call for pictorials

important dates

Check your local time AoE

what are pictorials?

Pictorials are archival research publications with the same weight as full papers. This format first appeared in the proceedings of the ACM DIS2014 conference to honor and recognize particular ways of documenting design knowledge that might not fit more conventional format outputs.

Pictorials are research papers in which the visual components (e.g., diagrams, sketches, illustrations, renderings, photographs, annotated photographs, and collages) play a significant role in conveying novel concepts and research knowledge contributions.

At TEI, successful pictorials should report on tangible, embedded and embodied research, traversing different types of contribution, including (but not limited to) new technical processes, technological materials, tangible methods, digital fabrication approaches, interactive objects, and related theory.

what pictorials are not

As this format is becoming increasingly popular in our community, we find it important to clarify the role of pictorials as knowledge production formats:

Pictorials are not to be confused with short papers. If the contribution is incipient in any way, your research will likely be much better received in the work-in-progress track.

Consequently, pictorials are not works in progress. Pictorials should offer a complete, well-articulated contribution where the communication of knowledge benefits from designerly, visual means.

important points to consider when preparing your pictorials

• Does your work require a pictorial format, or would it benefit from a more traditional paper submission?
• Is the contribution original and complete? If not, consider a WIP submission instead.
• Are images/diagrams emphasized over text as the primary or an essential means of communicating the research contribution?
• Are the implications for the TEI research community clear and sound?
• Do images play a meaningful role in clearly presenting the idea, or are they merely decorative?
• Does the placement of images and text compose a good narrative?

policy on use of large language models

Text and images generated from a large-scale language model (LLM), such as ChatGPT, must be clearly marked where such tools are used for purposes beyond editing the author's own text. Please carefully review the April 2023 ACM Policy on Authorship before you use these tools. The SIGCHI blog post describes approaches to acknowledging the use of such tools, and we refer to it for guidance.

While we do not anticipate using tools on a large scale to detect LLM-generated text, we will investigate submissions brought to our attention and desk-reject papers where LLM use is not clearly marked.

what to submit?

This year's theme, "The Body in Space", foregrounds how bodies - individual and collective, human and non-human - inhabit, move through, sense, and shape physical and hybrid spaces. We invite work that examines corporeality and spatiality in interaction design.

We expect submissions to be clearly framed within the rapidly developing tangible, embedded, and embodied interaction field. Works framed as research through design and more technical contributions are particularly welcome.

Submissions may cover diverse types of topics that include (but are not limited to):

• Embodied sensing and actuation (wearables, on-body interfaces, prosthetic and assistive technologies)
• Spatial interfaces and locative experiences (virtual bodies, augmented architecture, urban computing)
• Movement, gesture, and kinaesthetic interaction in public and private spaces
• Tactile, haptic, and multisensory design that links body and environment
• Choreography of social and collaborative interactions across shared spaces

submission guidelines

All abstracts, pictorials, and supporting materials must be submitted electronically via the Precision Conference (PCS) website by the submission deadline (see above for all relevant dates). At the time of submission, authors must select their preferred presentation format. If authors choose to present their work as an artifact (demonstration), authors will be asked to provide the basic requirements of their demo.

Pictorials must be submitted in the TEI2027 Pictorials format (see below) and not exceed 12 pages, excluding references. Submissions will be reviewed in a double-blind process, and authors must ensure that their names and affiliations do not appear on the submission. The author and affiliation sections of the template must be left blank.

In case of acceptance, authors will be asked to provide a camera-ready version that includes this information, along with any recommended improvements as suggested by the reviewers. The first page of the submission should include the submission's title and a written abstract of no more than 150 words describing the background and contribution to the TEI community. Further written parts known from other conference formats, such as Introduction, Conclusion, Discussion, or Acknowledgments, are optional.

The body of the submission should be an annotated visual composition, and we encourage submissions to use the format creatively. All submissions should be anonymous and submitted via the TEI2027 Precision Conference (PCS) system by August 6, 2026 (including full submissions, abstracts, and supplementary materials). If available, we advise you to use the InDesign template. Otherwise, the MS Word or PowerPoint templates are also accessible options:

• Microsoft Word
• PowerPoint
• InDesign

PCS supports file sizes of up to 150 MB. However, we recommend reducing the resolution size so it is easier for reviewers to download the paper.

accessibility

Adobe has a great resource for creating accessible PDFs. You can find tutorials from Microsoft if you are using Microsoft Word or Microsoft PowerPoint.

Pictorial authors using InDesign, read this guide to add alt text using InDesign and to generate an accessible PDF from InDesign. Follow these accessibility instructions if you created your pictorial in PowerPoint. They are similar to creating accessible PDFs from Word by instructing users to run the accessibility checker and fixing errors in the source file (e.g., PowerPoint), and generating the .pdf.

Consider this review of alt-text patterns in pictorials for further guidance.

review and selection

The review process is the same as for the papers track. Pictorials will be reviewed in a double-blind process, where each submission will be assigned to two associate chairs (1AC and 2AC), who will invite external reviewers to evaluate the quality of the submission and its appropriateness to the TEI community. Authors must ensure that their names and affiliations do not appear on the submitted papers. The author, affiliation, and acknowledgment sections of the template must be left blank. In preparation for the camera-ready submissions, all authors will receive instructions on how to prepare their pictorial for publication, including adding the authors, affiliation, and acknowledgments, along with any recommended improvements as suggested by the reviewers.

Furthermore, all references should remain intact. If you previously published a paper and your current submission builds on that work, the reference - with authors - should appear in the references. Submissions should NOT have blank references (e.g., "12. REMOVED FOR REVIEWING"). We encourage authors to refer to their previous work in the third person. Further suppression of identity in the body of the paper, while encouraged, is left to the authors' discretion.

Confidentiality of submissions will be maintained during the review process. All rejected submissions will be kept confidential in perpetuity. All submitted materials for accepted submissions will be kept confidential until the start of the conference.

For camera-ready submissions, we will ask that all authors make their pictorials accessible by ensuring the document follows best practices in accessibility. Please see the Accessibility section for more information on creating accessible PDFs.

publication policies

By submitting your article to an ACM Publication, you are hereby acknowledging that you and your co-authors are subject to all ACM Publication Policies. Alleged violations of this policy or any ACM Publications Policy will be investigated by ACM and may result in a full retraction of your paper, in addition to other potential penalties, as per ACM Publications Policy.

Please ensure that you and your co-authors obtain an ORCID ID, so you can complete the publishing process for your accepted paper. ACM has been involved in ORCID from the start and we have recently made a commitment to collect ORCID IDs from all of our published authors: https://authors.acm.org/author-resources/orcid-faqs. The collection process has started and will roll out as a requirement throughout 2022. We are committed to improve author discoverability, ensure proper attribution and contribute to ongoing community efforts around name normalization; your ORCID ID will help in these efforts.

open access

From January 1, 2026, all ACM publications and related artifacts in the ACM Digital Library are now open access. For a pictorial to be covered by ACM Open, the corresponding author must be affiliated with a participating institution. Proceedings submissions will be subject to an Article Processing Charge (APC) if none of the authors are affiliated with an ACM Open institution.

APC pricing for 2027 conferences is currently under review and will be finalized in June. Discounts and financial hardship waivers will continue to be available where applicable: https://authors.acm.org/open-access/acm-open-for-authors-home

ACM remains committed to a fully Open Access future. Open Access papers consistently see significantly higher usage and citation impact. We encourage you to confirm whether your institution participates in ACM Open and, if not, please explore available options early in the submission process.

attendance

For the final paper to be published in the conference proceedings, at least one author of each accepted submission must register for the conference by the early registration deadline.

For a full "tangible and embodied" experience, TEI2027 is exclusively an in-person event. Authors are required to attend the conference in person to present their accepted work(s).

previous pictorial examples

• Samann Pinder, William Odom, Samuel Barnett, MinYoung Yoo, Ayush Misra, and Henry Lin. 2026. Queue Player: On the Anatomy of a Slow Technology for Co-Listening In, Over, and Across Time.
• Fiona Bell, Camila Friedman-Gerlicz, and Leah Buechley. 2025. Biomaterial Recipes for 3D Printing: A Cookbook of Sustainable and Extrudable Bio-Pastes.
• Sosuke Ichihashi, Noura Howell, and HyunJoo Oh. 2025. Swell by Light: An Approachable Technique for Freeform Raised Textures.
• Valentina Nisi, Mathilde Gouin, Marta Galvao Ferreira, and Nuno Jardim Nunes. 2025. From visual sketching to knotted figurations: Fabulating in the contact zone.
• Oliver Child, Ollie Hanton, Colin Kellett, Matt Sutton, Bruce Drinkwater, and Mike Fraser. 2024. Tangible Explorations of Sonolithography.
• Yuzhen Zhang, Ruixiang Han, Ran Zhou, Peter Gyory, Clement Zheng, Patrick C. Shih, Ellen Yi-Luen Do, Malte F Jung, Wendy Ju, and Daniel Leithinger. 2024. Wizard of Props: Mixed Reality Prototyping with Physical Props to Design Responsive Environments.
• Lea Albaugh, Jesse T Gonzalez, and Scott E Hudson. 2024. Tensions and Resolutions in Hybrid Basketry: Joining 3D Printing and Handweaving.
• Elzelinde Van Doleweerd, and Miguel Bruns Alonso. 2023. The Creation of a Holistic Interactive Dining Experience with Shape-Changing Food Materials at Restaurant Alchemist.
• Mafalda Gamboa. 2023. My Body, My Baby, and Everything Else: An Autoethnographic Illustrated Portfolio of Intra-Actions in Pregnancy and Childbirth.
• Dianya Mia Hua, Jeffrey Bardzell, and Shaowen Bardzell. 2023. Embodied Embroidery: Somaesthetic Interaction Design for Women's Masturbation.
• Karen Anne Cochrane, Kristina Mah, Anna Stahl, Claudia Nunez-Pacheco, Madeline Balaam, Naseem Ahmadpour, and Lian Loke. 2022. Body Maps: A Generative Tool for Soma-based Design.
• Rikke Hagensby Jensen, Enrique Encinas, and Dimitrios Raptis. 2022. Spicing It Up: From Ubiquitous Devices to Tangible Things Through Provocation.
• Iddo Yehoshua Wald and Oren Zuckerman. 2021. Magnetform: A Shape-change Display Toolkit for Material-oriented Designers.
• Sangwon Jung, Ruowei Xiao, Oguz 'Oz' Buruk, and Juho Hamari. 2021. Designing Gaming Wearables: From Participatory Design to Concept Creation.
• Sara Nabil and David Kirk. 2021. Decoraction: a Catalogue for Interactive Home Decor of the Nearest-Future.

pictorial chairs

Fiona Bell, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Rohit Ashok Khot, RMIT University
Marta Ferreira, ITI/LARSyS, Universidade de Lisboa

For further questions, please contact the Pictorials chairs at pictorial_chairs2027@tei.acm.org