International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling ICIDS 2021 7-10 December 2021, Tallinn, Estonia CALL FOR PAPERS ICIDS is the premier conference for researchers and practitioners concerned with studying digital interactive forms of narrative from a variety of perspectives, including theoretical, technological, and applied design lenses. The annual conference is an interdisciplinary gathering that combines technology-focused approaches with humanities-inspired theoretical inquiry, empirical research and artistic expression. This year is the 14th edition of the conference. ICIDS is the main academic conference of the Association for Research in Digital Interactive Narratives (ARDIN). The theme for the conference this year is Interconnectedness and Social Impact. We encourage authors to consider possible connections to this theme in their papers, but we emphasize that there is no requirement that papers reflect the theme, either implicitly or explicitly. The theme is meant as inspiration, and is not intended to act as a constraint. MAIN AREAS Paper and poster/demo submissions are invited into one of four main conference areas. Please note that the topics listed for each area are suggestions, and we invite authors to interpret them broadly, and to consider similar topics that are not listed: 1. Narrative Systems - Narrative AI and Procedural Generation − Formal Models of Narrative − User Modelling − Authoring Tools − Novel Interfaces and Feedback − Interactive Cinema and iTV − Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality Storytelling − Storytelling with Big Data − Novel Architectures and Engines − Computational Narratology 2. Interactive Narrative Theory − Narratological Models − The Role of Author and Reader − Literary Approaches − Narrative and Game Design − Narrative and Performative Practice − Aesthetics − Critical Readings 3. Interactive Narrative Impact and Applications − Health, social, or educational applications − Impact on Culture and Society − Ethical, moral, social, and policy issues − Professional Practice and Processes − Purposive Interactive Stories and Games − Applications of Interactive Narrative Technology − Production and Processes − Cognitive and Affective Aspects − Narrative Presence and Engagement − Evaluation of Applications. 4. The Interactive Narrative Research Discipline and Contemporary Practice − Philosophical Approaches − Learning from Other Traditions − New Scientific Methodologies − Pedagogy and course structure − Archives and Preservation − Place of Interactive Narrative among other fields − Reflection on the History of the Discipline − Future of the Discipline − Blue Skies Research. In this fourth area we additionally welcome position papers that may make a strong but well-grounded argument about the past, present and future of the discipline. WORKSHOP, CREATIVE TRACK, AND DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM ICIDS will also host a series of workshops, demos, an exhibition of creative works, and a doctoral consortium for student researchers. The calls for these are available separately on the website. SUBMISSION CATEGORIES AND REVIEW PROCESS Submission categories: − Full papers (9-12 pages, excluding references, in the proceedings) describing interesting, novel results or completed work in all topics of this call. − Short papers (6-8 pages, excluding references, in the proceedings) presenting exciting preliminary work or novel, thought-provoking ideas in their early stages. − Posters and demos (4 pages, excluding references, in the proceedings) describing working, presentable systems or brief explanations of a research project. Submissions should be made through the ICIDS Easychair site: https://easychair.org/my/conference?conf=icids2021 Please note that Papers must be written in English, and only electronic submissions in PDF format will be considered for review. Publication is conditional on a minimum of one author registering for the conference and attending to present the work to the community. The peer review process for ICIDS will be double blind and follow the guidelines set out by the ICIDS Steering Committee: https://ardin.online/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Published-ICIDS-Rules-2021.pdf. Note that ICIDS follows the CHI anonymization policy: https://chi2022.acm.org/for-authors/presenting/papers/chi-anonymization-policy/ In the event a paper is rejected it may be considered for another category at the discretion of the Program Chairs and General Chairs. Successful submissions will be included as part of the conference proceedings published by Springer. All submissions must follow the Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) format, available at: http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs Authors should consult Springer’s authors’ instructions and use their proceedings templates, either for LaTeX or for Word, for the preparation of their papers. Springer’s proceedings LaTeX templates are available in Overleaf. Springer encourages authors to include their ORCIDs in their papers. In addition, the corresponding author of each paper, acting on behalf of all of the authors of that paper, must complete and sign a Consent-to-Publish form. The corresponding author signing the copyright form should match the corresponding author marked on the paper. Once the files have been sent to Springer, changes relating to the authorship of the papers cannot be made. Springer's authors' instructions: ftp://ftp.springernature.com/cs-proceeding/svproc/guidelines/Springer_Instructions_for_Authors_of_Proceedings_CS.pdf LaTeX template: ftp://ftp.springernature.com/cs-proceeding/llncs/llncs2e.zip Word template: ftp://ftp.springernature.com/cs-proceeding/llncs/word/splnproc1703.zip Overleaf template: https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/springer-lecture-notes-in-computer-science/kzwwpvhwnvfj#.WsdHOy5uZpg Provisions with regards to the Covid-19 pandemic: If for any reason none of the authors of a paper can attend the conference physically, or in case the situation requires us to run the conference virtually, publication of the proceedings will go ahead, and will be conditional on registration and remote presentation (either live or as pre-recorded video depending on the final arrangements). We will do our best to make the virtual and physical experiences as equivalent as possible. IMPORTANT DATES July 30th - Submission deadline (full, short, poster/demo) October 5th - Notifications to authors October 15th - Camera ready paper due All deadlines are 23:59 AoE (Anywhere on Earth) ICIDS 2021 General Chairs: Michael Mateas (UC Santa Cruz) and David Lamas (Tallinn University) ICIDS 2021 Program Chairs: Alex Mitchell (National University of Singapore) and Mirjam Vosmeer (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences) General Conference Contact: icids2021@ardin.online Conference Website: https://ardin.online/conferences/icids-interactive-storytelling/icids-2021-tallinn Social media: https://www.facebook.com/ICIDS, https://twitter.com/icids