<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:medium;margin:0px"><div style="font-size:small"><h3 id="gmail-m_-9043082071875620122m_6048466857725924450gmail-h.4ah7ivluovqk" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;padding-top:0px;white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-size:small;background-color:transparent;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline">Dear </span><span style="font-size:small;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:normal;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">All,</span><br></h3><div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We would like to remind you to submit a video to IVA 2021 GALA. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;white-space:pre-wrap">Please see the content below, and let us know if you have any questions. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br></p></div><h3 id="gmail-m_-9043082071875620122m_6048466857725924450gmail-h.4ah7ivluovqk" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;padding-top:0px;white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small;font-weight:normal;text-decoration-line:inherit">The GALA event is an annual festival to showcase the latest animated lifelike agents in ACM IVA 2021.</span><br></h3><div><div style="box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;max-width:100%"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="box-sizing:border-box"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif" size="2">Website: </font></span></span></div><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/iva2021/gala?authuser=0" target="_blank">https://sites.google.com/view/iva2021/gala?authuser=0</a></div><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.38;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;text-decoration-line:inherit">*This event was planned to be held in the University of Fukuchiyama, Kyoto. However, due to the influence of Covid-19, the conference format will be virtual. </span><br></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.38;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><b><br></b></font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.38;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><b>Important Dates</b></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;vertical-align:baseline"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Submission deadline: August 27, 2021</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;text-decoration-line:inherit">Notification: September 3, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;vertical-align:baseline"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Final Video: September 7, 2021</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;vertical-align:baseline">GALA Event: September 17</span><span style="box-sizing:border-box">, 2021</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing:border-box"><br></span></font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><b>Overview</b></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;text-decoration-line:inherit">The GALA, “Gathering of Animated Lifelike Agents,” is an annual event to showcase the latest animated lifelike agents created by university students, academic and/or industrial research groups. The goals of the GALA include: </span></p><ul style="list-style-type:square;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0px;margin:6px 0px 0px;white-space:pre-wrap"><li dir="ltr" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 15pt;box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;outline:none;font-style:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;line-height:0;padding-top:0px"><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;outline:none;font-style:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;line-height:1.38;padding:0px;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;vertical-align:baseline"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Providing a forum to present and evaluate the state-of-the-art in the technology of virtual agents and innovative applications;</font></span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="margin:6px 0px 0px 15pt;box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;outline:none;font-style:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;line-height:0"><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;outline:none;font-style:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;line-height:1.38;padding:0px;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;vertical-align:baseline"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Disseminating research by establishing a GALA Gallery of virtual agents for study and re-use; </font></span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="margin:6px 0px 0px 15pt;box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;outline:none;font-style:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;line-height:0;padding-bottom:0px"><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;outline:none;font-style:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;line-height:1.38;padding:0px;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;vertical-align:baseline"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Stimulating people to work on virtual agents.  </font></span></p></li></ul><div><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-variant-ligatures:none;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></font></div><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><span style="box-sizing:border-box"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">An international jury will select entries for the GALA Gallery that will be established on the IVA 2021 website. In the event, a Jury Award and Audience Award will be chosen among the selected entries. The awards will be announced on the webpage on the last day of the conference.</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><span style="font-weight:700;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;text-decoration-line:inherit"><br></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><span style="font-weight:700;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;text-decoration-line:inherit">Submission details</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;vertical-align:baseline"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">We invite submissions including a video showcase of projects involving animated lifelike virtual agents. The submissions may also include particular applications of the agents as well as tools and methods for their development. The submission is open to students, industry and academic institutions. You are strongly encouraged to submit a GALA video even if you have already submitted a paper or poster with similar content. </font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.38;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><br style="box-sizing:border-box"></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;vertical-align:baseline"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">The submission is a one-page PDF including author names, affiliations, a small description and main contribution of the video, details of the encoding and a download link for the video. The videos should not be longer than 5 minutes. </font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><br style="box-sizing:border-box"></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial;padding:0px"><span style="box-sizing:border-box"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Please send the submissions to GALA chair: </font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;padding:0px;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial"><span style="box-sizing:border-box"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Nihan Karatas     <a href="mailto:karatas@mirai.nagoya-u.ac.jp" target="_blank">karatas@mirai.nagoya-u.ac.jp</a></font></span></p><font color="#888888"><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;padding:0px;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial"><span style="box-sizing:border-box"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;padding:0px;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial"><span style="box-sizing:border-box"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-variant-ligatures:normal">We look forward to your contribution!</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:none;margin:0px;outline:none;text-decoration-line:inherit;line-height:1.656;padding:0px;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;border-width:initial;border-style:none;border-color:initial"><span style="box-sizing:border-box"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></span></p></font></div><font color="#888888" style="font-size:small"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:medium;margin:0px"><b style="font-size:9pt;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Nihan Karatas</b><br></div><div style="font-size:medium;margin:0px"><span style="font-size:12.8px"><font color="#666666">HMI and Human Characteristics Research Division</font></span></div><div style="font-size:medium;margin:0px"><span style="font-size:12.8px"><font color="#666666">Institutes of Innovation for Future Society</font></span></div><div style="margin:0px"><font color="#666666">Nagoya University</font></div><div style="font-size:medium;margin:0px"><font color="#666666"><span style="font-size:small">Tel: +81-</span><span style="font-size:small">52-789-5586</span><span style="font-size:small"> </span></font></div><div style="font-size:medium;margin:0px"><span style="font-size:small"><font color="#666666">e-mail: </font></span><a href="mailto:karatas@mirai.nagoya-u.ac.jp" target="_blank" style="font-size:small">karatas@mirai.nagoya-u.ac.jp<br></a></div></div></div></div></font></div></div></div></div>