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The 20th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI 2018) was held in Boulder CO, October 16 to 20, 2018. 
ICMI 2018 continued and enhanced the legacy of the ICMI conference series, which serves as the premier international forum for multidisciplinary research on multisensor, multimodal human-human and human-computer interaction and interfaces.

Institute of Cognitive Science was a major sponsor for this conference, and ICS Faculty Prof. Sidney D'Mello served as Chair of the conference.

ICMI 2018 was a single-track conference featuring three keynotes, 63 technical full and short papers (including 28 oral and 35 poster presentations), two panel sessions, two tutorials, 18 papers presented in two grand challenges, 5 demonstrations/exhibits, a Doctoral Consortium with 12 papers, late-breaking results papers, and 5 workshops with approximately 50 papers, keynotes, and extended discussions. Indeed, there will be considerable cutting-edge and exciting multimodal interaction research presented and discussed at the conference.

ICMI’s rigorous peer-review process for the main conference track was maintained for the 20th conference, which received 149 full and short paper submissions, which is on par with the 151 submissions received for ICMI 2017 and greater than all previous ICMI conferences. 46 long papers (23 for oral presentation and 23 for poster presentation) and 17 short papers (5 oral and 12 posters) were accepted, resulting in an overall acceptance rate of 42.3%, an oral (short and long) acceptance rate of 18.8% and an oral long paper acceptance rate of 15.4%. These 63 papers wiere presented over six oral sessions and two poster sessions during the three main conference days (October 17-19, 2018).

ICMI 2018 included several new initiatives to keep the conference series fresh and exciting. These began with the conference theme of “Multi-modal Understanding of Multi-Party Interactions,” which emphasized the importance of multimodality in group interactions involving human-human and human-machine teams. There were multiple sessions devoted to the conference theme, including a special panel session and a workshop. Second, realizing the importance of basic research in the behavioral and social sciences, the review criteria were revised to include novelty with respect to scientific knowledge in addition to the more traditional technical/algorithmic novelty. Third, a new Late Breaking Results category was added so that researchers can share their most recent results at the conference.

Multimodal researchers are notably social, so the ICMI 2018 social program included long lunch breaks at the conference venue to promote interactions among delegates, a welcome reception, a banquet at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Folsom Field (which features spectacular views of the mountains), and a hiking trip to Mount Sanitas – Boulder’s home mountain. In addition to these events, the conference was located at the historic Hotel Boulderado, which is in the heart of downtown’s Pearl Street pedestrian mall with restaurants, sidewalk cafés, breweries, boutiques, and bookstores as well as hundreds of miles of hiking and biking trails and some of the best rock climbing spots just miles away.

The Chair and organizers expressed much gratitude to all people and parties involved in bringing ICMI 2018 to Boulder, Colorado.