Interactions - March/April 2015

Richard Ladner, author of our cover story, was recognized with the 2014 SIGCHI Social Impact Award for his research in and contributions toward making computing more accessible. In this issue, he challenges HCI researchers and practitioners in accessibility and inclusive design to incorporate persons with varying abilities and disabilities on their design and development teams. He describes this type of true engagement by users as design for user empowerment.

The cover story illustrates by examples how users are empowered to solve their own accessibility problems.

The implications of this approach include scalability and new approaches to innovation. As Ladner writes, if one billion people in the world have a significant disability, it only makes sense to see the challenge as one of empowerment and user creativity.

We are grateful and appreciative
of Viktoria Modesta, a multimedia
artist, DJ, and “bionic woman” who
graces this issue’s cover. Her futuristic,
in collaboration with Sophie de Oliveira
Barata, director of the Alternative Limb
Project. Based in the U. K., this project
provides unique prosthetics to blend in
with the body or stand out as a unique
piece of art, reflecting the wearer’s
imagination, personality, and interests.

Wearers are involved in all stages of the process, from conception of ideas to the final work. An alternative-style limb can help to break down social barriers, delight the eye, and provide an unusual talking point. We encourage you to learn more about their fantastic work at www.thealternativelimbproject.com.

Given the dates of the CHI conference this year, this is our “CHI issue.” It is jam-filled with HCI topics and shows the incredible diversity of interests and pursuits of the SIGCHI community. In line with focusing on human abilities, this issue presents a special topic on HCI and Sports edited by Stina Nylander and Jakob Tholander. We also have new additions to our regular contributors.

We would like to welcome our newest
columnist, Uday Gajendar, the director
of UX at CloudPhysics. Uday has been
a regular Interactions blogger and
agreed to shift from bits to atoms
in our print magazine! We also
welcome two new forum editors:
Mikael Wiberg introduces his new
forum Interaction and Architecture,
and Daniela Rosner debuts her new
forum Design as Inquiry.

Things are always changing at

Interactions. As we have new forums we have departing forums. We would like to acknowledge and thank the fantastic work over the years by Eva Hornecker, our dedicated editor for Let’s Get Physical, a forum on tangible computing.

Research on tangible, embodied, and embedded computing has no doubt benefited from Eva’s work on this forum.

Maybe you are reading this while momentarily taking a break from sessions at CHI 2015 in Seoul or enjoying your CHI sabbatical this year! Regardless, we ask that you stay connected with us at Interactions