Call for Papers: *AAAI  Spring 2009 Symposium on Human Behavior Modeling*
March 23-25, 2009
Stanford University
http://www.aaai.org/Symposia/Spring/sss09symposia.php#ss04


The *AAAI 2009 Spring Symposium on Human Behavior Modeling* will explore 
methods for creating models of individual and group behavior from data.

    * Models include generative and discriminative statistical models,
      relational models, and social network models
    * Data includes low-level sensor data (GPS, RFID, accelerometers,
      physiological measures, etc.), video, speech, and text
    * Behaviors include high-level descriptions of purposeful and
      meaningful activity or abstractions of cognitive and affective
      states. These include  activities of daily living (e.g., preparing
      a meal), interaction between small sets of individuals (e.g.,
      having a conversation), mass behavior of groups (e.g. the flow of
      traffic in a city) and related internal user states.

While behavior modeling is part of many research communities, such as 
intelligent user interfaces, machine vision, smart homes for aging in 
place, discourse understanding, social network analysis, and others, 
this workshop will be distinguished by its emphasis on exploring general 
representations and reasoning methods that can apply across many 
different domains.

We welcome the following types of contributed presentations:

*Papers*: The symposium agenda will include oral and poster 
presentations. We seek papers that collectively span the range of human 
behavior modeling -- from individuals to groups to societies -- using a 
variety of different computational techniques and data sources. The 
deadline for submitting a paper (6 pages AAAI format) is October 3, 2008.
 
*Panels*: In addition, we will have moderated panels and open 
discussions to encourage brainstorming, and to specifically identify 
grand challenge problems that could serve as a focal point for research 
efforts and innovation, and would provide a context in which to compare 
different methodologies and tools. Those interested in leading a panel 
should send in a two-page panel proposal by October 3, 2008.  Please 
email name and affiliation of all panelists.

*Doctoral Thesis Position Papers*: To encourage graduate student 
participation, we also invite advanced PhD student to submit thesis 
position paper (6 pages, AAAI format) by the submission deadline 
(October 3, 2008).

Email all submissions to aaai_ss09_hbm@cs.dartmouth.edu. Submissions 
will be judged on their technical merit and the potential to generate 
discussion and collaborations.

Participation in the symposium is open to all. Since AAAI limits 
symposium attendance between 40-60, persons interested in the symposium 
without contributing a paper or a panel are required to send email by 
January 31, 2009 to reserve a spot.

 *
Important dates*
October 3, 2008:                Papers and doctoral thesis position 
papers due
November 7, 2008:            Notifications of acceptances mailed out
January 14, 2009:              Camera ready paper due
January 31, 2009:              Intention to participate for those not 
contributing a paper
February 27, 2009:            Registration deadline
March 23-25, 2009:           Spring Symposium Series, Stanford University