Ambient intelligence (AmI) relying on electronic devices employing information and communication technology (ICT) and artificial intelligence (AI) embedded in the network connecting these devices tends today to be insufficiently used. This deficiency implies that spaces are uncomfortable and considerable energy dissipates due to distribution losses, excessive or unnecessary climate control of little- and unoccupied spaces, etc. Building operations are responsible for ±27% of annual carbon dioxide (CO ₂) emissions, and infrastructure materials and construction are responsible for an additional ±13% annually; both need to be addressed integratively to meet sustainability goals. ^1,2 This paper addresses this in three AI-supported AmI test simulations of applications focusing on illumination and ventilation systems embedded in the built environment.

@en

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a sudden shift to virtual work and events, with the last two years enabling an appropriated and rather simulated togetherness - the hybrid mode. As we return to in-person events, it is important to reflect on not only what we learned about technologies and social justice, but about the types of events we desire, and how to re-design them accordingly. This SIG aims to reflect on hybrid events and their execution: scaling them across sectors, communities, and industries; considering trade-offs when choosing technologies; studying best practices and defining measures of "success"for hybrid events; and finally, identifying and charting the wider social, ethical, and legal implications of hybrid formats. This SIG will consolidate these topics by inviting participants to collaboratively reflect on previous hybrid experiences and what can be learned from them.

@en

Unlike traditional workshops, SensiBlend is a living experiment about the future of remote, hybrid, and blended experiences within professional and other social contexts. The interplay of interpersonal relationships with tools and spaces—digital and physical—has been abruptly challenged and fundamentally altered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. With this meta-workshop, we seek to scrutinize and advance the role and impact of Ubiquitous Computing in the new “blended” social reality, and raise questions relating to the specific attributes of socio-technical experiences in the future organization of interpersonal relationships. How do we better equip people to deal with blended experiences? What dimensions of socio-technical experiences are at stake? To this end, we will utilize the occasion of a virtual UbiComp in combination with novel remote-working tools and participatory sensing with attendees to collectively examine, discuss, and elicit the potential routes of augmenting social practices in a discourse about the future of blended working, socializing, and living.@en