RELATIONAL AI PERSONAS IN EVERYDAY UBIQUITY
Embodied & Situated Design Methods for Sustainable, Plural Futures
12 October 2025, A half-day workshop at UbiComp/ISWC 2025 – Espoo, Finland
The Relational AI Personas workshop concluded successfully at ISWC 2025, hosted by Aalto University, Finland. Co-organized by Julius Yls (remote) and Dr. KC Yeoh (on-site facilitator), the session explored how AI personas can evolve as living relational constructs that reflect ethical, creative, and experiential dimensions of human–machine interaction.
The event brought together researchers, designers, and technologists to experiment with relational frameworks, visual mappings, and collective reflection.
Workshop Highlights
The Relational AI Personas workshop at ISWC 2025 brought together researchers, designers, and technologists exploring how AI personas can evolve as living relational constructs rather than static representations. Held in a hybrid format, the session connected participants on-site at Aalto University with Julius Yls leading live discussions via remote, and Dr. KC Yeoh facilitating in-room collaborative activities.
Through conceptual mapping exercises and shared reflections, participants examined how AI personas acquire meaning through relationships with users, contexts, and systems. The dialogue moved fluidly between theory and application, revealing how creative and ethical dimensions intersect within emerging AI design frameworks.
The session also opened valuable connections with several researchers who share cross-disciplinary interests in Persona AI, signaling potential future collaborations that extend this inquiry into new academic and experimental directions.
Through conceptual mapping exercises and shared reflections, participants examined how AI personas acquire meaning through relationships with users, contexts, and systems. The dialogue moved fluidly between theory and application, revealing how creative and ethical dimensions intersect within emerging AI design frameworks.
The session also opened valuable connections with several researchers who share cross-disciplinary interests in Persona AI, signaling potential future collaborations that extend this inquiry into new academic and experimental directions.
What's Next
Building on the momentum from ISWC 2025, the Relational AI Personas project will move into its second phase, exploring how relational models of artificial personas can evolve over time through adaptive interaction and contextual memory. The next stage focuses on developing experimental frameworks that treat AI personas as dynamic entities capable of learning from their relationships rather than operating through fixed data responses. This direction extends the workshop’s conceptual foundation toward new methods for designing, evaluating, and understanding “living” digital agents.
This phase will also open pathways for collaboration with researchers and practitioners who share cross-disciplinary interests in persona design, AI ethics, and creative cognition. Future activities will include a series of online reflection sessions for POAP holders, academic publications, and pilot experiments that translate workshop insights into working prototypes. Updates, invitations, and early collaboration calls will appear here and on LinkedIn later in 2025.
This phase will also open pathways for collaboration with researchers and practitioners who share cross-disciplinary interests in persona design, AI ethics, and creative cognition. Future activities will include a series of online reflection sessions for POAP holders, academic publications, and pilot experiments that translate workshop insights into working prototypes. Updates, invitations, and early collaboration calls will appear here and on LinkedIn later in 2025.
POAP & Continuing Connection
Every participant received an official POAP (Proof of Attendance Protocol) token serving not only as verified attendance but as a symbolic bridge extending the workshop’s energy beyond the event.
Holders of this POAP will soon receive access to an exclusive digital reflection space, where post-workshop dialogues, follow-up materials, and early previews of the next Relational AI Personas experiments will unfold.
Holders of this POAP will soon receive access to an exclusive digital reflection space, where post-workshop dialogues, follow-up materials, and early previews of the next Relational AI Personas experiments will unfold.
POAP (Proof of Attendance Protocol) is a blockchain-based digital token that certifies participation in a specific event or moment. Unlike conventional attendance records, a POAP functions as a living marker, a lightweight artifact that carries the memory of shared experience into the digital space. In the context of the Relational AI Personas workshop, the POAP was used not as a collectible badge, but as a relational connector that extends the workshop’s energy beyond its physical duration and invites participants into continued dialogue, reflection, and future collaborations.
Acknowledgment
Special thanks to UbiComp/ISWC 2025 and Aalto University for selecting and supporting this research workshop, and to all participants whose insights shaped the dialogue.
Organisers
Julius Yls
Julius Yls is the lead organiser of this workshop and a Lecturer at the Institute of Creativity & Innovation (Xiamen University, China / University for the Creative Arts, UK). With over two decades of academic and industry experience across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East, his work integrates AI-driven spatial computing, digital media arts, and interactive design.
Beyond academia, he has advised the early development of technology startups focused on VR environments, AI-powered education, and creative tooling. Julius has presented and published internationally at SIGGRAPH, ISEA, and Transmediale, and his creative research includes contributions to Objects in Air (University of Chicago Press).
His background in visual storytelling has also been internationally recognized, including the National Geographic Travel Photographer Award, enriching his interdisciplinary approach to design and technology. His current research explores innovative AI personas that foreground sustainability, inclusivity, and plural futures within ubiquitous computing.
Beyond academia, he has advised the early development of technology startups focused on VR environments, AI-powered education, and creative tooling. Julius has presented and published internationally at SIGGRAPH, ISEA, and Transmediale, and his creative research includes contributions to Objects in Air (University of Chicago Press).
His background in visual storytelling has also been internationally recognized, including the National Geographic Travel Photographer Award, enriching his interdisciplinary approach to design and technology. His current research explores innovative AI personas that foreground sustainability, inclusivity, and plural futures within ubiquitous computing.
Faculty of Digital Media Arts, Institute of The Creative Arts (ICI), Xiamen University, China & University of the Creative Arts (UCA), United Kingdom
Dr. Kok Cheow Yeoh
Dr. Yeoh is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Indiana University Southeast (USA) and a pioneering co-founder of the Visual Communication program at Nanyang Technological University’s School of Art, Design, and Media (Singapore). As a scholar-practitioner with 20+ years of experience, he bridges academia and industry through research in visual anthropology, sociolinguistics, and interdisciplinary design innovation—work thriving at the theory-practice nexus.
His investigations explore how visual communication intersects with societal frameworks, focusing on sustainability, cultural narratives, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Published in peer-reviewed journals and exhibited globally (China, Australia, UK, US, Malaysia, South Korea, etc.), he treats travel as both methodology and mindset, advancing design research into culturally grounded solutions.
Currently expanding his impact through partnerships, he collaborates on projects that redefine boundaries between design, human-centered systems, political discourse, and ecological resilience.
His investigations explore how visual communication intersects with societal frameworks, focusing on sustainability, cultural narratives, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Published in peer-reviewed journals and exhibited globally (China, Australia, UK, US, Malaysia, South Korea, etc.), he treats travel as both methodology and mindset, advancing design research into culturally grounded solutions.
Currently expanding his impact through partnerships, he collaborates on projects that redefine boundaries between design, human-centered systems, political discourse, and ecological resilience.
School of Arts and Letters, Indiana University Southeast, USA
www.yeoh.com
www.yeoh.com
FAQs
Have questions?
for FAQ, Questions or register your interest, you can talk directly to Julius's AI Persona: Muse-5
About the Conference
UbiComp/ISWC 2025 is the premier international forum for research in ubiquitous, pervasive, and wearable computing.
The conference brings together leading researchers, designers, and technologists exploring how computing seamlessly integrates into everyday life from social impact and user experience to technological innovation and deployment.
www.ubicomp.org/ubicomp-iswc-2025
Hosted by Aalto University in Espoo, Finland, the main conference ran from October 14–16, 2025, preceded by workshops and tutorials on October 12–13. This year’s event welcomed 793 participants from around the world, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue across human–computer interaction, design research, and emerging technologies.
Set within this vibrant exchange, the Relational AI Personas workshop connected theoretical inquiry with hands-on exploration which embodying the spirit of UbiComp/ISWC in blending rigorous research with creative experimentation.
Hosted by Aalto University in Espoo, Finland, the main conference ran from October 14–16, 2025, preceded by workshops and tutorials on October 12–13. This year’s event welcomed 793 participants from around the world, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue across human–computer interaction, design research, and emerging technologies.
Set within this vibrant exchange, the Relational AI Personas workshop connected theoretical inquiry with hands-on exploration which embodying the spirit of UbiComp/ISWC in blending rigorous research with creative experimentation.
