Abstract
The Augmented Human vision broadly seeks to improve or expand baseline human functioning through the restoration or extension of physical, intellectual, and social capabilities. However, given the rapid pace of technology development, we ask: what exactly does Augmented Human research involve, what are its core themes, and how has the Augmented Human(s) conference series evolved over time? To answer this, we conducted a scientometric analysis on the past 15 years of the Augmented Human(s) conference (N=735 paper), focusing on: geographical aspects, submissions and citation timelines, author frequency and popularity, and topic modeling. We find that: (a) Number of papers in the conference exhibit a bimodal distribution, peaking in 2015 and 2025, but showing periods of stagnant growth; (b) key topics over time include Haptics, Wearable Sensing, Vision & Eye Tracking, Embodied Interaction, and Sports / Motion; (c) some seminal papers on AH are not published in AH(s), but rather at related venues (e.g., CHI); (d) the conference has an active Japanese HCI community despite its historical Eurocentric location dominance. We contribute a closer look at the trajectory of the AH(s) field, and raise considerations of definitional and research scope ambiguities given the core problems/enhancements the field seeks to address.
Abstract (translated)
增强人类愿景 broadly 旨在通过恢复或扩展身体、智力和社会能力来改善或提升人类基础功能。然而，鉴于技术发展的 rapid pace，我们提出疑问：增强人类研究究竟涉及哪些内容？其核心主题是什么？以及增强人类会议系列随时间如何演变？为回答这些问题，我们对过去15年增强人类会议（N=735篇论文）进行了科学计量分析，重点关注：地理分布、投稿与引用时间线、作者频率与影响力、以及主题建模。研究发现：(a) 会议论文数量呈双峰分布，在2015年和2025年达到峰值，但存在增长停滞期；(b) 随时间演变的关键主题包括触觉反馈、可穿戴传感、视觉与眼动追踪、具身交互以及运动/体育；(c) 部分增强人类领域的开创性论文并未在增强人类会议发表，而是出现在相关会议（如CHI）上；(d) 尽管会议历史上以欧洲为中心，但日本HCI社区仍保持活跃。本研究深入审视了增强人类领域的发展轨迹，并就该领域试图解决的核心问题/增强目标所引发的定义模糊性与研究范畴争议提出思考。
URL
https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.03715
