People and Computers XIX - The Bigger Picture

This volume contains the full papers presented at HCI 2005, the 19th Annual Conference of the British HCI Group, a specialist group of the BCS. The conference has become the premiere annual conference on human-computer interaction in Europe, attracting a global audience.

People and Computers XIX includes leading edge discussions outlining the latest research results and novel systems from the foremost research and development groups and laboratories throughout the world. In keeping with our theme, The Bigger Picture, this year our authors collectively construct a broad canvas, though we can focus on HCI at three distinct levels:

• The Human Scale – exploring the relationships between individuals mediated by tangible interfaces, ways of capturing their requirements and eliciting their needs, and considering the user in their immediate, local situations

• The Cultural Context – zooming out to gain a perspective on HCI’s place in the world and its relationship with external communities across different countries and cultures, seeing patterns in social networks both within the HCI community and with other stakeholders

• Interactivity at the Interface – here we zoom back in to the detailed level, the traditional territory of HCI, with analysis of interface components and human senses, and the fit between them.

We conclude with the call to action by our closing keynote, Professor Alistair Sutcliffe, who makes the connections to enable the HCI community to meet grand challenges in computer science.

The papers presented in this volume include contributions from leading figures in both the research and business sectors.