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Call for submissions

General information 

The Haptics Symposium (HAPTICS) is a premier forum for innovations in technology and applications related to the human sense of touch, and to advances in our understanding of haptic (touch) perception. Sponsored by IEEE's Robotics and Automation Society and its Technical Committee on Haptics, HAPTICS brings together psychophysicists, engineers and designers, and crosses boundaries between the disciplines of robotic control and device design, psychology, human-computer interaction and the emerging area of touch and mobile computing. Its single track format and comfortable but vibrant surroundings make this symposium an ideal opportunity to network and learn.

The 2014 Haptics Symposium plans to solicit contributions in four categories, designed to meet the publication and sharing needs of our diverse community:

  1. Papers: October 2, 2013 (11:59 pm PST) September 30, 2013
  2. Extended abstracts: October 2, 2013 (11:59 pm PST) September 30, 2013
  3. Hands-on demonstrations: December 15, 2013 (11:59 pm PST)
  4. Commercial exhibits: December 15, 2013 (11:59 pm PST)

Proposals for tutorials and workshops should be sent to the chairs [at] hapticssymposium [dot] org (subject: HAPTICS%20tutorials%20and%20workshops%20inquiry) (conference chairs) by October 20, 2013 (earlier communication is strongly encouraged).

Accepted Papers and Extended Abstracts will be published in the HAPTICS 2014 Conference Proceedings and will be be available via IEEE XPlore. Accepted demo abstracts and tutorial/workshop abstracts will be made available to the conference attendees in the electronic proceedings.

Novel Content Requirement: Both Papers and Extended Abstracts should describe new content that has not been previously published in archival form, nor presented at another conference. This requirement is not intended to prevent subsequent publication of this material.

Papers

Paper submissions are sought that fully describe original, relevant unpublished work. Authors of accepted papers are also encouraged to submit a related demonstration.

Paper length: Papers should be between four and six full pages, with a maximum of eight pages; page charges of $100 per page (paid by an author during conference registration) will be assessed for final papers that exceed six pages. Reviewers will be instructed to weigh the contribution of a Paper relative to its length. Papers should be succinct, but thorough in presenting the work; thus, a smaller contribution should be described in fewer pages (e.g., four), and an eight-page Paper should have a substantial contribution.  Shorter, more focused Papers are encouraged; all will be subjected to the same review, with criteria of contribution, appropriate length, and appropriateness for oral versus poster presentation ranked by reviewers. Papers whose length is incommensurate with their contribution will be reviewed less favorably and are less likely to be given oral presentation.  

For example, an eight-page Paper might describe an extensive study or complex technical design or algorithm which is of considerable interest to the HAPTICS audience, with enough detail to allow replication and to clearly convey the work's rationale and support conclusions drawn. A four-page Paper will describe, for example, a less extensive or lower impact study, a prototype application that has not yet been thoroughly validated experimentally, or initial technical implementations - thus requiring less space, but still providing replicable detail, and with rationale and conclusions supported.

Video: The submission of supplementary videos is encouraged. See below for details.

Review: Rigorous reviewing is a HAPTICS hallmark. Each submitted Paper will be reviewed by one PC member and at least three external experts.  Authors will receive these anonymous comments along with the decision for acceptance or rejection.

Long/Short Oral versus Poster Presentation: All accepted Papers will be considered for long or short oral presentation slots; authors may indicate their preference. Reviewers will recommend presentation format, and a final decision will be based on the Paper's quality and impact. Shorter Papers designated for oral presentation will generally receive short presentation slots. All Papers not chosen for oral presentation will be presented as posters.  All accepted Papers have the same page limits, regardless of their method of presentation (poster versus short oral versus long oral).

Proceedings: All papers will appear in IEEE XPlore regardless of presentation format.  Orally presented papers will be labelled as such, and a separate acceptance rate for oral presentation will be reported.

Extended abstracts

Submissions of two to three full pages that summarize larger but original, unpublished contributions intended for and meriting more expansive journal publication, as required by the publication culture of some components of our multidisciplinary audience, are appropriate as Extended Abstracts. An Extended Abstract will outline a course of research rather than provide its full details to the standard of replicability. It must motivate and provide clear evidence for a considerably more substantial and complex contribution than what is expected for a four-page Haptics Symposium Paper (see preceding category).

The key difference between a four-page Paper and an Extended Abstract is that the latter is expected to employ a degree of summarization. While held to a lower requirement for detail, it will be held to a higher standard of impact and interest to our audience than a short Paper, particularly in consideration for oral presentation.

Oral versus poster presentation: All accepted Extended Abstracts will be considered for short oral presentation slots, on a similar basis as Papers; authors may indicate their preference. Abstracts not chosen for oral presentation will be presented as posters. The intent of this policy is to safeguard the diversity of our conference by attracting exciting and cutting-edge representation in our oral sessions from members of our audience who have difficulties with conference-publication conventions.  All accepted Extended Abstracts have the same page limits, regardless of their method of presentation (poster versus oral).

Proceedings: Accepted Extended Abstracts will appear in the Extended Abstracts section of the HAPTICS Proceedings. This publication should constitute the first appearance of the work summarized in an accepted Abstract, and a similar abstract summary should not appear elsewhere. Oral presentation will be indicated and its acceptance rate reported.

Formatting and submission

Paper format: HAPTICS 2014 will use the IEEE VGTC conference paper format for both Papers and Extended Abstracts.  

Formatting for review: We use a single-blind review process for Papers and Extended Abstracts, meaning the reviewers remain anonymous to the authors but not vice versa. Submissions therefore do not need to be anonymized. 

Submission: Papers and Extended Abstracts should be submitted using PrecisionConference.

Final submission of accepted papers: The primary author of each accepted Paper and Extended Abstract will receive an Author Kit with detailed instructions on how to format and electronically submit a final, publication-ready version of the document.

Accompanying video submissions

Videos optionally accompanying Paper and Extended Abstract submissions should be submitted through the same system as the documents themselves. Although Papers and Extended Abstracts must stand on their own, submitted videos will be sent to reviewers as supporting material. Authors of accepted contributions will have the opportunity to prepare a more polished final video presentation for inclusion in the electronic proceedings and as supplemental material in IEEE XPlore.

When submitting your video for review, please encode your video in a format that works across as many platforms as possible without the installation of additional codecs (i.e., it is best if your video will play on standard versions of Windows Media Player and/or Quicktime player). Please note that the total aggregate size for a submission cannot exceed 40 MBytes (including all videos and additional materials).  Note also that authors submitting a video must also prepare README and SUMMARY files to accompany their video, as explained here.

Final submission

All accepted Papers and Extended Abstracts will appear in this year's Haptics Symposium proceedings, which will be distributed on USB at the conference and published online in IEEE Xplore. In addition, a printed conference digest that shows short abstracts and images will also be distributed.

The authors of accepted Papers and Extended Abstracts are asked to prepare:
1) Required: A final version of your contribution (pdf) for the online proceedings, incorporating edits suggested by the reviewers and Associate Editor. 
2) Required: A 100-word abstract and an image (square aspect ratio, minimum 900x900 pixels, jpg or png format, less than 2 MB) for the conference digest.
3) Optional: An accompanying video, a README file, and a SUMMARY file. The latter two are required by IEEE for any videos that are published in IEEE Xplore, as explained here.
4) Required: IEEE electronic copyright form.  Complete this web-based form here.

NOTE: To prevent any delay in processing, please pay careful attention to the detailed instructions that are available here.  

The authors can submit item 1, 2, and 3 using PCS and item 4 using the IEEE VGTC site.

Due date for items 1, 2, and 3: December 15, 2013

Due date for item 4 (copyright form): December 20, 2013.