Empowering Research Excellence: Empathic Computing Journal Partners with ACM CHI 2026: The 3rd InterAI Workshop: Interactive AI for Human-Centered Robotics
The Empathic Computing Journal is delighted to announce a strategic partnership with the 3rd InterAI Workshop: Interactive AI for Human-Centered Robotics, an upcoming premier event held in conjunction with the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems ( ACM CHI 2026) in Barcelona.
While our editorial team will be supporting this event remotely, our commitment to advancing the field of intelligent interaction remains a top priority. As part of this collaboration, we are proud to serve as the official sponsor of the workshop's Best Paper Awards, reinforcing our dedication to recognizing and rewarding groundbreaking research in our shared community.
A Shared Vision for Interactive AI
The 3rd InterAI Workshop has established itself as a vital forum for exploring the intersection of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) and Interactive Artificial Intelligence. This year’s theme focuses on creating AI technologies that enhance collaboration, ensuring interactions are not only efficient but also intuitive and deeply tailored to human needs and behaviors.
As a journal dedicated to systems that understand and respond to human states, we find a profound synergy with the workshop's mission. We support the definition of human-centered interactive AI - as proposed by Schmidt et al. - which emphasizes real-time exploration, manipulation, and a clear purpose for human benefit. By sponsoring this event, the Empathic Computing Journal aims to foster a culture of excellence and encourage researchers to push the boundaries of how empathetic and intelligent systems are designed and understood. We believe that acknowledging high-quality work is essential for the continued growth of the discipline.
Awarding Academic Achievement
We are honored to provide the support necessary to recognize the most impactful submissions to the workshop. The Empathic Computing Journal will be sponsoring awards for the top three papers, celebrating authors who demonstrate exceptional rigor and innovation:
1st place: USD 200 cash/merch
2nd place: USD 100 cash/merch
3rd place: USD 50 cash/merch
These distinctions will be awarded based on the workshop committee's evaluation of the submissions' contribution to the field.
Call for Papers
We strongly encourage authors, researchers, and practitioners within the 3rd InterAI workshop topics to submit their latest work to this workshop. This is a unique opportunity to have your research reviewed by leading experts and potentially recognized with one of the sponsored awards.
Deadline: February 6, 2026
Submission Details: https://sites.google.com/view/interaiworkshopchi2026/call-for-papers?authuser=0
Looking Forward
The Empathic Computing Journal looks forward to the insights generated by this year’s keynotes, panel discussions, and interactive sessions. We are honored to play a role in supporting the scholars who are making human-robot collaboration more effective and empathic.
We wish the organizers and all participants a productive and inspiring workshop!
For more information on the awards and the workshop agenda, please visit: https://sites.google.com/view/interaiworkshopchi2026/home?authuser=0
About the 3rd interAI Workshop and ACM CHI 2026
The 3rd InterAI Workshop: Interactive AI for Human-Centered Robotics aims to explore and discuss the advancements and challenges in human-centered interactive artificial intelligence (AI) within the field of human-robot interaction (HRI). It will focus on the integration of AI technologies that enhance human-robot collaboration, ensuring these interactions are intuitive, efficient, and tailored to human needs and behaviors. Based on Schmidt et al., human-centered interactive AI is defined as an AI that enables interactive exploration and manipulation in real-time and is designed with a clear purpose for human benefit while being transparent about who has control over data and algorithms. This workshop is dedicated to exploring the cutting-edge developments in AI that prioritize interactive, real-time exploration and manipulation, all within the sphere of HRI. We aim to address the design considerations that make AI systems transparent, particularly in terms of data control and algorithmic operations, ensuring that users understand and trust the technology they interact with in the context of human-centered robotics. As the 3rd edition, this workshop will serve as a platform for fostering innovation, collaboration, and discussion among the CHI community, driving forward the development of human-centered interactive AI in robotics. Through a series of keynotes, paper presentations, panel discussions, and interactive sessions, we aspire to foster a deep understanding of how human-centered interactive AI can be effectively integrated into HRI systems to create more effective, ethical, and user-friendly interactions.
The ACM CHI Conference (the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems) is a leading international conference in the field of Human-Computer Interaction. It is recognized as one of the most influential academic conferences and is classified as an A* level conference.