HCI in Brazil

The history and evolution of HCI in Brazil have been previously presented in major international HCI conferences such as INTERACT97 (Merkle at al.97) and CH199 (Prates et al.99). In spite of a relatively late start in the mid 90's, the Brazilian HCI Community is growing rapidly. In less than 3 years, two national HCI workshops have been held (see details below) gathering HCI researchers, practitioners, and students from different states in the country. This is the result of a combination of factors whose origins can be traced to the needs and trends in our local computer industry, to the pace of technological changes in Brazilian society, to an agile response of those involved in science, technology and education policies, to changes in the curricula of college and university programs, to the pressing challenges of a global economy and culture, and to many other factors we cannot competently survey here.