Work in Progress

Work In Progress at IMX 2021

We encourage researchers, students and practitioners to submit Work-in-Progress (WiP) papers based on their recent viewpoints, new discoveries, and early-stage design and development in disciplines that are in line with the areas of interest of IMX. The WiP track is intended for thought-provoking and out of the box ideas, possibly with early proofs of concept or prototypes, as well as position papers. The WiP session is geared towards early career researchers, but also caters to seasoned scholars for the presentation of ongoing  projects. The WiP track thus provides a unique opportunity for exchanging brave new ideas, for receiving feedback on projects currently in progress and for fostering collaborations. We thus encourage submissions that are not merely a report of work done but an input for discussing with fellow researchers at the conference.

Accepted submissions will be presented as a short pitch presentation at the conference, within the conference’s online platform. Authors may also demo their work as part of the presentation if practical and desirable. The accepted WiP papers will be included in conference proceedings (indexed in the ACM Digital Library).

When submitting your work-in-progress paper, you will have to choose one of the following areas to submit your work in:

Audience understanding

This topic focuses on advances in audience engagement with media content as a rapidly evolving activity across diverse platforms, devices, and timeframes. It welcomes contributions that seek to understand audiences using a rich variety of analytic approaches including sensing audiences, sentiment analysis, and measuring and monitoring quality of experience. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, consumption trends and behaviors in young audiences, sharing practices and communication strategies, identifying engagement patterns across diverse genres, platforms and demographics, scheduled versus on-demand content consumption, binge viewing, and multi-platform engagement.

Immersive and interactive content and experiences

This topic is suitable for papers where the primary contribution is the introduction of novel ways of experiencing interactive media content. This includes new forms of media content (e.g. VR, AR, MR, XR, 360°, live-streaming etc.) consumed in diverse ways including across multiple screens, platforms, and in immersive theatres. Application areas include entertainment and information including interactive and generative documentaries, transmedia storytelling, volumetric filmmaking, live performance broadcasts and object-based media productions. Papers in other application areas, such as education, healthcare, wellbeing and governance and decision-making, are also welcome.

Technologies, systems and interfaces

This topic focuses on technologies, systems, and interfaces that improve and advance our interactions with media content online, at home, or on the move. It encourages submissions describing technical advancements in streaming systems, content synchronisation for multi-platform delivery, and recommendation and companion apps. Additional areas for consideration include games engines for content delivery, location-based and context-aware applications and services and object-based media.

Production tools and workflows

This topic solicits papers describing procedural advances in the preparation, design, and development of media experiences. Areas of interest include new production processes for TV, online video, VR, AR, XR, and 360° formats. Novel tools and workflows using motion capture, volumetric capture and animation are encouraged, as are the presentations of innovative authoring and data-driven tools for interactive or multi-platform content development. In addition to papers describing technical innovations, this topic area is also interested in innovations originating from design and humanities perspectives detailing the authoring process for writing interactive content and the human-centered design methods used to realize these narratives. 

AI and machine learning

This topic focuses on the use of machine learning and/or artificial intelligence techniques to capture, generate, or understand social media experiences and includes areas such as verification and verification scamming, information diffusion, monitoring media bias, misinformation and fake news, predictability of real-world events, and crowd-sourcing and collective intelligence in rich media systems.

Business models and marketing

This topic focuses on the new business, marketing, purchasing, subscription, and monetising strategies encountered in the new media landscape of TV and online video. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, targeted advertisements, freemium products, programmatic media buying, in-programme recommendations and purchases, exploiting consumption data, monetising second screen experiences, and social media influencer strategies.

Cultural and social studies

The impact of the new interactive media and TV landscape on culture and society is powerful and raises many important and challenging topics for consideration. This area welcomes papers from a wide variety of theoretical and analytical perspectives examining structured reality TV, social media manipulation and targeting, media convergence and platform monopolies, intellectual property, remix culture, fan culture, media activism and participation politics, or tactical media practices. In addition, research concerning media violence, social media addiction, or issues of bias and ethics would also be appropriate for this topic.

Disruptive concepts and video-centric art

This topic focuses on disruptive media practises that seek to challenge traditional media consumption patterns and expand spectator experiences. Authors are invited to describe the design, development of (and response to) constructed video-centric work, or speculate about future-oriented media provocations. 

IMX is an inclusive, growing, interdisciplinary community, so if you aren’t sure whether the specifics of your research are in scope then (a) they probably are, and (b) please email wip@imx2021.com and the chairs will do their best to advise you.

FORMAT AND SUBMISSION PROCESS

Work-in-Progress should be submitted through the PCS submission system in the form of a maximum 3,000 word paper (equivalent to 4 pages without images/tables/references) using the New SIGCHI Proceedings Format. Work-in-Progress paper submissions are not anonymised, and should include name, affiliation, and contact information of all authors.

Authors should submit accessible papers to ensure that everyone can review and access the submissions to IMX. Resources for preparing accessible submissions can be found here and help is available through contacting access@imx2021.com.

MENTORING SCHEME

We are offering a mentoring scheme for those who are new to submitting an academic paper, in adverse circumstances, for whom English is a second language, or is writing a particularly novel submission which may require additional input.  Mentors will be able to advise on how to structure papers, give editorial tips, and proofread submissions, but not to offer opinions on methodology or the ideas being presented.

More information about the Mentoring Program can be found at https://imx.acm.org/2021/index.php/diversity/mentoring-program/ If you would like support from an expert when preparing your submission, please contact: diversity@imx2021.com by the 8th of March 2021.

REVIEW PROCESS

Your submissions will be reviewed by a panel in a non-anonymised manner based on originality, creativity, impact, relevance to the topics of IMX and the quality of presentation. The review process will strive to select papers that present novel ideas and approaches, with the potential to spark discussions and interactions at the conference.

At the Conference

To maximise the visibility of your work, accepted submissions will be presented as 

1. a WiP madness speech (1 minute/per person) in the main track of the conference, AND 
2. a poster, which will be presented in the conference’s online platform.
3. (Optionally) a demo alongside the posters, which might be presented live via video stream or via an online platform.

Authors of accepted contributions will receive the indications of how to present their work at the virtual conference. At least one author must register to the virtual conference to give this presentation. Student authors will receive a registration waiver to attend the conference.

After the Conference

Work in Progress Papers will be published in the main conference proceedings, indexed in the ACM Digital Library.