Arts in Healthcare calls for papers / meetings & conferences

Call for Short Papers: 9th International Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technologies

September 10–12, 2012 Laval, France

Papers are encouraged in all areas that span Disability, Virtual Reality and its Associated Technologies, encompassing both practical application and more generic research.

The following topics are just a few of those that will be relevant to the conference:

Virtual and enhanced environments
Motor rehabilitation
Clinical assessment
Cognitive rehabilitation
Communication and language
Ambisonics and audio environments
Haptic devices
Sensory impairment
Medical systems
Input devices, sensors and actuators
Multi-user systems for user interaction
Computer access
Virtual humans
Balance, posture and mobility
Communications aids
Tools for architectural/CAD design
Product design, testing and prototyping
Training tools for rehabilitation
Augmented reality applications
Human factors
Rehabilitation robotics
ArtAbilitation

Short Papers (Poster Presentation) - Direct Submission - Review and Acceptance Notification

Short Papers can be submitted for review in final conference ready format by May 31, 2012.

Short Papers submitted after February 29, 2012 must be submitted in final conference format (see Section 4 below).
The format is the same as for final Full Papers but is limited to 4 pages maximum.
See below for link to the paper format and template.

Short Papers will be reviewed by three members of the Programme Committee.
Authors will be notified of the outcome of the reviews by June 20, 2012.

There will be a limited opportunity for revision/clarification of Short Papers after review.
The final submission deadline for accepted Short Papers is July 1, 2012.

Call for Abstracts for a Session on Architecture and the Body: Science and Culture at the Society of Architectural Historians 66th Annual Conference

SAH is now accepting abstracts for its 66th Annual Conference in Buffalo, NY, April 10-14, 2013. Please submit abstracts for papers no later than June 1st for the thematic sessions or open session.

From the Vitruvian Man to Le Corbusier’s Modulor, the human body has served as both measure and metaphor in architectural design. In scholarly considerations of this relationship, it is often architecture which is seen to change while the status of the body remains static, a biological constant unaffected by historical time. This session is devoted to research which takes both buildings and bodies to be in dynamic and reciprocal evolution. It poses one overarching question: how does a period’s understanding of the body as a cultural subject or object of scientia impinge upon architectural thought or design? For instance, historians often observe that Gothic architecture appealed to the senses, but how had the understanding of the senses evolved at that time, and how was this knowledge framed culturally and then translated into new demands on space? How were traditions in mortuary architecture or places of execution affected by human dissections as early as the thirteenth century? How did the inscription of cultural values on the body help shape architectural form or organization? Whereas Barbara Stafford in Body Criticism brilliantly analyzed new relationships between aesthetic and medical practices in the Enlightenment – all made possible by the visibility of formerly unseeable parts of the world – this session emphasizes pre-Enlightenment cultures and science. Misconceptions of various “dark” ages or “dark” geographies can still blind historians to unlikely inspirations for architectural form in so-called pre-scientific societies. Theoretically adventurous submissions are welcome, as are those arguing for the full inclusion of the pre-modern era within research on sexed, medical, and architectural bodies as well as spaces and behaviors. Proposals on modern topics will be considered, provided they establish a transformation of a pre-modern condition. Session chair: Kim Sexton, Associate Professor, University of Arkansas; ksexton@uark.edu

Call for Papers: Interactive Technologies and Games: Education, Health and Disability 2012 (ITAG)

The “Interactive Technologies and Games: Education, Health and Disability 2012″ (ITAG) conference takes place this year on 23-24 October 2012 at Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

The aim of the conference is to bring together academics and practitioners working with interactive technologies to explore and innovate within the areas of Education, Health and Disability. We have a particular focus on the use of gaming hardware and software to implement accessible solutions, interaction design using new input/output devices and the increasing impact of ubiquitous computing on our everyday well being.

The conference provides an excellent opportunity to showcase practice and to mainstream research ideas and outcomes. It introduces a wider audience to key findings and products from research and illustrates how practice feeds back into and informs research. The conference creates a forum for two-way communication between the academic and practitioner communities and particularly welcomes user led presentations and workshops.

The programme includes presentations of papers, workshops, and an exhibition space for demonstrations and posters. This event is held in partnership with GameCity – the World’s best-loved videogame festival (http://gamecity.org/) and delegates are welcome to attend all GameCity events including the opening drinks reception.

Scope

As guidance to participants on scope of papers and activities we state that: ‘Education’ includes both compulsory and post-compulsory education; ‘Disability’ includes physical, sensory and cognitive impairment; and the impact of interactive technologies and games on health and well-being is also a focus of this conference. An emphasis is placed on practical applications and guides to where currently available training resources and tools can be found and used. A selection of papers will be published electronically in full, so presentations will be limited to 20 minutes for the key findings, including time for questions from the floor. It is hoped (as in previous years) that the best papers will be published in a special issue of a relevant academic journal. Previous special issues have included:

Journal of Assistive Technologies – Volume 3 issue 2 June 2009 (ITAG 2008 selected papers)
Computers and Education – Volume 56, issue 1 (ITAG 2009 selected papers)
International Journal of Games Based Learning – in press (ITAG 2010 selected papers)
Journal of Assistive Technologies – Volume 6 issue 3 in development (ITAG 2011 selected papers)

Themes and topics:

The conference encourages multidisciplinary papers and examples of themes and topics include (but don’t let this restrict you):

Games Based Learning:

Social and collaborative aspects of games (e.g., educational aspects of Massively Multiplayer Online Games)
The efficacy of games based learning
Self authored content and personalisation in games
Learning theory, pedagogy and instructional design in games
Motivational aspects of games
Collaboration between Science and Art for more effective learning
Games to promote the inclusion (e.g., for offenders and people with disabilities, motivation of female gamers)

Game related Technologies:

Using contemporary games controllers to create new opportunities in health and rehabilitation applications (e.g., applications for Wii Fit, Kinect. Move).
Brain control interfaces to games
Pervasiveness and mobility of games
Location based services
Handheld learning in the classroom

Games for Health:

Serious games for clinical assessment (e.g. after stroke)
Serious games for rehabilitation and treatment (e.g. of phobias, ADHA, post-traumatic stress disorders, stroke)
‘Modding’ for health
Art and music rehabilitation in 3D multisensory environments
Games for children in hospital
Games to increase physical activity in children

Accessibility and Design:

Open source accessibility
Participatory design
Design for all
Natural user interfaces
The representation and promotion of gender equality in games
Alternative input modalities to games for people with disabilities (e.g., brain, haptic and audio interfaces)
Access to interactive technologies for elderly people

Web based technologies:

Resources for interactive learning tools and environments, e.g. Flash, podcasts, simulations, mobile games, Web 2.0 tool etc.
The Internet as a communication medium ( e.g. for people with Asperger Syndrome).
Browser based games and linking into social media channels

Submissions

Those wishing to present papers or hold a workshop should send abstracts, to a maximum of 500 words. For those hoping to exhibit or produce a poster, a 300-word abstract is required. The deadline for submissions is Friday 1st June 2012 to be sent to: karen.krelle@ntu.ac.uk

Final copies of accepted papers are required by Friday 14th September 2012

There is a conference fee of £150 for 2 days, and £80 for 1 day registration. This price includes your invitation to the Game City opening event, lunch, and morning and afternoon refreshments.

Accommodation and Travel Links: https://www.conferencebookings.co.uk/delegate/NCBITAGEHD2010 and http://www.nctx.co.uk/

Prizes Offered:

As in previous years prizes will be awarded!

Best Paper Award: £250
Best Student Paper award: £250
Best Student Poster: £150

Call for Papers: Arts – Health – Entrepreneurship?

A Conference on arts and health projects and practices organised on 22-23 October 2012 in Helsinki

Deadline for submissions is 31 May 2012

Throughout the world, from the 1990’s on, there are several projects and studies clearly indicating that cultural consumption and cultural pursuits have a positive effect on health. It is believed that art can encourage empowerment, support life management and add social capital etc. However, further research is needed in order to turn the projects into permanent services. The ARTS – HEALTH – ENTREPRENEURSHIP? conference is focusing on the management and entrepreneurship within arts and health projects. What skills and competencies are needed in the field? What does the field offer to arts/cultural operators? How to solve the challenge of funding and financing?

There have been several projects piloting new methods for using art based process to improve wellbeing of clients in social and health care sectors. Starting point of these projects is an artist working in a care unit and mediators understanding both artistic and health care interests for co-operation. These pilots have shown that in this surrounding the cultural operator needs to have good skills and specific competencies in order to make projects long term and successful. A central challenge is how to turn the innovative pilots into permanent practices, products and stable employment. This conference aims at looking into this challenge. This conference is an initiative of the ENCATC Arts and Health Thematic Area (www.encatc.org/arts-and-health/) and is organsied by the Cultural Management Degree Programme, Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (www.metropolia.fi)

In fact, in the context of arts and health, we are dealing with activities which fall into the border area of art/culture, as well as that of social services/health care. The field of applied art is multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary. We invite the professionals in the field to share the two topics of the conference:

1. CURRICULA DEVELOPMENT – There is a challenge to improve arts management aimed at professionals working in intermediary positions between the artists and health care units. Specific education is needed both in BA and MA levels as well as in continuing studies and in adult education. Key improvements are the better understanding of specific competence needed when working in multi-disciplinary surrounding combining large variety of expertise. Financial management is a part of the arts and health project development.

2. ENTREPRENEURSHIP – As seen in the piloted arts and health projects a central need is to find ways to enhance creative ideas into entrepreneurship. When turning the pilot into innovation with a more stable status along with new employment we need to focus on financing models, client basis and value chain of production as well as the service development. How to develop the managerial and funding skills of the practitioners?

Art in this context is understood any art form or art performance. Art and culture are basic needs for each person and bringing art and culture into hospitals and other care units has value for that sake. Further research is needed in order to develop culture and arts based wellbeing services as well as to develop circumstances for better employment by bringing together artists, mediators and healthcare professionals. In a holistic approach the customer is in the centre. A question of crucial importance is: who are the customers of arts and health services? We need to know the customer and his/her cultural capacities, needs and expectations.

The deadline for submissions is 31 May 2012. The length of abstract is max 300 words. Decisions will be made by the end of June 2012. Please send your abstract to: tanja.juntto@metropolia.fi.

The conference is free of charge but the travels, accommodation and meals are covered by the participants.