___________________________________________________ ICMI 2026 Workshop Cross-Cultural Multimodal Interaction (CCMI) 2026 ___________________________________________________ Website: https://sites.google.com/view/ccmi2026/home Submission site: https://new.precisionconference.com/submissions/icmi26a This ICMI 2026 workshop seeks to establish an international research platform to investigate the impact of linguistic and cultural differences on nonverbal behavior and their effects on communication dynamics. Moving beyond merely identifying nonverbal behavior patterns in specific cultural contexts, the workshop aims to uncover the mechanisms behind adaptation, change, and misunderstanding in intercultural interactions. Building on the success of our first workshop, this second edition shifts the focus from problem identification to concrete action and methodological evaluation. This year’s discussion-centric workshop focuses on two key themes: - Concrete Data Collection & Case Studies: Sharing practical "Case Reports" to overcome the logistical hurdles of multi-site data collection, with the goal of drafting a roadmap for truly cross-cultural multimodal datasets. - Evaluating MLLMs in Cultural Contexts: Developing methodologies to benchmark Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs) for cultural sensitivity, specifically examining their ability to handle cultural nuances in gestures, facial expressions, and turn-taking. Topics: It includes (but is not limited to) the following: - Cross-cultural differences in nonverbal communication - Data collection methodologies for intercultural interaction - Cultural variations in gestures, facial expressions, back-channeling, and turn-taking - Multimodal machine learning and signal processing methods for detecting cultural differences - Cross-linguistic differences and universals in turn-taking behavior Important Dates: - Paper Submission July 1st, 2026 - Paper Notification July 24th, 2026 - Camera Ready July 31st, 2026 - Workshop October 9th, 2026 (Morning or Afternoon) Organizers: - Koji Inoue, Kyoto University, Japan - Shogo Okada, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), Japan - Divesh Lala, Kyoto University, Japan - Taiga Mori, Kyoto University, Japan - Sahba Zojaji, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China / Shenzhen Loop Area Institute (SLAI), China - Nancy F. Chen, Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR), Singapore - Yukiko I. Nakano, Seikei University, Japan - Tatsuya Kawahara, Kyoto University, Japan