Virtual Chair’s Guide to your Event IJCAI-PRICAI 2020
The IJCAI – PRICAI 2020 Conference will be held at a virtual venue created by Virtual Chair on the gather.town platform. Like in a real life event you will be able to mingle in the lobby, visit sponsor booths and join conference rooms for workshops, technical sessions and plenary talks. Events that are happening on zoom will be linked to virtual rooms so you only have to walk into the right room to join the zoom session. Videos of pre-recorded talks, Q&As, poster sessions and general social interaction will all happen in the virtual venue.
You will need to use Chrome or Firefox to connect from a computer (not a personal device). Please ensure that you are not logged in to a VPN.
Information with instructions for sign on will be provided closer to the Event Date. You will need to be registered for the conference to sign on to the virtual venue.
When you first arrive in the online venue, you will be able to learn the basics of navigating the site by watching Virtual Chair’s Instructional Welcome Video. This is how you will discover the most important tips for navigating the site.
Your avatar will be labelled with your name and positioned in the center of your screen – you are now standing in a corner of the IJCAI-PRICAI lobby.
• Visit different parts of the venue by pressing the arrow keys on your keyboard or WASD.
• Press and hold “G” on your keyboard to enable ghost mode – this is an easy way to get out of a crowded area.
• Click “View” then “Zoom” in your internet browser’s menu to see more at once. This will also display the shortcuts which you should use to zoom in and out quickly.
• Get to know the venue by visiting the Sponsor Booths
• Directories in the Lobby will let you know where current and upcoming activities are happening. Type “X” on your keyboard any time you see the message below:
• To locate the room where an activity will take place, you can also use the “Calendar” feature on the left side of your screen. Click on the Room Name, and a line will appear to guide you.
As IJCAI-PRICAI is a large conference, the virtual venue will also be very big and getting from one place to the next with your avatar might take a while. We therefore have created a couple shortcuts so that getting from A to B will be faster!
Map of the venue:
Take the Train:
The main lobby of this event will be designed in the style of Japan with several places to visit like Kyoto, Tokyo and Yokohama. Two trains will go along this hall and if you enter the station on one end you will automatically exit the train on the other end, moving your avatar from the end to the hall into the center and vice versa.
Visit Hyper Space:
Another way to move quicker from one space to another are our hyperspace portals. Step into one and you will find yourself in a hyperspace in which you can choose another portal to bring you to the destination of your choice. Make long distances short ones with this exclusive virtual chair technology.
Events that happen on zoom will be integrated into different rooms. When entering the room you will see the message ‘press x to enter zoom call’. This will bring you directly into the zoom meeting or webinar where the talk/workshop/tutorial/etc. will take place. After the meeting is over you can leave the zoom call and re-enter the virtual conference space.
There are a few ways to interact with others in the event venue:
• Click on the avatar on the very left of your grey menu bar (located in the bottom-center of your screen) to select a character to represent you.
• As in real life, you can speak “face-to-face” with other participants who are in close proximity – no shouting across the room!
• By stepping onto a “conversation carpet” together or sitting around the same table, you and other attendees will be entering an isolated conversation area; you will not hear anyone else who is close by unless they too step onto your rug or join your table. Don’t fall off your chair-you’ll no longer see or hear the other participants at the table!
• The exception to this rule is that you will still hear anyone speaking at a microphone in the same room as you. As in real life, anything said by someone at a microphones will interrupt and override all other conversations in the room.
• Ignore another participant’s microphone by clicking on it (this does not change what other participants hear and only applies to your own sound).
• Enlarge videos by clicking on them (including videos of people you’re talking to).
• Curate a “friends” list by first clicking the Persons icon on the left hand toolbar, and then clicking the name of another participant and sending a private chat message; they will appear in your chat list thereafter. If you part ways, message them privately by selecting “Message” and the name of the person you would like to chat. You can also select Everybody to send a chat to the whole space, or Nearby to send a chat to people near you
• Check out people’s name badges. Click on their name in the video chat or in the participants list and a badge will pop up with their affiliation.
• Don’t stand in doorways; it blocks others. And if you get stuck in traffic, hold down “G” on your keyboard to turn into a ghost and walk through the avatars who block your way.
• Bring your virtual dance shoes and try dancing by holding down “Z” on your keyboard. No one has two left feet in Gather!
Members of Virtual Chair’s staff will be available to assist participants who have any questions about navigating the site. Please feel free to contact them in one of the following ways:
• Email the Virtual Chair staff to alert them if you have have trouble navigating the event space on gather.town; they are available at ijcaihelpdesk@virtualchair.net
In order for Virtual Chair’s Helpdesk team to best assist you, it is recommended that you confirm which browser you are using, and provide either a screenshot or a description of the specific webpage where you encountered an issue. Specific information on troubleshooting audiovisual connection issues is available by clicking here.
• Walk to a virtual Helpdesk to discuss your question directly. Helpdesks will be located in the lobby
• Chat one-on-one with a Helpdesk staff member by scrolling through the participant list and clicking on their name, then “message”. You can also search for the Helpdesk staff member using the search bar, found above the list of participant
IJCAI-PRICAI Volunteers will be available to assist with questions about the scientific program at the IJCAI-PRICAI Welcome Desk:
Learn more about how posters work in virtual chair on their website: https://www.virtualchair.net/posters
Most presentations during this event will happen in zoom. Speakers will receive detailed information about how to present in zoom.
However you have the option to present/screen share in our virtual venue as well, please see the technical tips below:
• Screenshare by clicking the computer icon in the grey menu bar; you will need to authorize your browser access to share another application or your entire screen.*
• Exit out of Screenshare by clicking the computer symbol again, now highlighted green
• Stand on the rug behind a podium to speak and/or share your screen with everyone in the same room; Moderators or Q&A participants may stand at another microphone in order for the entire room to hear your interaction.
We HIGHLY recommend that presenters test their own personal screenshare settings prior to their presentation time, as these vary widely depending on the computer and software being used.
• Practice ahead of time in a private conversation to be sure you’re comfortable turning screenshare on and off.
• It is possible for one person to screenshare while another person speaks, as long as both are standing at microphones in the same room. Feel free to share responsibilities as you are getting to know this new tool.
• Computer audio is NOT sharable in gather.town; screenshare will only project an image and sounds entering via a computer’s microphone.
On behalf of the entire team at Virtual Chair, we look forward to speaking with you at IJCAI-PRICAI 2020!
To keep in contact with us after the event, feel free to write to info@virtualchair.net.