W9: Techniques and Technologies for Immersive and Embodied Learning

Aim of the Workshop

Immersive learning and embodied learning are closely related and complementary approaches that engage the learner in interactive experiences. A shared intention is to promote not only immediate learning of the targeted subject but also the long-term retention of knowledge gained as well as the transfer of this knowledge and its practical application. Immersive learning focuses on the learning environment. Embodied learning focuses on incorporating physical movement and sensory experiences into the learning process.

Technologies and tool development to enable, for example, virtual reality (VR) including gesture recognition [2,6]and tangible interfaces [5] can facilitate both. But so too can techniques of learning such as “hands-on” interaction [3] and question-based learning [1] that do not critically depend upon enabling technologies.

Workshop topics

We consider the following questions in particular:

• What works? The workshop will catalog and compare the many extant approaches to immersive and embodied learning. Which approaches appear especially promising?
• How? How well? Special focus will be given to practical considerations involved in different approaches. Which approaches show the greatest ability to scale? And without “side effects” (e.g., the discomfort and disorientation sometimes experienced in VR).
• For whom? We give special attention to techniques and technologies that might engage and benefit people with so-called “special needs” – e.g., teens and pre-teens, older people, and people diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but then, with the expectation that many of these techniques and technologies may have broader application [4]

Guidelines to prospective authors

Submission for the Workshop

Prospective authors should submit their proposals in PDF format through the HCII Conference Management System (CMS).

All who are interested in participating (online or in-person), should submit:

• A one- to two-page proposal (up to one thousand words or so, excluding references)
• Describe how your position relates to the workshop and to your own research. Brevity is encouraged!  You will have ample opportunity to expand upon your good ideas in the publication(s) to follow from the workshop.
• Please DO NOT anonymize.
• Please also indicate whether you can participate in the workshop in-person or only online.

All participants, online and in-person, are also invited to contribute to the post-workshop article (the potential venue for publication will be discussed at a later stage). Questions? Feel free to contact William Jones (williamj@uw.edu).

Submission for the Conference Proceedings

The contributions to be presented in the context of Workshops will not be automatically included in the Conference proceedings.

However, after consultation with the Workshop organizer(s), authors of accepted Workshop proposals who are registered for the Conference are welcome to submit, through the Conference Management System (CMS), an extended version of their Workshop contribution to be considered, following further peer review, for presentation at the Conference and inclusion in the “Late Breaking” volumes of the Conference proceedings, either in the LNCS as a long paper (typically 12 pages, but no less than 10 and no more than 20 pages), or in the CCIS as a short paper/extended poster abstract (typically 6 pages, but no less than 4 and no more than 11).

Workshop organizers

William Jones is a Research Associate Professor Emeritus in the Information School at the University of Washington. He is recently interested in the relationships between information, knowledge and successful aging. William has published in the areas of personal information management (PIM), human-computer interaction, information retrieval (search), and human cognition/memory.  He wrote the book Keeping Found Things Found and, more recently, the three-part series, The Future of Personal Information. William holds 6 patents relating to search and PIM. He is currently lead editor for a 2025 Cambridge Press book, “Thrive in Time: Techniques & Technologies to Age Successfully”.

Masood Rangraz is a postdoctoral fellow at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in the School of Industrial Engineering and Management and the Digital Future Research Center. Included in his research: Human and Automation Interaction, Digital Competence, Accessible design, Cognitive Accessibility, Technology Enhanced Learning. He has published in the fields of Information Systems (Informatics) and Design.

Petter Wannerberg is a XR developer and researcher at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. He is an expert in shaping virtual worlds and the processes around it, both creatively and technically. He is currently leading research and development teams in creating virtual pedagogical environments using game engine technologies. His research focus is developing the Swedish school system by creating VR world of learning and using of artificial intelligence in and around the creation of virtual worlds. He is also a member of the EMRN (European Metaverse Research Network).