Conviviality accross Disciplines

Domain Specific Definitions for the Notion of Conviviality

Our goal here is to clarify the notion of conviviality as it is used accross disciplines and analyze its applications.

ACKERMAN creates convivial places, "Piazza", where it feels good to be together. These convivial spaces are ambient spaces in which you learn, play and socialize, they are structured by the community and reflect the changes of its members'identities, ideas and dreams.
M.I.T. Future of Learning Group members, CAVALLO and SIPITAKIAT build on both constructivist ideas about learning and Ivan Illich's conception of conviviality to develop convivial learning environments where people learn more effectively through learning methods where learning and teaching intertwine.

ASIMIL Project (00-03): Conviviality in this distance learning system, refers to how user-friendly it is and how well it simulates physical reality using multimedia and intelligent agents in virtual environment.

LAMIZET: Conviviality can be define in four complementary ways: Individualization, personnalization, of communication practices. Generalization and simplification of new technologies and information and communication systems. Quality improvements of information systems (reliability, adaptability, user interface, etc.). Globalization and uniformization of medias, representation systems, technologies and processes.
SOMOV: Conviviality belongs to the domain of the regulation of human interrelations, informational-managing systems, itself part of the domain of regulation in a society. "Behavior unites the processes of accomodation to situations which involve and organize elementary regulations... Like conflict, conviality is based on agreements and contradictions".
SCHECHTER: Conviviality is a social form of human interaction.
TAYLOR: Conviviality masks the power relationships and social structures that govern communities.
ASHBY:"convivality is achieved for the majority, but only through a process by which non-convivality is reinforced for the minority."
HOFKIRCHNER: The idea of conviviality includes the idea of reconciliation of unity and diversity: unity of the society constituted of individuals.
LOMOSITS: "convivialty is a pre-condition of humanity ".

PELACHAUD: Efficient communication between affective and expressive virtual characters is achieved through negociation. The tools and technics used, emotion and facial expression/recognition, gesture, gaze, detection of non-verbal behaviors of listeners and overhearers also give indications on the conviviality level in the group and potentially measurements.
HCI - Human Computer Interaction: Hook: Her interaction concepts such as eMoto ("They were able to express their personality but they were still able to understand each other") social navigation, affective presence group and affective loop investigate new tools to integrate affect into interactions with users.
Yorick Wilks Conviviality is reached with artificial sociable companions. These are not robots but permanent agents attached to single users; They act as intermediaries for all information sources that users cannot manage, for example, companions for the elderly will bring them the competence needed to deal with new technologies such as web search as well as support with companionship, whereas companions for juniors will teach, explain and advise.
Artificial Life, ANIMAT:
MAS: Environment, situation- socially situated filter
Metaheuristic: Swarm intelligence
Prisoner Dilemma: Role of negociation in Conviviality

Convivio (03-05) net: Convivial technologies are people-centered that support communication and interaction to increase social cohesion and community identity.
The Convivial Information Society, one of the four themes of the EU fifth Framework Project (FP5), is based on the concept of ambient intelligence and emphasizes user-friendliness, efficient and distributed services support, user empowerment, and support for human interactions. (more information*)
Computers that "read our minds" from Dr. Horvitz (Microsoft research in Redmond) and Dr. Schmorrow from DARPA, measuring user's information such as keystrokes, number of opened windows, content, scrolling activities, events in calendars, location and time of day to filter "appropriately" incoming information such as emails and phone calls, to shield users from incoming disturbances.

For POLANYI the term implies mutual endeavour and trust within a given community where people with shared commitments or interests meet to share their knowledge. Ref: 1, 2, 3, 4

ILLICH: Tools for Conviviality (1973) According to Illich, conviviality refers to relations among humans, to the relationship between humans and nature, and to the relation between humans and technology. In a convivial society, people assume control over their tools so as to allow for the creative power of the individual.

Economists use utility or preference function to measure the satisfaction gained consuming goods and services. (Individual utility and social utility). Utilitarians advocate maximizing the utility to aim at "the greatest happiness for the greatest number".

* More Information

"Conviviality accross Disciplines" is mentioned on: ICC