This paper considers a new approach that allows for the creation of typographic works through gestural interaction. It describes a prototype application called TextDraw, which is designed to introduce new techniques for typesetting opened up by gesture and tangible manipulation. Previous work explored the implications of tangible-surface interaction in the context of Surface Games; specifically, how the combination of multi-touch and tangible objects can extend the paradigm of board games in new directions. TextDraw also looks toward tangible-surface interaction and the idea that associating functions to gestures combined with new tangible tools will result in radically new methodologies for design, artistic and poetic expression of typographic works. Furthermore, while artworks created with TextDraw are presented, this paper focuses on the introduction / implication of our prototype.

The Constructed Narratives Construction Kit is a tangible game interface built on the 802.15.4 wireless protocol designed for supporting players social awareness of others who are also engaged in the collaborative building activity.

Historically, the ACM Multimedia Conference is split into a "technical" program and an "arts" program. These programs sometimes seem completely separate from one another, victims of a "semantic gap" between disciplines. The goal of this panel is to create a space in which scientists learn from artists, and arts from science. We need to discover new connections between modalities of research. In order to create the most exciting and powerful future forms of interactive multimedia systems, the ones that will create the most beneficial broader impact on humanity, we need to foster new collaborations between artists and scientists. This panel seeks to bridge the great divide of language and communities that has fragmented us, creating a new space for developing connections between the arts and sciences of multimedia research, as embodied through the artists and scientists of ACM Multimedia. The goal is to make this conference a premier site for catalyzing emergent connections.

The exhibition Speculative Data and the Creative Imaginary: shared innovative visions between art and technology will bring together examples of best practices in creative digital media art and design that foster strong ties to current research trends in computer science and engineering. Exhibited works align with the 2007 ACM Creativity and Cognition conference themes: cultivating creative minds, sustaining creative communities and promoting creative engagement as they demonstrate innovative, novel, sometimes provocative and other times promising models for research in the design of interactive human centered applications, technology innovation, aesthetic expression, and social critique. [1] This is a timeless opportunity to connect the larger ACM Creativity and Cognition conference community of researchers and university faculty with a community of creative thinkers who share research interests across human centered computing, technology development, and scientific discoveries. The exhibition is hosted by the National Academy of Sciences Exhibitions and Cultural Programs and will be held at the National Academy of Sciences Rotunda Gallery, 2100 C Street NW, Washington D.C. from June 4th to August 24th, 2007.

Creativity support tools is a research topic with high risk but potentially very high payoff. The goal is to develop improved software and user interfaces that empower users to be not only more productive but also more innovative. Potential users include software and other engineers, diverse scientists, product and graphic designers, architects, educators, students, and many others. Enhanced interfaces could enable more effective searching of intellectual resources, improved collaboration among teams, and more rapid discovery processes. These advanced interfaces should also provide potent support in hypothesis formation, speedier evaluation of alternatives, improved understanding through visualization, and better dissemination of results. For creative endeavors that require composition of novel artifacts (e.g., computer programs, scientific papers, engineering diagrams, symphonies, artwork), enhanced interfaces could facilitate exploration of alternatives, prevent unproductive choices, and enable easy backtracking. This U.S. National Science Foundation sponsored workshop brought together 25 research leaders and graduate students to share experiences, identify opportunities, and formulate research challenges. Two key outcomes emerged: (a) encouragement to evaluate creativity support tools through multidimensional in-depth longitudinal case studies and (b) formulation of 12 principles for design of creativity support tools.

The Constructed Narratives project has been designed for use in public spaces where there is the opportunity for individuals and groups of people, who are not acquainted with each other, to encounter the game and subsequently each other. The goal is to provide a platform that supports discourse in environments where "keeping comfortable distance" between oneself and others is the norm. The system framework developed for this project can be applied for use in computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL), and collaborative design activities in the tradition of computer supported collaborative work (CSCW). The current domain explored in the Constructed Narratives project is computer systems designed to enable shared experience through play, or computer supported collaborative play (CSCP). This paper examines the theories that influenced and design methodologies used by an interdisciplinary team of artists, designers and technologists used to develop solutions for multiple wicked design problems that can arise during the development of the system architecture for a tangible social interface.

Constructed Narratives is a tangible social interface designed for use in public spaces where people have the opportunity to encounter the game and subsequently learn about each other. The hardware and software system architecture developed for this project could be applied for experimental computer-based interfaces for several human computer interaction domains including collaborative learning (CSCL), and collaborative design activities in the tradition of computer supported collaborative work (CSCW). The current domain explored for Constructed Narratives is that of computer systems designed to enable shared experience through play, or computer supported collaborative play (CSCP).

The Digital Boundaries exhibition includes works that use multimedia to address issues of multiculturalism, identity, and awareness. By placing technology in new contexts to explore multimedia's impact on culture (and vice versa) we create a space for the discussion of new ideas and create an interdisciplinary impact by reinforcing a dialogue between the arts and multimedia communities. We discuss our motivation, the exhibition theme, the works selected, and their potential technical impact.