Videos and Demos

Important Dates

All deadlines are 23:59 AoE (Anywhere on Earth).

We encourage authors to embrace this year’s conference theme “Innovative HRI”.

How does it work? Authors may consider how their HRI demo or videos submissions are innovative, above and beyond typical scientific research.

In the spirit of Interaction, we strongly encourage authors, including those who have contributed a full paper, to consider submitting a demo or video of their work. Be creative and aim for interactivity, whether with your own robot, a simulated robot projected on a wall, a Zoom link with a robot in your lab, etc. Suggestions on how to showcase your work are welcome!

Videos

We invite submissions of videos related to all aspects of HRI and alt.HRI. Videos should be self-explanatory, of scientific relevance, and fun to watch. Submissions will be peer-reviewed for their quality and potential impact, the novelty of their setting, and the lessons learned. Accepted videos will be published in the companion proceedings of the conference (listed with a DOI in the ACM digital library/IEEE Xplore that can be referenced).

Demos

We invite submissions demonstrating cutting-edge systems that make interaction with robots more intuitive and seamless, and/or illustrate some aspect of HRI in an exciting and engaging manner. Demonstration proposals will be peer-reviewed based on these criteria. While we welcome submissions including all types of interaction (e.g., physical robots, hardware or software interfaces, virtual agents, etc), we will prioritise submissions that include physical robots and have the potential for offering live demonstrations at the conference venue. Accepted submissions will be published in the conference companion proceedings (listed with DOI in ACM digital library/IEEE Xplore that can be referenced). The authors of accepted demonstrations will also be given the opportunity to present their demos at the conference venue.

Submission Instructions

For both videos and demos, please submit through the PCS website:

1. A video.
2. A summary document.

Submissions do not need to be anonymized. For reference and inspiration, accepted submissions from last year’s proceedings can be found here. Please, see below on important guidelines for the preparation of the videos and the accompanying document.

Guidelines

Video Content

All audio and video content should be clearly audible and visible. We expect the content of the videos to adhere to the following guidelines:

• Videos should explain the content using voice-overs, and all audio must be captioned to be inclusive to viewers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
• Video content should be self-contained and self-explanatory.
• There will be no live narration or in-person introduction when videos are presented in the session.
• Video content should not contain advertisements or be heavily promotional in nature.

The copyright of the videos remains with the authors. Video authors are responsible for obtaining permission for any third-party copyrighted material (e.g., music, video, images) in the video. Such content should not be included unless permission has been obtained.

Video Formatting

We require the following video formatting specifications:

• Videos should be up to three minutes long. Titles and credits are recommended to last less than 3 seconds each.
• Videos cannot exceed 70MB in size.
• The horizontal resolution should be at least 640 pixels. We recommend using the maximum resolution permitted within the file size restrictions (up to 2048 × 1080).
• Our recommended video format is the .MP4 container format using the H264 codec (main or high profile) for the video track and the AAC codec for audio tracks. Submissions in .AVI, .MOV, or .MKV containers (possibly using other codecs) will also be considered.
• Authors should verify that their submission is viewable using a recent version of the VLC media player (cross-platform). Ideally, the submitted file will play on computers with recent Linux, OSX, or Windows operating systems without requiring the installation of third-party codecs.
• Videos should have the aspect ratio correctly set (i.e., playing them should not require user interaction to avoid stretching).
• Submission files that are finalized need to be ready to be played as they are, without revision, at the conference.
• Start the video filename with the lead author’s last name.
• Do not use Digital Rights Management (DRM) on your video file submission.
• Please check that audio and video tracks play synchronously if relevant for the submission.

Video and content guidelines are subject to small changes.

Document Preparation

The document should be no longer than three pages, including references. All papers for the conference must be submitted in PDF format in the same template as the main conference paper submissions, i.e. ACM SIG format (“sigconf”, double column format). Templates are available at this link (US letter). Also, ACM has partnered with Overleaf, and you can directly start writing using this link (note that this Overleaf template may ask you to use the new ACM workflow, which is not what HRI is using; please use the “sigconf,authordraft” document class, rather than the “manuscript,screen,review” document class in the Overleaf document).

The submitted document must include:

• A title.
• A list of authors (names, affiliation, email, address, etc.).
• An abstract (max. 100 words).
• Keywords.
• One or more summary figures describing the video or demo.
• Description of the demo or video, including a technical overview and an explanation of its novelty, importance, and usefulness.
• Sustainability Statement (optional)
• The PDF should follow the accessibility guidelines described here.

The accompanying documents of accepted submissions will be included (together with the videos) in the companion proceedings of the HRI conference (with a DOI in the ACM digital library/IEEE Xplore).

Demo Fast Track

This year, authors of accepted submissions of Full Papers, Short Contributions and Alt.HRI will be given the opportunity to participate in the demonstration exhibit area at HRI. This is in addition to the main stage presentation and would allow for more visibility of their work, interactive discussions, and a chance to win a Best Demo (or Honorable Mention) award.

Requirements: The accepted submission must (1) include a video in the supplementary materials which clearly shows the contribution of the submission; and (2) be nominated for Demo Fast Track by a reviewer.

Notes: Unlike regular Demo Track submissions, authors in Demo Fast Track will not be asked to prepare an additional paper. Demo chairs will contact nominated authors after acceptance notifications, then select Fast Track demos according to space, availability, and author interest.

Sustainability Statement (optional)

As part of our commitment to a more sustainable conference, we encourage all Videos and Demos presenters to reflect on how their submission supports sustainable development, or how they can minimize the environmental impact of their contribution. Please include a brief Sustainability Statement (2–3 sentences) describing a) how you believe your submission contributes to sustainable development and/or b) how you plan to make your demo or presentation more sustainable in your document. You might consider aspects such as: reducing travel or shipping (e.g., using equipment at the venue, lightweight setups), using reusable or recyclable materials, minimizing energy consumption and waste during the demo, and sharing digital rather than printed materials.