NIME'26 Workshop — Call for Participation: What Makes it Fun? Mapping Playful Interaction in Music-Making with AI.
Jingjing
Dear AIMC Group,
We invite submissions to our workshop at NIME’26 “What Makes it Fun? Mapping Playful Interaction in Music-Making with AI”, to examine how playfulness can be systematically understood and intentionally designed for within digital music-making systems. Through collaborative analysis, discussion, and demonstration-based exchange, participants will work toward a shared vocabulary for articulating playful musical interaction and develop design strategies for fostering playfulness in AI-mediated music systems.
Workshop Information
Submission Deadline: June 2nd, 2026
Notification: Rolling Acceptance
Workshop Date: 23 June 2026
Venue: New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) 2026
Location: LUL Here East Campus in London’s Olympic Park, London, UK
Submission tracks
We welcome submissions in three formats:
Demo showcase - playful AI music interactive systems, or broader playful digital music projects
Presentation - research or practical work on playful AI music interaction
Speculative design concept - provocations or proposals for playful AI music interactive systems
*Demo presenters are expected to bring their own equipment (e.g. laptop, headphones) and prepare any system configurations in advance.
How to submit
Complete the submission form at https://forms.gle/X9Yh3Miz2QknUuSGA.
Accepted participants will be notified on a rolling basis.
We are looking forward to hearing from you!
Questions? Reach us at: j.s...@imperial.ac.uk
Organising Committee
Jingjing Sun (Co-chair), Imperial College London, UK
Franceso Di Maggio (Co-chair), Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
Rebecca Fiebrink, University of the Arts London, UK
Corey Ford, University of the Arts London, UK
Bart Hengveld, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
Sebastian Deterding, Imperial College London, UK
Best,
Jingjing
