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Welcome to OZCHI2004, the second OZCHI conference to be held at the University in Wollongong in Australia. OZCHI2004 was held at Wollongong University between 21st and 24th of November, 2004. OZCHI is the annual conference for the Computer-Human Interaction Special Interest Group (CHISIG) of the Ergonomics Society of Australia. OZCHI is the leading forum for researchers in the Southern Hemisphere, interested in the latest technology and methods concerning Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). From its inception as a one-day seminar/workshop at Monash University (Melbourne) in 1987, OZCHI has evolved into a week long event consisting of the conference, a doctoral colloquium, and a series of tutorials and workshops. Today, OZCHI attracts an international community of researchers and practitioners from academia and industry with a wide range of interests, including HCI, human factors and ergonomics, information systems, software engineering, design and social sciences. In 2004, the conference delegates hailed from various countries, including Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, UK and USA. The theme of this year's conference is "Supporting Community Interaction: Possibilities and Challenges". As we march into the 21st century, and the world becomes a smaller place with the advent of new information and communication technologies, it has become increasingly important to maintain our sense of community. We strive to achieve this in a number of ways and with the help of computer technology in particular. The Internet has created new possibilities for meeting people, learning new things, doing business, sharing experiences and socialising with individuals and groups all over the world. In the process, we have created new and widespread communities in a virtual environment. However, this has created its own set of problems and challenges that are unique to online communities, including design, usability and accessibility issues. OZCHI2004 aims to explore the possibilities and challenges of supporting interaction in online communities. We were fortunate to have three keynote speakers who are at the forefront of community HCI research The keynote speakers for OZCHI 2004 were: The keynote speakers' presentations reflect the role of online communities in contemporary society. Prof Jenny Preece's opening keynote examined the sociability and usability of community populations that are hard to reach. Prof Gerhard Fischer discussed the problems of design and the need for communities rather than individuals to address, frame, and solve them.. Finally, Jason White, co-chair of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines working group until 2004, explored the use of abstract representations to facilitate universal design. In addition to papers on the theme, the conference included a variety of papers on areas such as:
The conference program consists of a balanced set of high-quality papers which will satisfy both researchers and practitioners, describing qualitative and quantitative research studies. All full papers and short papers were subjected to a double blind review by an extensive panel of international experts spanning the HCI field. A list of reviewers is also included in these conference proceedings. Of the 70 full papers that were submitted, approximately 60% were accepted by the program committee. Of the 46 short papers, approximately 70% were accepted. The ISBN for the proceedings is: 1 74128 079 6 In addition to the technical papers, the OZCHI2004 program includes a series of interesting and useful panels, demonstrations, tutorials and workshops. The Doctoral Colloquium provided an opportunity for doctoral students to meet and discuss their research over a two-day period under the guidance of experienced HCI researchers. The conference proceedings are available on CD-ROM only, in keeping with other international conferences, and providing delegates with a convenient portable version of the conference program and events. OZCHI2004 is the culmination of the hard work of a number of individuals - the chairs of all our committees, the referees, the organizers, and all the authors and delegates. We would like to thank them all for their invaluable contribution. Our special thanks go to the sponsors, supporting organizations, website and publications support, as well as our student volunteers for their generous support. SUPPORTING ORGANISATIONS
SPONSORS
WEBSITE AND CD-ROM SUPPORT
We hope you enjoyed OZCHI2004 and we look forward to Conference Co-Chairs: Peter Hyland, University of Wollongong phyland@uow.edu.au
Toni Robertson, University of Technology, Sydney
toni@it.uts.edu.au
Penney McFarlane, University of Wollongong penney@uow.edu.au
Helen Hasan, University of Wollongong hasan@uow.edu.au
Mark Freeman, University of Wollongong mbf02@uow.edu.au
Bob Brown, University of Wollongong bobbrown@uow.edu.au
Lejla Vrazalic, University of Wollongong lejla@uow.edu.au
For more details, visit our web site: http://www.dsl.uow.edu.au/ozchi2004/ |
