Keynote Speakers
Journey to the user modeling: A review of modeling human and society using technology-oriented methods
Abstract
User modeling is one of the key concepts in the human-computer interaction field, aiming to adapt systems with users’ needs, preferences, and behaviors through studying and analyzing them. It has been a vital issue for each business and organization to provide their users with a good digital experience while many of their activities have been transferred to cyberspace.To accomplish such an important task, we need to understand the needs, differences, and preferences of users through data analysis and apply the result in improving processes and increasing users’ satisfaction.In this presentation, we intend to introduce a classification of modeling based on a conceptual framework to overcome the modeling complexity, followed by a review of state of the art in each class. We start by discussing modeling in theoretical physics, then proceed to explore modeling in neuroscience and the brain science. This continues with the introduction of psychological theories in the form of a model and ultimately delves into sociological discussions, including modeling a population.
This presentation provides an opportunity to share knowledge, experiences, and key points in user modeling, allowing computer scientists, psychologists, sociologists, and other stakeholders to familiarize themselves with the best practices in understanding and responding to various user needs, leading to creating experiences tailored to each user within automated systems. Systems that can perform the right task at the right time and in the right manner through user representation.
Arash Heydari
Assistant professor at university of science and culture, Iran, Tehran
Digital Gap: on the Relation Between Virtual Space and Social Space
“Social problems have social solutions.” This is a fundamental proposition in the social sciences. Social space is a system that emerges from actions and interactions among people. The public sphere is the realm of symbolic interactions encompassing a wide range of systematic patterns. This network, born from relations among actors, acquires a systematic structure, culminating in a fluid systematic whole. This constellation is greater than the sum of its individual parts. This explanation suggests that “society is not merely the simple aggregation of individual people” but a system that forms a unified whole due to interactions within economic, social, cultural, and political structures in a historical context.With this foundation, it is essential to consider virtual space as a subset of social space. A common misconception in understanding the relationship between social and virtual spaces is the tendency to limit the understanding of social space to the virtual realm. It is at this juncture that the concept of digital discrepancy becomes relevant. The nature and quality of users’ access to virtual space are influenced by their social circumstances. Inequalities, conflicts, and social dynamics are mirrored in cyberspace. Discrepancies that arise in the social arena at various levels (political, social, cultural, and economic) are replicated and entrenched in the virtual domain.Reducing comprehension of social processes solely to the virtual space leads to a disregard of the intrinsic logic of social space. The formation of virtual space relies on representation mechanisms. The disparity between representation and actual presence presents a fundamental philosophical and epistemological dilemma. Oversimplifying the socio-historical essence of social space to virtual representations in cyberspace results in a misinterpretation of social phenomena and carries socio-political ramifications that contradict the social sphere. This study aims to conceptualize the interplay between these two spaces and address common misconceptions surrounding their relationship.
Keywords: virtual space, social space, digital discrepancy, reproduction of inequality