UIST 2021 is starting! Here’s what not to miss
We are about to kick off our second ever virtual UIST, and we are so excited for the amazing program our team has put together. If you are attending UIST, your first stop should be our getting started page, which will show you how to access the official program and Discord.
If it all looks a little bit overwhelming, don’t worry! We are here to point out some highlights of the upcoming program. While not everything will happen at a convenient time in every time zone, our 24-hour schedule means that there should be at least one convenient time slot per day for everyone attending. Please check the official program to see the schedule in your local time zone and bookmark the events you don’t want to miss.
Keynotes
We’ll start the conference off with the opening plenary & keynote today (Monday) at 10:30 PM UTC! We will hear some opening remarks from our general chair Jeff Nichols, followed by Tessa Lau’s opening keynote on Building Dusty Robotics.
Our second keynote will happen midway through the conference on Wednesday at 7:00 AM UTC, where Manohar Swaminathan will talk about Ludic Design For Accessibility.
Finally, our closing keynote on Thursday at 6:00 PM UTC will feature Melody Ivory on More Human HCI, followed by the closing plenary. Read about all three keynote speakers here.
Talks, Talks, Talks!
Throughout the conference, there will be plenty of talks to attend! We have lightning talks in every paper session, where first-time UISTers, young researchers, and professionals will introduce themselves and their research interests in 60 seconds!
In addition to the paper sessions, the UIST Vision Talk by Ken Hinckley on The “Seen but Unnoticed” Vocabulary of Natural Touch: Revolutionizing Direct Interaction with Our Devices and One Another will be held on Tuesday at 3:15 PM UTC and 11:15 PM UTC.
Also don’t miss out on the Lasting Impact Award Plenary, which will only air once on Wednesday at 11:15 PM UTC.
Demos, Posters, and the Student Innovation Contest
UIST isn’t UIST without interactivity! We have a number of Demo & Poster sessions scheduled throughout the conference, taking place in Zoom breakout rooms. The first three will be held on Tuesday at 2 AM, 10 AM, and 6 PM UTC. The next three will also include the Student Innovation Contest, and will be held on Wednesday at 2 AM, 10 AM, and 6 PM UTC.
Social Events
There is no shortage of social activities to help you connect with fellow attendees! Check out the schedule for social meetups and ask-me-anything sessions here, join some fun Discord channels such as #introduce-yourself or #introduce-your-pet, or attend a social hour on Ohyay! Once you enter Ohyay, you will be able to see all events: Social Hours, Social Meetups, and Ask-Me-Anything sessions.
Feedback
Finally, the UIST organizing committee would love to hear about your experience at UIST, and how we can improve the conference in the future! There will be a live townhall session on Wednesday at 11:00 PM UTC, and you can join our Community channels on Discord to share your thoughts asynchronously.
We hope you enjoy UIST 2021! Don’t forget to tag us on Twitter @ACMUIST!
Minsuk Chang & Ailie Fraser
UIST 2021 Publicity Chairs
