HCI Research Atlas
Research Directions by Year
Method: papers map to directions through their HCI subtopics; a paper counts once per direction and separately across directions. Share = the direction's count that year over the 25 directions shared across all years. Venues start in different years, so compare shares rather than raw counts.
2026 label set changed: tagged across 42 directions where earlier years had 25, and the added directions hold 17% of that year's tags. Shares are renormalised over the directions shared across all years, so this year still compares directly; directions that exist only in the new label set are marked "New label" and carry no trajectory.
Years where venue coverage changed: 2020(added DIS/HRI, missing AutoUI/IUI); 2021(added AutoUI/C&C/IUI, missing HRI); 2022(missing AutoUI/DIS); 2023(added AutoUI/CUI/DIS/HRI/MobileHCI/UbiComp, missing IUI); 2024(added IUI); 2025(missing HRI/UbiComp)
| Direction | 20185db | 20195db | 20205db | 20217db | 20225db | 202310db | 202411db | 20259db | 2026*2db | Shape | Trajectory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI & Machine Learning Interaction2,721 papers · 10 venues | 5.3% | 7.1% | 4.4% | 8.2% | 11.2% | 8.4% | 13.3% | 17.9% | 22.3% | 5.3% → 22.3% +17.0ppRising | |
| Research Methods & Design Practice1,908 papers · 10 venues | 11.7% | 9.0% | 11.7% | 9.5% | 8.6% | 6.9% | 6.8% | 6.5% | 10.5% | 11.7% → 10.5% -1.2ppFalling | |
| Virtual, Augmented & Mixed Reality (XR)1,395 papers · 10 venues | 5.3% | 7.0% | 6.1% | 6.2% | 6.3% | 6.3% | 6.1% | 6.7% | 6.6% | 5.3% → 6.6% +1.4ppRising | |
| Gesture, Body & Motion Interaction1,259 papers · 10 venues | 7.3% | 7.1% | 6.9% | 5.6% | 5.6% | 6.7% | 5.9% | 4.7% | 3.7% | 7.3% → 3.7% -3.6ppFalling | |
| Haptic, Force & Physical Feedback1,197 papers · 10 venues | 5.4% | 6.3% | 6.6% | 6.0% | 5.4% | 6.7% | 5.2% | 4.9% | 3.9% | 5.4% → 3.9% -1.6ppFalling | |
| Ethics, Fairness, Social Justice & Inclusion1,166 papers · 9 venues | 5.7% | 4.3% | 5.0% | 5.4% | 5.5% | 4.5% | 5.0% | 5.7% | 6.1% | 5.7% → 6.1% +0.4ppSteady | |
| Accessibility & Inclusive Design1,103 papers · 10 venues | 4.9% | 5.6% | 4.4% | 4.7% | 5.3% | 5.1% | 5.7% | 4.9% | 4.6% | 4.9% → 4.6% -0.3ppSteady | |
| Health, Healthcare & Wellbeing1,065 papers · 9 venues | 3.8% | 4.8% | 4.9% | 4.2% | 4.6% | 5.3% | 5.6% | 4.5% | 5.1% | 3.8% → 5.1% +1.3ppRising | |
| Data Visualization & Information Design1,023 papers · 10 venues | 6.2% | 5.8% | 5.5% | 5.7% | 5.4% | 4.8% | 3.9% | 4.2% | 3.0% | 6.2% → 3.0% -3.2ppFalling | |
| Privacy, Security & Trust954 papers · 10 venues | 3.4% | 4.1% | 4.1% | 4.2% | 4.2% | 3.7% | 4.6% | 4.1% | 5.6% | 3.4% → 5.6% +2.2ppRising | |
| Voice Interaction & Conversational Systems915 papers · 10 venues | 3.5% | 4.0% | 4.0% | 5.1% | 4.8% | 3.7% | 4.1% | 4.7% | 3.6% | 3.5% → 3.6% +0.2ppSteady | |
| Wearables & Sensing Technology823 papers · 10 venues | 4.6% | 3.8% | 3.9% | 2.9% | 3.4% | 6.1% | 4.5% | 3.3% | 1.4% | 4.6% → 1.4% -3.1ppFalling | |
| Education & Learning Technology746 papers · 9 venues | 4.5% | 3.8% | 3.6% | 3.8% | 3.6% | 3.2% | 2.6% | 3.2% | 3.3% | 4.5% → 3.3% -1.2ppFalling | |
| Creative Tools & Content Creation642 papers · 9 venues | 2.0% | 2.5% | 2.0% | 2.5% | 3.0% | 2.1% | 3.3% | 3.8% | 3.6% | 2.0% → 3.6% +1.7ppRising | |
| Automotive & Autonomous Vehicle Interaction638 papers · 10 venues | 3.9% | 4.6% | 2.4% | 3.8% | 1.8% | 3.3% | 3.2% | 2.7% | 1.4% | 3.9% → 1.4% -2.4ppFalling | |
| Social Media & Online Communities624 papers · 9 venues | 3.5% | 2.4% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 3.4% | 2.8% | 2.4% | 2.5% | 3.2% | 3.5% → 3.2% -0.3ppSteady | |
| Culture, Art & Performance607 papers · 8 venues | 2.2% | 1.9% | 3.3% | 3.5% | 3.3% | 3.5% | 2.8% | 3.1% | 1.3% | 2.2% → 1.3% -0.8ppSteady | |
| Robotics & Autonomous Systems567 papers · 9 venues | 1.1% | 1.6% | 4.8% | 2.1% | 1.4% | 3.5% | 4.0% | 1.6% | 2.1% | 1.1% → 2.1% +0.9ppSteady | |
| Fabrication, 3D Printing & Physical Computing566 papers · 9 venues | 3.1% | 3.3% | 3.2% | 3.5% | 2.6% | 2.7% | 2.4% | 2.4% | 1.2% | 3.1% → 1.2% -2.0ppFalling | |
| Games, Entertainment & Gamification481 papers · 10 venues | 2.9% | 2.7% | 2.4% | 2.9% | 2.7% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 2.2% | 2.9% → 2.2% -0.7ppSteady | |
| Environment, Sustainability & Ecological Design422 papers · 9 venues | 1.9% | 1.2% | 1.7% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 2.3% | 2.0% | 2.5% | 1.6% | 1.9% → 1.6% -0.3ppSteady | |
| Work, Employment & Workplace Technology333 papers · 10 venues | 2.3% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1.5% | 1.4% | 0.5% | 2.3% → 0.5% -1.8ppFalling | |
| Crowdsourcing, Collaboration & Remote Work322 papers · 8 venues | 2.7% | 2.0% | 1.3% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.7% | 1.2% | 0.8% | 1.0% | 2.7% → 1.0% -1.7ppFalling | |
| Smart Home & Internet of Things (IoT)293 papers · 9 venues | 1.1% | 1.7% | 1.6% | 0.9% | 1.4% | 2.1% | 1.5% | 1.1% | 0.8% | 1.1% → 0.8% -0.3ppSteady | |
| Urban, Transportation & Social Computing266 papers · 10 venues | 2.0% | 1.6% | 1.4% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 0.8% | 1.1% | 1.2% | 2.0% → 1.2% -0.8ppSteady | |
| Affective Computing & Emotion Interaction195 papers · 2 venues | 5.9% | New label | |||||||||
| Personal Informatics & Self-Tracking135 papers · 2 venues | 4.1% | New label | |||||||||
| Tangible Interaction & Tangible User Interfaces (TUI)75 papers · 2 venues | 2.3% | New label | |||||||||
| Children, Youth & Family Technology68 papers · 2 venues | 2.1% | New label | |||||||||
| Reading, Writing & Document Interaction45 papers · 2 venues | 1.4% | New label | |||||||||
| Mobile Interaction & Smartphone31 papers · 2 venues | 0.9% | New label | |||||||||
| Olfactory, Gustatory & Multisensory Interaction23 papers · 1 venue | 0.7% | New label | |||||||||
| Crisis Informatics & Disaster Response20 papers · 1 venue | 0.6% | New label | |||||||||
| Sound Interaction & Auditory Interfaces19 papers · 1 venue | 0.6% | New label | |||||||||
| Information Retrieval & Search Interaction18 papers · 2 venues | 0.5% | New label | |||||||||
| Intimacy, Dating & Social Connection17 papers · 1 venue | 0.5% | New label | |||||||||
| Multilingual, Cross-Cultural & Internationalization Design14 papers · 2 venues | 0.4% | New label | |||||||||
| Touchscreen & Multi-Touch Interaction11 papers · 2 venues | 0.3% | New label | |||||||||
| Large Displays, Public Displays & Spatial Interaction7 papers · 1 venue | 0.2% | New label | |||||||||
| Text Input & Typing Interaction6 papers · 2 venues | 0.2% | New label | |||||||||
| Death, Grief & Digital Legacy6 papers · 1 venue | 0.2% | New label | |||||||||
| FinTech & Digital Economy Interaction6 papers · 1 venue | 0.2% | New label |
* Wider label set that year; shares are renormalised over the 25 directions shared across all years, and the trajectory column compares 2018–2026.
Venue Theme Signatures
| Venue | AI & Machine Learning Interaction | Research Methods & Design Practice | Virtual, Augmented & Mixed Reality (XR) | Gesture, Body & Motion Interaction | Haptic, Force & Physical Feedback | Ethics, Fairness, Social Justice & Inclusion | Accessibility & Inclusive Design | Health, Healthcare & Wellbeing | Data Visualization & Information Design | Privacy, Security & Trust | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHI8,605 / 8,605 | 12% | 9% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 100% |
| DIS934 / 934 | 9% | 12% | 5% | 3% | 6% | 8% | 5% | 5% | 3% | 2% | 100% |
| UIST950 / 950 | 10% | 6% | 11% | 10% | 14% | 0% | 4% | 1% | 5% | 1% | 100% |
| IUI571 / 571 | 33% | 9% | 3% | 7% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 9% | 2% | 100% |
| UbiComp376 / 378 | 4% | 4% | 4% | 16% | 8% | 1% | 3% | 10% | 2% | 5% | 99% |
| HRI223 / 223 | 7% | 4% | 2% | 6% | 4% | 5% | 2% | 3% | 0% | 0% | 100% |
| C&C190 / 190 | 14% | 11% | 5% | 2% | 3% | 4% | 1% | 1% | 4% | 1% | 100% |
| AutoUI208 / 208 | 6% | 2% | 6% | 7% | 3% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 100% | ||
| MobileHCI129 / 130 | 4% | 3% | 11% | 12% | 6% | 0% | 7% | 8% | 2% | 9% | 99% |
| CUI91 / 91 | 25% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 3% | 9% | 2% | 1% | 100% |