The origin of AIPO – Human-Computer Interaction Association, dates back to the period 1998-1999 where, after some initial contacts, Jesús Lorés Vidal, precursor of the initiative, brought together different academics who worked on diverse topics such as graphics, user interaction, etc., in a first constitutive meeting on November 23, 1999 at the Higher Technical School of Computer Science of the Autonomous University of Madrid. In that first meeting, the first Management Board of the Association was constituted, structured by the appointment of a President, which those gathered unanimously agree to be Jesús Lorés, a Secretary, who also agrees to be Roberto Moriyón, and eight members, who were Julio Abascal, José J. Cañas, Pablo Castells, Juan Manuel Cordero, Josep M. Ganyet, Pedro Latorre, Manuel Ortega, Manuel Pérez, Eugenia Santamaría, Luis Alfonso Ureña, Manuel Vélez and Ana Belén Martínez Prieto.
In that same meeting, it is proposed to hold the first constituent days for the association, as well as the creation of a local SigCHI chapter related to AIPO. In a second meeting, on February 7, 2000 at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Granada, relevant issues were decided, such as the first logo of the association, the drafting of the statutes of the association, the policy and management of the associationism, the activities to be carried out and the definitive location of the first constituent days.
Since then, and continuously over time, other meetings have been held in different national locations and new interested members have been incorporated, which allowed the growth in the number of members and territorial representation of the association. Finally, in the constituent assembly on June 19, 2000, in the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Granada, AIPO is definitively constituted, establishing a headquarters and the first Board of Directors of the association.
Founding photo of the association. November 23, 1999 – Previous School of Computer Science, Current Higher Polytechnic School of the Autonomous University of Madrid.
Given its long history, there have been several management boards that have led the association from its creation to the present, namely:
| 1999-2000 | Primera Junta Gestora. Presidente: Jesús Lorés Vidal (Universidad de Lérida). Secretario: Roberto Moriyón Salomon (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) |
| 2000-2004 | Presidente: Jesús Lorés Vidal (Universidad de Lérida). Vicepresidente: Miguel Gea Megías (Universidad de Granada). Secretario: Pablo Castells Azpilicueta (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid). Tesorero: José J. Cañas Delgado (Universidad de Granada) |
| 2004-2007 | Presidente: Jesús Lorés Vidal (Universidad de Lérida). Vicepresidente: Pedro Latorre Andrés (Universidad de Zaragoza). Secretario: José Antonio Macías Iglesias (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid). Tesorero: Francisco L. Gutiérrez Vela (Universidad de Granada) |
| 2007-2010 | Presidente: Pedro Latorre Andrés (Universidad de Zaragoza). Vicepresidente: José Antonio Macías Iglesias (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid). Secretario: Toni Granollers i Saltiveri (Universidad de Lérida). Tesorero: Francisco L. Gutiérrez Vela (Universidad de Granada). |
| 2010-2013 | Presidente: Pedro Latorre Andrés (Universidad de Zaragoza). Vicepresidente: José Antonio Macías Iglesias (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid). Secretario: Toni Granollers i Saltiveri (Universidad de Lérida). Tesorero: Francisco L. Gutiérrez Vela (Universidad de Granada) Carta del presidente “Pedro Latorre” |
| 2013-2016 | Presidente: José Antonio Macías Iglesias (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid). Vicepresidente: Federico Botella Beviá (Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche). Secretario: Toni Granollers i Saltiveri (Universidad de Lérida). Tesorero: Francisco L. Gutiérrez Vela (Universidad de Granada) Carta del presidente “José Antonio Macías” |
| 2016-2019 | Presidente: José Antonio Macías Iglesias (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid). Vicepresidente: Federico Botella Beviá (Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche). Secretaria: Sandra Baldassarri (Universidad de Zaragoza). Tesorero: Francisco L. Gutiérrez Vela (Universidad de Granada) Carta del presidente “José Antonio Macías” |
| 2019-actualidad | Presidenta: Lourdes Moreno López (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid). Vicepresidente: Víctor Manuel Ruíz Penichet (Universidad de Castilla-La Macha). Secretaria: Sandra Baldassarri (Universidad de Zaragoza). Tesorero: Francisco L. Gutiérrez Vela (Universidad de Granada) |
AIPO has always been committed to holding stable scientific conferences for as long as they have enjoyed acceptance by national and Latin American researchers in the field of Human-Computer Interaction. Under the name of Interaction, these conferences have been organized since 2000 in Granada, having been held during successive editions in Salamanca (2001), Leganés (2002), Vigo (2003), Lérida (2004), Granada (during the celebration of the CEDI 2005), Puertollano (2006), Zaragoza (during the celebration of the CEDI 2007), Albacete (2008), Barcelona (2009), Valencia (during the celebration of the CEDI 2010), Lisbon (2011), Elche (2012), Madrid (during the celebration of the CEDI 2013), Tenerife (2014), Vilanova i la Geltrú (2015), Salamanca (during the celebration of the CEDI 2016), Cancún, México (2017), Palma de Mallorca (2018), and this year 2019 in its twentieth edition, in San Sebastián. Through the different editions, Interaction has established itself as one of the most relevant conferences, currently being a point of reference not only for the national research community in Human-Computer Interaction, but also for the international one.
In the same way, AIPO is committed to innovation in the teaching of Human-Computer Interaction. In July 2005, AIPO organized the first CHI Workshop on Teaching – CHIJOTE 2005, in Puertollano, Ciudad Real. In 2018, the II Work Day was organized in Palma de Mallorca, and this year, 2019, the Workshop on teaching at CHI, CHIjote’19, is organized within the framework of Interaction 2019 in San Sebastián. In addition, in recent years AIPO has promoted the creation of the joint session on Interaction, Teaching and Learning, co-organized by AIPO and ADIE (Association for the Development of Educational Informatics). This symposium is organized within the CEDI, having been held in its 2013 and 2016 editions.
Apart from the celebration of these conferences, AIPO promotes internationalization through its Latin American Section, and CHISPA, the Spanish chapter of ACM-SIGCHI. In fact, during its 2009 edition the Interaction congress was held in parallel in Armenia (Colombia), during the 2012 edition in parallel with the MexIHC in Mexico City and the 2017 edition was held in the city of Cancun, Mexico. This has allowed the creation of events, synergies and collaborations between professors and students of Human-Computer Interaction between Spain and Latin American countries. Also, with the aim of promoting synergies with the industry, the AIPO-Company forum accommodates different companies with interests in Human-Computer Interaction, organizing different events during the Interaction conferences.
Another of the objectives pursued by the association is the creation of its own repository of information on Interaction-Person Computer. Proof of this was the edition, in 2001, of the digital book “Person-Computer Interaction” with complementary material that has enjoyed great acceptance among the AIPO community in Spain and Latin America. Likewise, different conference proceedings have been published and edited, as well as different books and post-publications in prestigious publishers as a result of the Interaction conference. In 2020, the AIPO digital magazine was created (http://revista.aipo.es/index.php/INTERACCION) donde los investigadores del área pueden publicar y dar visibilidad a sus avances en el área. Hay dos números por año y todos los envíos se revisan por pares.
Through the different projects undertaken, AIPO has aroused the interest of researchers from different fields (computing, telecommunications, library science, art and design, psychology, sociology, etc.) that make up such a multidisciplinary area as Human-Computer Interaction. In this way, the association continues to grow today, already integrated into other larger entities such as SCIE (Computer Science Society of Spain) and COSCE (Confederation of Scientific Societies of Spain), which further consolidates the association by having with a presence in important scientific fields.
In Memoriam: Jesús Lorés
Jesús Lorés was one of the founders and the main promoter of AIPO, an association that he chaired until the day of his death. Those of us who knew Jesus will always remember him for his energy, his infinite capacity for work and, above all, for his contagious joy.
The heritage that Jesús Lorés has left us goes beyond his articles and books on Human-Computer Interaction. Jesus leaves us his utopia. A utopia of a sustainable world without technological barriers, where engineers, technicians and scientists always keep people in mind in our projects, above all.
The utopia that Lorés leaves us is somewhat plausible, since it represents an ideal towards which to orient. In a world increasingly in need of ideals, this is perhaps his best and most valuable legacy.
His utopia is also ours, that of AIPO.
Letter from Lorés-Panadés family to AIPO members