Bridging practices, theories, and technologies to support reminiscence

Reminiscence is a valuable human activity; this one-day workshop explores how HCI practice and research can understand and support people in their reminiscing. The workshop has two main goals. First, it hopes to bring together academics and practitioners from both social and technical perspectives who are interested in studying and supporting reminiscence. Second, it hopes to explore key issues around current and potential uses of technology to support reminiscence, including 1) understanding people's current practices around reminiscing, 2) using empirical studies and theories of memory to inform technology designs, 3) evaluating existing technologies for reminiscence, 4) exploring ways that technology might support new reminiscing practices, and 5) supporting social aspects of reminiscence. We are particularly interested in bringing people from outside the CHI community into the workshop to add new perspectives and foster new collaborations around the work. A series of discussion-focused panels organized around the key topics identified by participants will lead to thoughtful examinations of these topics informed by multiple viewpoints. Our tangible planned outputs will be a set of recommendations for further research in this area and an outline plan for grant and book proposals at the intersection of reminiscing and technology.