The First Workshop on Computational Semiotics for New Media was held on the 29th/30th June 2000 at the University of Surrey (UK). It attracted fourteen papers from eleven different institutions, with participants coming from France, Holland, Germany, Australia and the UK.The program for the conference is available online.

The organisers of this workshop were (in alphabetical order):

• Andy Clarke (Kinonet, UK)
• Clive Fencott (Virtual Reality Applications Research Centre (VRApps), University of Teeside)
• Craig A. Lindley (CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences, Australia)
• Grethe Mitchell (Kinonet and University of Lincolnshire and Humberside, UK)
• Andrew Salway (University of Surrey, UK)

The aim of the workshop was to explore the ways in which new media systems encode and convey meaning to system users. Papers were invited on any subject that explored areas of overlap (or potential overlap) between semiotics and new media. The term "new media" was interpreted broadly, referring to computer-based media which incorporates one or more modalities including (but not limited to) digital video and audio, live-rendered and pre-rendered 2D or 3D graphics, still images and text. Input may make use of conventional keyboard, mouse, joystick or game pad, data glove, or sensor technology of any type, and output may be through conventional screen technology (including data projectors), 3D visualization systems (including VR goggles and CAVE systems), haptics, and other new interaction technologies.

Appropriate topics included, but were not limited to, the following:

• The application of semiotic theories to new media.
• System analysis and design principles, tools and techniques, software architectures and technologies using or based upon semiotic theories, system or models.
• Narratology (both linear and non-linear narrative form) in new media.
• The use of semiotics in the creation of generative narrative systems.
• Theories of agency in new media
• Semiotic-orientated HCI.
• Software architectures and technologies using (or based upon) semiotic theories, system or models.
• The use of semiotics in AI.
• Principles for multi-modal design and interaction, cross-modal relationships and metaphors.
• The role of AI representation formalisms and techniques in new media, such as scripts, conceptual graphs, learning algorithms and evolutionary computing.

The success of the Workshop on Computational Semiotics for New Media has lead to several full international conferences on the subject in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. Follow the links in the navigation bar for more information on these.

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