Halfway to the Future 2024 received 71 submissions overall, 35 long and 36 short. 58 of those were formatted as papers, and 13 as pictorials. All four themes received an exciting amount of submissions, though the distribution was not completely even: Plurality of Humanness received 15 submissions, More-than-Humanness 29, Reflective Practices with AI 15, and New Ways of Knowing 25. 13 submissions were linked to more than one theme.

Submissions were made by 158 authors from diverse socio-cultural and even professional backgrounds. As expected, most authors involved in the submissions were affiliated with universities and similar educational institutions (58); others had industry affiliations (9) or were listed as independent researchers (4). In terms of geographical distribution (see Figure 1), authors were based in 16 different countries (Australia, Canada, China, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the USA) split across North America, Europe, Asia, and Central America. 

All submissions were peer-reviewed as follows: First, our Program Committee distributed the submissions by theme. Each theme was chaired by two international experts, who then invited external reviewers for each of the papers under their theme. Each paper was reviewed (double-blind) by two external reviewers. Reviews were discussed at a PC meeting where all theme chairs (as well as the General Chairs) were present. Decisions were made factoring in (1) the external reviews, (2) the theme chairs’ expert assessment of the potential impact of the papers, and (3) a conversation among all PC members about the fitness of each paper in the context of Halfway to the Future. Importantly, unlike other HCI venues, HttF does not seek well-rounded, fully-fledged accounts of consolidated research but rather thought-provoking, rich, future-thinking works and ideas. In other words, it aims to be a venue where researchers can bring interesting ideas and reflections to the table for conversation rather than share work one would publish elsewhere. That information was shared with external reviewers and taken seriously when making acceptance/rejection decisions. After the PC meeting, theme chairs wrote the meta-reviews for all papers under their theme, and notifications were sent after that.

Out of the 71 submissions, 25 were accepted to be presented in HttF 2024’s thematic panels, 18 were accepted to be presented within an interactive forum, and 28 were rejected. Given HttF’s pursuit of stimulating conversation about new and thought-provoking ideas, we tried to accommodate as many works as possible into the event. More details about the composition of the program will follow soon, but in an overview, it will include: Talks where invited core voices will discuss an influential piece of their work relevant to each of HttF’s four themes; Panels where authors will position their accepted papers within/alongside those influential works followed by discussion and reflection with all attendees; and an Interactive Forum where other authors will be given a chance to showcase and discuss their work in a more organic and informal setup. Overall, we (the HttF 2024 organizing team) are really happy about the final composition of the program and we are excited to host a surely memorable event in Santa Cruz, CA later this year!