ILHAIRE partners are delighted to announce they have been selected to contribute to the upcoming ICT event in Vilnius on 6-8 November 2013. ICT is the major networking event regarding Information and Communication Technologies research activities within the EU Framework Programmes for Research. This year, more than 4000 researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, industry representatives, young people and politicians are expected. A particular focus will be placed on Horizon 2020, the EU's Framework Programme for Research and Innovation for 2014-2020.

Besides an extensive conference and networking programme covering scientific, industrial and societal aspects of ICT research, the event will also include a science and technology exhibition giving the opportunity for projects and companies to showcase their research, ICT products and innovative creations. ILHAIRE will be part of the "culture, science and creativity" section of the ICT 2013 exhibition.

Laughter is all around us. It is sometimes contagious and most often impacts on one's mood, yet not always towards positive emotions. Laughter also has meanings and impacts on the course of conversations. Laughter expression is also affected by social rules. Gathering knowledge related to laughter, from both the psychology and the human-computer interaction perspectives, and transferring this understanding to the design of embodied conversational agents will enable them with both emotional and conversational competence that will increase their impact and application potential. The ILHAIRE exhibit will be presenting some of the main outcomes of the project after two years of operation in a highly interactive fashion. The visitors will be able to experience a range of short interaction scenarios and games with laughter-enabled avatars, and interact with experts in both psychology and engineering. We hope the exhibit will impact on the global mood of the ICT event.