About The Workshop
Over the past decade, a noticeable increase in literature can be seen in wearable foot interfaces, which have evolved from activity tracking to enhancing human capabilities. Our legs, being the largest body limbs, play an essential role in various functions such as locomotion, maintaining balance, supporting proper posture and providing ground-contact using our feet. Hence, foot augmentations offer the opportunity to augment our entire body. However, most prior research focuses on specific application areas, thus affording a research agenda to further understand the full potential of feet in designing augmentations and to contextualize it in the broader human augmentation space. To achieve this, in this workshop, we invite researchers and practitioners interested in designing human and foot augmentations. We will discuss how early foot interfaces helped in augmenting humans, and based on current work and trends in foot augmentation, we will formulate strategies for the next steps and discuss the applicability of such strategies in the broader space of human augmentation.
Where
Hybrid Workshop at CHI'25
When
Sunday, 27 April 2025
What are the topics covered in the Workshop?
- Past to Present - What can we learn from the history of foot augmentation, and what is the current state (e.g., modalities, technologies, methods)?
- Present to Future - What are the strategies for the next steps in foot augmentation?
- Foot to Human Augmentation - How do such strategies link to the broader space of human augmentation?
1-Day Workshop Schedule
| Yokohama UTC+9 |
San Francisco UTC-7 |
New York UTC-4 |
Berlin UTC+2 |
New Delhi UTC+5:30 |
Hong Kong UTC+8 |
Melbourne UTC+10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun, April 27 |
Sat, April 26 |
Sat, April 26 |
Sun, April 27 |
Sun, April 27 |
Sun, April 27 |
Sun, April 27 |
The workshop consists of multiple lightning talks leading into dynamic breakout sessions and group discussions aimed at fostering collaboration and deeper exploration of the topics.
Introducing the Workshop
On-boarding and Introduction of Participants
Lightning Talks
two 10-minutes talks
Q&A and Discussion
Break
Introduce Topics and Set Groups
1st Breakout Session - Past to Present
Topic Discussion, Presentation of Intermediate Results, and Group Discussion
Break
Lightning Talks
two 10-minutes talks
Q&A and Discussion
2nd Breakout Session - Past to Present
Topic Discussion, Presentation of Intermediate Results, and Group Discussion
Break
Synthesize and Conclude
Overview of existing resources and look into things that needs to be done
Organizers
Nihar
Sabnis
PhD Student
Sensorimotor Interaction Group
MPI for Informatics
Dennis
Wittchen
Researcher
Dresden University of Applied Sciences
Ata
Otaran
Post-Doc
HCI Lab at Saarland University
Fatima
Badmos
PhD Student
Technological University Dublin
Siyi
Liu
PhD Student
Exertion Games Lab at Monash
Aryan
Saini
PhD Student
Exertion Games Lab at Monash
Georg
Regal
Scientist
Austrian Institute of Technology
Vincent
van Rheden
Research Fellow
University of Salzburg
Suranga
Nanayakkara
Associate Professor
National University of Singapore
Denys J.C.
Matthies
Associate Professor
Technical University of Applied Sciences Lübeck
Florian 'Floyd'
Mueller
Professor
Monash University
Troy
Nachtigall
Designer and Lecturer
Eindhoven University of Technology
Paul
Strohmeier
Group Leader
Sensorimotor Interaction Group
MPI for Informatics
Laia Turmo
Vidal
Digital Futures Postdoctoral Fellow
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Don
Samitha Elvitigala
Lecturer
Exertion Games Lab at Monash
Call for Participation
The Walking the Future workshop aims to serve as a platform to foster discussions on foot
augmentation
among researchers, enthusiasts, and practitioners. Moreover, the workshop should form the bridge between
learnings of the past to deriving design guidelines and research strategies for the future of foot
augmentation. This hybrid workshop is open to anybody with experience in design and research in the
field of human augmentation. To participate, you need to submit a two to three-page position
paper (by
April 1, 2025) using the ACM Master Article Template (see CHI publication formats)
and set the document class to documentclass[sigconf]{acmart}.
Please use this form to upload your manuscript. We
encourage your position paper to focus on at least one of the areas which would be discussed during the
workshop – (a) modalities and methods for foot augmentation, (b) design and fabrication of systems to
provide augmentations, (c) design challenges and guidelines, (d) connections between foot and human
augmentation, or another area you believe is worth discussing. The paper should briefly introduce
yourself and provide an overview of what you believe needs discussion during the workshop. You are
highly encouraged to present your work in this context. Position papers will form the basis of the group
discussions. Finally, participants will have a choice to have their accepted paper published on the
workshop website. At least one author of an accepted position paper must attend the workshop (in-person
or virtual) and register for at least one day of the conference.
Important Dates
Submission Deadline: April 1, 2025 Notification: April 4, 2025
Position Papers
| Brief research directions for toes augmentation Genki Akimoto (The University of Tokyo) Masahiko Inami (The University of Tokyo) |
|
| From Hand to Foot: Expanding Multi-Sensory Feedback for Accessible Dance
Participation Madhuka De Silva, Monash University Jim Smiley (Monash University) Sarah Goodwin (Monash University) Leona Holloway (Monash University) Matthew Butler (Monash University) |
|
| Digitally Fabricated Sole-Attached Textures for Haptic Walking in Virtual Reality Donald Degraen (HIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury) Stephan Lukosch (HIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury) |
|
| Realtime Smart Gait Poser for foot augmentation Hiroyuki Deguchi (Keio University) Ryosuke Hori (Keio University) Tsubasa Maruyama (National Institute of Advanced, Industrial Science and Technology) Mitsunori Tada (National Institute of Advanced, Industrial Science and Technology) Hideo Saito (Keio University) |
|
| A novel combination of haptics and lean to move Stefanos F. Lazarides (VIMA Perceptions Inc.) |
|
| Technical Analysis for Electro-Sensory 3D Foot Scanning in a Shoe Denys J.C. Matthies (Technical University of Applied Sciences Lübeck, Fraunhofer IMTE) Maximilian Kasbohm (Ilmenau University of Technology, Fraunhofer IGD) Gerald Bieber (Fraunhofer IGD Rostock) |
|
| Step into the future: Foot augmented gait entrainment for motor re-learning Gunarajulu Renganathan (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) Mitsunori Tada (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) Yuichi Kurita (Hiroshima University) |
|
| Through Feet, Connecting to SuperLimbs Tomoya Sasaki (Tokyo University of Science, RCAST, The University of Tokyo) Eiichi Yoshida (Tokyo University of Science) Masahiko Inami (RCAST, The University of Tokyo) |
|
| Using Sound and Movement Signals for Foot Augmentation and Body Transformation
Experiences Ana Tajadura-Jiménez (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, UCL Interaction Centre London) |
|
| A Walking Support System with Pedestrian Dead Reckoning and Foot Pose Tracking for Visually
Impaired Individuals Gongke Tang (ShanghaiTech University) Yunyang Di (ShanghaiTech University) Jingran Zhang (ShanghaiTech University) Yijia Zhong (ShanghaiTech University) Yutong Liu (ShanghaiTech University) Jiahao Chen (ShanghaiTech University) |
|
| GestureSock: Exploring toe gestures as alternative input method Vincent van Rheden (Human Computer Interaction Division, University of Salzburg) Sasindu Abewickrema (Exertion Games Lab, Monash University) Florian 'Floyd' Mueller (Exertion Games Lab, Department of Human-Centred Computing, Monash University) Don Samitha Elvitigala (Department of Human Centred Computing, Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University) |
|
| Exploring the foot augmentation in lucid dream manipulation Po-Yao (Cosmos) Wang (Exertion Games Lab, Department of Human-Centred Computing, Monash University) Nathan Semertzidis (Institute of Social Neuroscience) Florian 'Floyd' Mueller (Exertion Games Lab, Department of Human-Centred Computing, Monash University) |
FAQ
-
How to attend the workshop?
Walking the Future workshop is a hybrid format and you can register for the event by reserving your spot during CHI 2025 registration.
-
How to apply as a participant?
Participants can apply by submitting the google form.
-
What should be in the document submitted by the
participants?
If you are interested in participation, please submit a two to three-page position paper using the publication version of the ACM Master Article Template (https://chi2025.acm.org/chi-publication-formats/) and set the document class to
documentclass[sigconf]{acmart}.
We encourage your position paper to focus on at least one of the areas which would be discussed during the workshop – (a) modalities, approaches, or methods applied for foot augmentation, (b) design and fabrication of interfaces to provide such augmentations, (c) design challenges and guidelines, or should present another area you believe should be discussed. The paper should briefly introduce yourself, an overview of what you believe is important and needs discussion in your chosen area, and you are highly encouraged to present your own work in this context. -
Will the submitted paper be published or
displayed on the website?
The submitted paper will be only displayed on the Walking the Future workshop website.
-
Do I need to attend the workshop after
submitting an abstract?
At least one author of an accepted position paper must attend the workshop.
-
What should I do if I am facing problem during
submission?
Please send an email to nsabnis[at]mpi-inf.mpg.de with the clear details about the issue you are facing.