MC2007

Report on Mensch & Computer: Konferenz fuer interaktive und kooperative Medien - MC 2007 (Human & Computer: Conference on Interactive and Cooperative Media - MC 2007; in German)

Prof. Dr. Tom Gross
Faculty of Media, Bauhaus-University Weimar, Germany

The Mensch & Computer: Konferenz fuer interaktive und kooperative Medien - MC 2007—that is, the Human & Computer: Conference on Interactive and Cooperative Media - MC 2007—took place from 2nd to 5th September 2007 at the Bauhaus-University Weimar, Germany, and is with its 350 participants the largest German-speaking conference on Usability, Human-Computer Interaction, and Design of Interactive Media.

The MC 2007 is part of an annual conference series with the same motto, and had the special topic ‘Mensch & Computer: Interaktion im Plural’—that is, Human & Computer: Interaction in Plural. Following this motto the conference organisers called for original work putting in the centre of the focus the users and the technical support for cooperation, learning, and playing.

The conference was organised by the Computer-Supported Cooperative Work Research Group of Prof. Dr. Tom Gross representing the Bauhaus-University Weimar, the German Informatics Society (GI e.V.), and the German Chapter of the Association of Computing Machinery (GC-ACM). Like in previous years the German Chapter of the Usability Professionals’ Association (GC-UPA e.V.) co-organised the Usability Professionals event with a intertwined and symbiotic program. And, the conference also had a Knowledge Media Design track.

The 350 participants came to 50 percent from academia and research centres, and 50 percent of industry. The gender was two thirds male, and one third female participants. The majority of the participants was from the German-speaking countries of Europe with most participants from Germany, followed by Austria, and Switzerland. The conference also had participants from the Netherlands, from the USA, and from New Zealand.

The scientific, technical, and design presentations had the format of scientific talks, design presentations, system demonstrations, posters, tutorials, and workshops. They covered basic topics such as concepts and development, evaluation and experiment as well as interaction; applied topics such as cooperative work and contexts, analysis and design of multimedia systems, interactive systems for children; and practical topics such as metaphors, ontology and design, navigation and presentation, visualisation and representation, developer tools, cooperation and awareness, as well as learning, teaching, and story-telling. Several companies showed interesting products and services: artop, eye square GmbH, Interactive Minds, Klar Automation GmbH, Noldus Information Technology, SAP AG, SirValUse Consulting GmbH, SensoMotoric Instruments GmbH, User Interface Design GmbH, and qualitylabs Bartel & Quint.

The participants gave very positive feedback concerning the contents and the organisation of the event. Many participants also pointed out that they enjoyed the conference banquet.

Further details can be found in the official conference proceedings published by Oldenbourg-Verlag, the Usability Professionals 07 proceedings, and the Workshop proceedings.

Some Impressions