Thijs Roumen

Tobias Weinberg, Aaleyah Lewis, Ricardo E. Gonzalez Penuela et al.

Voice is a central element of identity. We recognize people by their voice, and we uniquely express who we are with it. For people who rely on augmentative and alternative communication~(AAC) systems, such as speech-generating devices~(SGD), the device's voice becomes an identity marker others associate with them. Yet, it is hard to find a voice that truly aligns with one's identity both linguistically and culturally. Although modern AI-generated voices can reproduce diverse accents and speaking styles, AAC users still lack accessible ways to articulate how they want an identity-aligned voice to sound like. We first conducted a survey of AAC users (across eight countries) to characterize current voice representation, finding that non-binary, transgender, and non-US-born respondents rated their current voice support identity alignment consistently lower than other respondents. To examine how AAC users respond to voices designed to reflect their cultural identity, we built a tool that elicits cultural markers through guided questions and generates personalized voice candidates for participants to hear and reflect on. After participants heard the voices, we interviewed them to examine what it means for a voice to feel culturally representative, how they interpreted voices with cultural connotations, and how these voices shaped their sense of identity and agency. Our findings show that cultural voice alignment runs deeper than accent or language alone; it touches on belonging, self-recognition, and what it means to be heard as who you are.

Ritik Batra, Lydia Kim, Ilan Mandel et al.

Craft practices rely on evolving archives of skill and knowledge developed through generations of craftspeople experimenting with designs, materials, and techniques. Better documentation of these practices enables the sharing of knowledge and expertise between sites and generations. However, most documentation focuses on the linear steps leading to final artifacts, neglecting the distinct tacit knowledge, improvisational actions, and situated adaptations needed to meet the unique demands of each craft project. This omission limits knowledge sharing and reduces craft to a mechanical endeavor, rather than a sophisticated and contextual way of seeing, thinking, and doing. Drawing on expert interviews and literature from HCI, CSCW and the social sciences, we develop an elementary grammar to document improvisational actions of real-world craft practices. We demonstrate the utility of this grammar with a MLLM-powered interface called CraftLink that can be used to analyze expert videos and generate documentation to share material and contextual variations of practices with other knowledgeable but non-master craftspeople. Our user study with expert crocheters (N=7) evaluates our grammar's effectiveness in capturing and sharing expert knowledge with other craftspeople, offering new pathways for computational systems to support collaborative archives of knowledge and practice across time, space, and skill levels. We conclude by showing how our grammar address four key tensions of the craft learning environment: personal and shareable documentation, fragmented and discoverable expertise, linear and iterative practices, and data privacy and ownership.