The Empathic Computing is pleased to announce a new academic partnership with the 1st ACM CHI Workshop on Shaping Future Human Connection: Social Augmentation through XR Technologies (SAXR).

As a journal dedicated to the next generation of computing that recognizes and facilitates human affect and social connection, we are proud to support this inaugural workshop as it explores the transformative potential of Extended Reality (XR) in our social lives.

Synergy in Social Augmentation

The SAXR Workshop at ACM CHI 2026 addresses one of the most pressing challenges in modern Human-Computer Interaction: How can we leverage Augmented, Virtual, and Mixed Reality to foster deeper, more meaningful human connections?

The concept of "Social Augmentation" - the use of technology to enhance social cues, presence, and empathy - lies at the heart of both the workshop's goals and the Empathic Computing Journal's editorial mission. This partnership reflects our shared vision of moving beyond simple digital communication toward interfaces that truly understand and support the nuances of human interaction.

A Platform for Future Connection

The workshop will serve as a collaborative hub for researchers and practitioners to discuss:
• Enhanced Social Presence: Redefining "being together" in virtual spaces.
• Empathic XR Design: Creating systems that facilitate mutual understanding and emotional exchange.
• Ethical and Inclusive Realities: Ensuring social augmentation is accessible and ethically grounded.
• Collaborative Dynamics: Studying how XR changes the way we work, play, and live together.

While our editorial team will be following the developments of the workshop remotely, we are eager to see the high-quality research and provocative ideas that this gathering will undoubtedly produce within the CHI community.

Call for Submissions: Join the SAXR Community

We invite authors and researchers contributing to the fields of XR, Social Computing, and Empathic Interfaces to submit their work to the SAXR Workshop. This is an exceptional opportunity to showcase innovative research to a specialized audience and contribute to the founding discourse of this emerging field.

Important Information:

• Submission Deadline: February 12, 2026 (Please refer to the workshop site for potential extensions)
• Venue: ACM CHI 2026, Barcelona, Spain
• Official Website: https://sites.google.com/view/social-xr-chi2026/home

Looking Forward

Empathic Computing is honored to be part of the SAXR journey from its very first edition. We look forward to a successful workshop and to the future publications and discussions that will inevitably grow from this collaboration.

We wish the organizing committee and all prospective participants a productive and inspiring experience in Barcelona!

About the 1st Workshop on Shaping Future Human Connection: Social Augmentation through XR Technologies (SAXR) and ACM CHI 2026

SAXR CHI 2026: Extended Reality (XR), including VR, AR, and MR, is transforming how people interact and collaborate. Beyond mirroring real-world communication, XR enables social augmentation, the intentional enrichment of social and emotional cues that can deepen engagement, improve clarity, and support more inclusive experiences. These possibilities also raise important questions about design choices, evaluation methods, and ethical implications.

SAXR workshop brings together researchers, designers, and practitioners to explore the future of social augmentation in XR. Across two 90-minute sessions, participants will take part in a keynote, Mini-Thematic Sessions featuring joint presentations of accepted abstracts, and collaborative activities aimed at generating new concepts and frameworks. Through focused discussions and hands-on group work, the workshop will spark fresh perspectives on how augmented social cues can shape communication in XR environments.

ACM CHI Conference (the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems) is a leading international conference in the field of Human-Computer Interaction. It is recognized as one of the most influential academic conferences and is classified as an A* level conference.