Professor Juan Pablo Hourcade and Assistant Professor Lucas Silva, alongside PhD Student Amy Gilhoi, Graduate Research Assistant Delaney Norris, and alumna Flannery Currin attended the IDC 2025 conference in Iceland.
Hourcade participated in two workshops: “Extended Reality and Children: Risks, Opportunities, and Ethics” and “Robotito Test in Practice: A Classroom Evaluation”. He also gave a talk titled “Eliciting Preschool Children’s Preferences for Augmented Reality Smart Glasses”, in which he discussed the potential benefits and risks of XR technologies, ethical considerations in XR research, design and evaluation methods, and the challenges of managing emerging technologies.
Silva co-organized the workshop “Grasping Data: Exploring Interdisciplinary Approaches for Investigating Children’s Interactions with Their Personal Data.” The group explored care and data ecosystems in various educational contexts, identified current methods and existing tensions, and discussed how to improve future research and design practices to better support children’s autonomy. The workshop also raised several open questions requiring further investigation, including issues that may not have — or need — a clear “design solution.”
How was your experience presenting your research at IDC? If not, what was your experience sitting in on presentations/workshops?
Hourcade: I facilitated two workshops and gave one talk. All went well so they were a nice reward for a lot of work. It was also rewarding to get positive feedback from other folks on the research we’ve been doing.
Silva: Together with a few collaborators, I organized a workshop on care ecosystems for children. We had a great workshop with a lot of discussion on how technology might involve different stakeholders that help taking care of kids (e.g., extended family, teachers, clinicians, etc.).
Were there any presentations, workshops, or conversations at IDC that sparked new ideas or challenged your perspective on designing with or for children?
Hourcade: There was one presentation on a novel way of analyzing groups of children interacting with technology that I thought was very interesting and we could incorporate in future research.
Silva: Yes, there were quite a few presentations on methodologies for involving kids in research. That is something I really care about and helped reflect on how we conduct studies. There were also quite a few presentations on evaluating AI (e.g., Large Language Models) for education, wellbeing, and more. It was interesting to see the safeguards researchers sought to put in place for researching AI safely (or close) with kids.
What advice would you give to someone interested in submitting to or attending a future IDC conference—especially someone passionate about child-centered design?
Hourcade: As with any other conference, read lots of papers to get a sense of how to write for the conference. Other than that, IDC is my favorite conference because it is easy to talk to and meet anyone you’d like at the conference.
Silva: Just follow the conference guidelines for authors and read prior IDC work. It is quite exciting.
What was your experience like in Iceland? Any favorite moments you’d like to share?
Hourcade: We didn’t get lucky with the weather; it was cold and rainy most of the time. I enjoyed the views of the sea and attending a service at Hallgrimskirkja, perhaps the best known building in Reykjavík.
Silva: The nature and scenery are really pretty. I got to see some puffins too. I was really surprised to wake up at 3am and the sun was still up, I thought it was already morning. I hadn't realized there was no sunset at this time of the year. Overall, it is an interesting scenery and amazing culture.
What’s one thing you’d recommend to anyone traveling to Iceland for the first time? Any must-know tips, etiquette, or hidden gems you discovered?
Hourcade: Be aware of the amount daylight you get (it can get extreme in summer and winter)!
Silva: People there are really welcoming and the structure to guide/receive tourists is robust. Nothing to worry about and the attractions are all really popular.
