Posthuman Design

Envisioning Transhuman Communication Research: Speculative Human Augmentation Technologies and Fictional Abstracts

Abstract

Throughout human history, communication has evolved and diversified through various means, rom natural languages to modern forms like video and virtual reality. Now, a paradigm shift, transhumanism, is proposing the integration of machines and computers into the human body to augment individuals physically, sensorily, cognitively, and emotionally. In this pictorial, we examine “How can we approach the design of transhuman technologies for communication?” and “How might future research examine their impact on communication?” For this, we conducted co-speculation workshops to identify design opportunities, and based on them, created fictional a bstracts envisioning future research. Our work contributes a set of design speculations and a range of thought-provoking research ideas that will foster discussions about probable pitfalls and benefits of transhuman technologies in the future of communication.

Role: Supervisor, Concept Co-Creator, Design Researcher

Type: Pictorial

Conference: Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction

Stats: Acceptance rate: 27%, h5-index:27

Date: 2024

Co-Authors: Çağlar Genç, Velvet Spors, Mattia Thibault, Leland Masek and Juho Hamari

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BibTeX

SIGCHI

Çağlar Genç, Velvet Spors, Oğuz 'Oz' Buruk, Mattia Thibault, Leland Masek and Juho Hamari. 2024. Envisioning Transhuman Communication Research: Speculative Human Augmentation Technologies and Fictional Abstracts. In Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI '24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 42 1-1414 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3623509.3633390

APA

Genç, Ç., Spors, V., Buruk, O., Thibault, M., Masek, L., & Hamari, J. (2024). Envisioning Transhuman Communication Research: Speculative Human Augmentation Technologies and Fictional Abstracts. In Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI '24). Article 42, pp. 1-14. New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, https://doi.org/10.1145/3623509.3633390

MLA

Genç, Çağlar et al."Envisioning Transhuman Communication Research: Speculative Human Augmentation Technologies and Fictional Abstracts." In Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI '24), New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, 2024, Article 42, pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3623509.3633390

Harvard

Genç, Ç., Spors, V., Buruk, O., Thibault, M., Masek, L., and Hamari, J. (2024). ‘Envisioning Transhuman Communication Research: Speculative Human Augmentation Technologies and Fictional Abstracts’, In Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI '24), Article 42, p. 1-14. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, https://doi.org/10.1145/3623509.3633390

Vancouver

Genç Ç, Spors V, Buruk O, Thibault M, Masek L, Hamari J. Envisioning Transhuman Communication Research: Speculative Human Augmentation Technologies and Fictional Abstracts. In: Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI '24). New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery; 2024. Article 42 p. 1-14. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1145/3623509.3633390

Chicago

Genç, Çağlar, Velvet Spors, Oğuz 'Oz' Buruk, Mattia Thibault, Leland Masek, and Juho Hamari. "Envisioning Transhuman Communication Research: Speculative Human Augmentation Technologies and Fictional Abstracts." In Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI '24), New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, (2024): Article 42,1-14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3623509.3633390

ISO960

GENç, Ç.; SPORS, V.; BURUK, O.; THIBAULT, M.; MASEK, L.; HAMARI, J. Envisioning Transhuman Communication Research: Speculative Human Augmentation Technologies and Fictional Abstracts. In: Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI '24). New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, 2024. Article 42, pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3623509.3633390

Crafting Bodies and Auras: Speculative Designs for Transhuman Communication

Abstract

Bodies exhibit communicative qualities, including gestures, facial expressions, body odors, and changes in proximity, like tattoos, clothing, and accessories. However, a transformative shift in human bodies looms ahead, propelled by transhumanism’s proposition of integrating machines with humans to enhance physical, sensorial, cognitive, and emotional capacities. This poster explores communication opportunities and potential consequences around transhuman technologies for the temporal alterations on the body through speculative designs. These speculations are formed based on four co-speculation workshops with the attendance of participants (N=35) with varying experiences in fiction creation and technology development. By envisioning flexible bodies, transforming into objects, detachable body parts, chameleon skin, and multimodal auras, our work contributes design speculations to spark discussions on the transformative impact of transhuman technologies on communication, prompting innovative investigations into this uncharted territory.

*The video here was produced by Çağlar Genç

Role: Supervisor, Concept Co-Creator, Design Researcher

Award: Best Poster

Type: Extended Abstract (Poster)

Conference: Proceedings of the 26th International Academic Mindtrek Conference

Stats: Acceptance rate: 50%, h5-index:14

Date: 2023

Co-Authors: Çağlar Genç, Velvet Spors, Mattia Thibault, Leland Masek and Juho Hamari

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BibTeX

SIGCHI

Çağlar Genç, Velvet Spors, Oğuz 'Oz' Buruk, Mattia Thibault, Leland Masek and Juho Hamari. 2023. Crafting Bodies and Auras: Speculative Designs for Transhuman Communication. In Proceedings of the 26th International Academic Mindtrek Conference (Mindtrek '23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 354–358 1-55 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3616961.3617810

APA

Genç, Ç., Spors, V., Buruk, O., Thibault, M., Masek, L., & Hamari, J. (2023). Crafting Bodies and Auras: Speculative Designs for Transhuman Communication. In Proceedings of the 26th International Academic Mindtrek Conference (Mindtrek '23). pp. 354–358. 1-5. New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, https://doi.org/10.1145/3616961.3617810

MLA

Genç, Çağlar et al."Crafting Bodies and Auras: Speculative Designs for Transhuman Communication." In Proceedings of the 26th International Academic Mindtrek Conference (Mindtrek '23), New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, 2023, pp. 354–358. pp. 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1145/3616961.3617810

Harvard

Genç, Ç., Spors, V., Buruk, O., Thibault, M., Masek, L., and Hamari, J. (2023). ‘Crafting Bodies and Auras: Speculative Designs for Transhuman Communication’, In Proceedings of the 26th International Academic Mindtrek Conference (Mindtrek '23), p. 354–358. p. 1-5. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, https://doi.org/10.1145/3616961.3617810

Vancouver

Genç Ç, Spors V, Buruk O, Thibault M, Masek L, Hamari J. Crafting Bodies and Auras: Speculative Designs for Transhuman Communication. In: Proceedings of the 26th International Academic Mindtrek Conference (Mindtrek '23). New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery; 2023. p. 354–358. p. 1-5. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1145/3616961.3617810

Chicago

Genç, Çağlar, Velvet Spors, Oğuz 'Oz' Buruk, Mattia Thibault, Leland Masek, and Juho Hamari. "Crafting Bodies and Auras: Speculative Designs for Transhuman Communication." In Proceedings of the 26th International Academic Mindtrek Conference (Mindtrek '23), New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, (2023): 354–358. 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1145/3616961.3617810

ISO960

GENç, Ç.; SPORS, V.; BURUK, O.; THIBAULT, M.; MASEK, L.; HAMARI, J. Crafting Bodies and Auras: Speculative Designs for Transhuman Communication. In: Proceedings of the 26th International Academic Mindtrek Conference (Mindtrek '23). New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, 2023. pp. 354–358. 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1145/3616961.3617810

Towards Designing Playful Bodily Extensions: Learning from Expert Interviews

Abstract

Interactive technologies offer novel opportunities for physically extending our bodies, with the most prominent examples being prosthetics along with systems emerging from the wearables community. However, most such systems appear to focus on instrumental benefits, missing out on the opportunity to use bodily extensions for play and its associated benefits (including a lower adoption barrier and the potential to reveal a broader understanding of such technologies). To begin understanding the design of playful bodily extensions, we interviewed five designers of bodily extensions that have been showcased in prestigious academic venues or turned into commercial products. Here we present themes and actionable advice from these interviews for the design of playful bodily extensions through a thematic analysis. Our work aims to support the design of future playful bodily extensions while promoting the experiential qualities of bodily extension design, with the ultimate goal of bringing more playful experiences to people’s lives.

*Images shown here belong to projects of interviewed designers. Check the paper for more details.

Role: Co-author, Supervisor

Type: Full Paper

Conference: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Stats: Acceptance rate: 28%, h5-index:122

Date: 2023

Co-Authors: Louise Petersen Matjeka and Florian ‘Floyd’ Mueller

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BibTeX

SIGCHI

Oğuz 'Oz' Buruk, Louise Petersen Matjeka and Florian ‘Floyd’ Mueller. 2023. Towards Designing Playful Bodily Extensions: Learning from Expert Interviews. In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 233 1-2020 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581165

APA

Buruk, O., Matjeka, L. P., & Mueller, F. ‘. (2023). Towards Designing Playful Bodily Extensions: Learning from Expert Interviews. In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23). Article 233, pp. 1-20. New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581165

MLA

Buruk, Oğuz 'Oz' et al."Towards Designing Playful Bodily Extensions: Learning from Expert Interviews." In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23), New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, 2023, Article 233, pp. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581165

Harvard

Buruk, O., Matjeka, L. P., and Mueller, F. ‘. (2023). ‘Towards Designing Playful Bodily Extensions: Learning from Expert Interviews’, In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23), Article 233, p. 1-20. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581165

Vancouver

Buruk O, Matjeka LP, Mueller F‘. Towards Designing Playful Bodily Extensions: Learning from Expert Interviews. In: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23). New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery; 2023. Article 233 p. 1-20. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581165

Chicago

Buruk, Oğuz 'Oz', Louise Petersen Matjeka, and Florian ‘Floyd’ Mueller. "Towards Designing Playful Bodily Extensions: Learning from Expert Interviews." In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23), New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, (2023): Article 233,1-20. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581165

ISO960

BURUK, O.; MATJEKA, L. P.; MUELLER, F. ‘. Towards Designing Playful Bodily Extensions: Learning from Expert Interviews. In: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23). New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, 2023. Article 233, pp. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581165

Transurbanism: Smart Cities for Transhumans

Abstract

The current trends related to 'smart cities' are bringing the cityscapes of movies such as Blade Runner and Cyberpunk 2077 closer to our immediate reality. The question of what will the cities of the future look like is at the heart of urban studies. In parallel, a similar question is posed by (trans)humanists about the future of humanity and its possible technological enhancements. However, (trans)humanity and future cities are defined in a bi-directional dependency. Therefore, we have to answer the questions of future humans and cities simultaneously. This paper maps several ways of interacting between transhuman communities and smart cities to understand their possible effects on governing, design and society at large resulting in a framework that will work as a cautionary tale and an inspirational blueprint for imagining future urbanity.

Role: Main Co-Author, Design Researcher

Type: Full Paper

Conference: Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference

Stats: Acceptance rate: 24%, h5-index:31

Date: 2020

Co-Authors: Mattia Thibault, Seda Suman Buruk and Juho Hamari

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BibTeX

SIGCHI

Mattia Thibault, Oğuz 'Oz' Buruk, Seda Suman Buruk and Juho Hamari. 2020. Transurbanism: Smart Cities for Transhumans. In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS '20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1915–1928 1-1414 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3357236.3395523

APA

Thibault, M., Buruk, O., Buruk, S. S., & Hamari, J. (2020). Transurbanism: Smart Cities for Transhumans. In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS '20). pp. 1915–1928. 1-14. New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, https://doi.org/10.1145/3357236.3395523

MLA

Thibault, Mattia et al."Transurbanism: Smart Cities for Transhumans." In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS '20), New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, 2020, pp. 1915–1928. pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3357236.3395523

Harvard

Thibault, M., Buruk, O., Buruk, S. S., and Hamari, J. (2020). ‘Transurbanism: Smart Cities for Transhumans’, In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS '20), p. 1915–1928. p. 1-14. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, https://doi.org/10.1145/3357236.3395523

Vancouver

Thibault M, Buruk O, Buruk SS, Hamari J. Transurbanism: Smart Cities for Transhumans. In: Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS '20). New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery; 2020. p. 1915–1928. p. 1-14. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1145/3357236.3395523

Chicago

Thibault, Mattia, Oğuz 'Oz' Buruk, Seda Suman Buruk, and Juho Hamari. "Transurbanism: Smart Cities for Transhumans." In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS '20), New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, (2020): 1915–1928. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3357236.3395523

ISO960

THIBAULT, M.; BURUK, O.; BURUK, S. S.; HAMARI, J. Transurbanism: Smart Cities for Transhumans. In: Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS '20). New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, 2020. pp. 1915–1928. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3357236.3395523

Children in 2077: Designing Children's Technologies in the Age of Transhumanism

Abstract

What for and how will we design children's technologies in the transhumanism age, and what stance will we take as designers? This paper aims to answer this question with 13 fictional abstracts from sixteen authors of different countries, institutions and disciplines. Transhumanist thinking envisions enhancing human body and mind by blending human biology with technological augmentations. Fundamentally, it seeks to improve the human species, yet the impacts of such movement are unknown and the implications on children's lives and technologies were not explored deeply. In an age, where technologies such as under-skin chips or brain-machine interfaces can clearly be defined as transhumanist, our aim is to reveal probable pitfalls and benefits of those technologies on children's lives by using the power of design fiction. Thus, main contribution of this paper is to create diverse presentation of provocative research ideas that will foster the discussion on the transhumanist technologies impacting the lives of children in the future.

[Image credit: Darkart.cz]

Role: Curator, Design Researcher, Main Author

Type: Extended Abstract (alt.CHI)

Conference: Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Stats: h5-index:122

Date: 2020

Co-Authors: Oğuzhan Özcan, Gökçe Elif Baykal, Tilbe Göksun, Selçuk Acar, Güler Akduman, Mehmet Aydın Baytaş, Ceylan Beşevli, Joe Best, Aykut Coşkun, Hüseyin Uğur Genç, A. Baki Kocaballı, Samuli Laato, Cásssia Mota, Konstantinos Papangelis, Marigo Raftopoulos, Richard Ramchurn, Juan Sádaba, Mattia Thibault, Annika Wolff and Mert Yıldız

PDF Cite ACM

BibTeX

@inproceedings{children772020altchi, author = {Buruk, Oğuz 'Oz' and Özcan, Oğuzhan and Baykal, Gökçe Elif and Göksun, Tilbe and Acar, Selçuk and Akduman, Güler and Baytaş, Mehmet Aydın and Beşevli, Ceylan and Best, Joe and Coşkun, Aykut and Genç, Hüseyin Uğur and Kocaballı, A. Baki and Laato, Samuli and Mota, Cásssia and Papangelis, Konstantinos and Raftopoulos, Marigo and Ramchurn, Richard and Sádaba, Juan and Thibault, Mattia and Wolff, Annika and Yıldız, Mert}, title = {Children in 2077: Designing Children's Technologies in the Age of Transhumanism}, year = {2020}, isbn = {9781450368193}, publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery}, address = {New York, NY, USA}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3334480.3381821}, doi = {10.1145/3334480.3381821}, abstract = {What for and how will we design children's technologies in the transhumanism age, and what stance will we take as designers? This paper aims to answer this question with 13 fictional abstracts from sixteen authors of different countries, institutions and disciplines. Transhumanist thinking envisions enhancing human body and mind by blending human biology with technological augmentations. Fundamentally, it seeks to improve the human species, yet the impacts of such movement are unknown and the implications on children's lives and technologies were not explored deeply. In an age, where technologies such as under-skin chips or brain-machine interfaces can clearly be defined as transhumanist, our aim is to reveal probable pitfalls and benefits of those technologies on children's lives by using the power of design fiction. Thus, main contribution of this paper is to create diverse presentation of provocative research ideas that will foster the discussion on the transhumanist technologies impacting the lives of children in the future.}, booktitle = {Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems}, pages = {1–14}, numpages = {14}, keywords = {cyborg, design fiction, interaction design, posthumanism, augmented human, brain-machine interface, transhumanism, speculation, children, wearables}, location = {Honolulu, HI, USA}, series = {CHI EA '20} }

SIGCHI

Oğuz 'Oz' Buruk, Oğuzhan Özcan, Gökçe Elif Baykal, Tilbe Göksun, Selçuk Acar, Güler Akduman, Mehmet Aydın Baytaş, Ceylan Beşevli, Joe Best, Aykut Coşkun, Hüseyin Uğur Genç, A. Baki Kocaballı, Samuli Laato, Cásssia Mota, Konstantinos Papangelis, Marigo Raftopoulos, Richard Ramchurn, Juan Sádaba, Mattia Thibault, Annika Wolff and Mert Yıldız. 2020. Children in 2077: Designing Children's Technologies in the Age of Transhumanism. In Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1–14 1-1414 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3334480.3381821

APA

Buruk, O., Özcan, O., Baykal, G. E., Göksun, T., Acar, S., Akduman, G., Baytaş, M. A., Beşevli, C., Best, J., Coşkun, A., Genç, H. U., Kocaballı, A. B., Laato, S., Mota, C., Papangelis, K., Raftopoulos, M., Ramchurn, R., Sádaba, J., Thibault, M., Wolff, A., & Yıldız, M. (2020). Children in 2077: Designing Children's Technologies in the Age of Transhumanism. In Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '20). pp. 1–14. 1-14. New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, https://doi.org/10.1145/3334480.3381821

MLA

Buruk, Oğuz 'Oz' et al."Children in 2077: Designing Children's Technologies in the Age of Transhumanism." In Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '20), New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, 2020, pp. 1–14. pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3334480.3381821

Harvard

Buruk, O., Özcan, O., Baykal, G. E., Göksun, T., Acar, S., Akduman, G., Baytaş, M. A., Beşevli, C., Best, J., Coşkun, A., Genç, H. U., Kocaballı, A. B., Laato, S., Mota, C., Papangelis, K., Raftopoulos, M., Ramchurn, R., Sádaba, J., Thibault, M., Wolff, A., and Yıldız, M. (2020). ‘Children in 2077: Designing Children's Technologies in the Age of Transhumanism’, In Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '20), p. 1–14. p. 1-14. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, https://doi.org/10.1145/3334480.3381821

Vancouver

Buruk O, Özcan O, Baykal GE, Göksun T, Acar S, Akduman G, et al. Children in 2077: Designing Children's Technologies in the Age of Transhumanism. In: Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '20). New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery; 2020. p. 1–14. p. 1-14. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1145/3334480.3381821

Chicago

Buruk, Oğuz 'Oz', Oğuzhan Özcan, Gökçe Elif Baykal, Tilbe Göksun, Selçuk Acar, Güler Akduman, Mehmet Aydın Baytaş, Ceylan Beşevli, Joe Best, Aykut Coşkun, Hüseyin Uğur Genç, A. Baki Kocaballı, Samuli Laato, Cásssia Mota, Konstantinos Papangelis, Marigo Raftopoulos, Richard Ramchurn, Juan Sádaba, Mattia Thibault, Annika Wolff, and Mert Yıldız. "Children in 2077: Designing Children's Technologies in the Age of Transhumanism." In Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '20), New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, (2020): 1–14. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3334480.3381821

ISO960

BURUK, O.; ÖZCAN, O.; BAYKAL, G. E.; GöKSUN, T.; ACAR, S.; AKDUMAN, G.; BAYTAş, M. A.; BEşEVLI, C.; BEST, J.; COşKUN, A.; GENç, H. U.; KOCABALLı, A. B.; LAATO, S.; MOTA, C.; PAPANGELIS, K.; RAFTOPOULOS, M.; RAMCHURN, R.; SáDABA, J.; THIBAULT, M.; WOLFF, A.; YıLDıZ, M. Children in 2077: Designing Children's Technologies in the Age of Transhumanism. In: Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '20). New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, 2020. pp. 1–14. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3334480.3381821