and to be blown away by your videos and presentations.

Evaluation

A jury composed of experienced UIST community members will evaluate teams based on the following criteria:

• Adequately scoped problem statement
• Identification of the affected population
• Outreach to member(s) of the affected population (e.g., video interviews, co-design activities, feedback on design iterations)
• Usefulness, creativity and complexity of the proposed technological solution
• Practicality of the proposed solution
• Realism and scale of the hypothesized/anticipated impact
• An acknowledgement of the challenges that would hinder implementation or adoption, and how they could be best overcome.
• General impression of the project

During the Conference

The extended abstracts and videos will be made available prior to the conference in an online gallery, allowing attendees to familiarize themselves with the different projects. Similarly to the poster and demonstration tracks, a synchronous interactive session will be held to allow live Q&A between conference attendees and SIC participants. More detailed information and instructions will be provided to participating teams.

Awards

Innovation comes in many forms. At UIST, we to provide Student Innovation Contest awards for the following categories:

• Jury Award
• People's Choice (Attendee Votes)
• Best Video (Attendee Votes)

The SIC Jury Award winning team will be announced prior to the beginning of the conference. Their final extended abstract and video will be identified as such on the online conference platform, increasing their exposure. The People’s Choice and Best Video awards will be announced at the end of the conference. Winners from all categories will win cash prizes and a UIST SIC certificate. Note that we reserve the right to change the awards structure during the contest.

Other Contest Rules

Team Size: Teams must be composed of 2 to 5 members.

Team Composition: A given participant cannot be part of more than one team. While not mandatory, we encourage multidisciplinary, multinational teams.

Eligibility: All members must be registered full-time students at a recognized academic institution at the submission deadline’s date. Students of all levels (high school, bachelor's, master's, PhD) are encouraged to participate.

Registration Requirement: If your team is accepted, at least one of your team members MUST register for the conference (or be accepted as a student volunteer). This is for two reasons: 1) you have to present your idea, and 2) UIST is an awesome conference!

SIC Chairs

Questions? Contact the SIC Chairs! sic2020@uist.org