Call for Papers
Cyberworlds 2026 invites original, unpublished research contributions across intelligent, immersive, secure, and human-centred cyberworld systems and applications.
Scope
Cyberworlds are advanced digital environments that transform how people interact, communicate, collaborate, conduct business, and access information globally. They integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning, visual and interactive computing, extended reality, cognitive human-machine interaction, cybersecurity, and emerging quantum technologies to support shared virtual experiences, digital communities, and complex cyber-physical systems.
Cyberworlds 2026 (CW26) provides an international forum for researchers and practitioners to present advances in theory, systems, and applications shaping the next generation of intelligent, immersive, secure, and human-centred cyberworlds. As the 25th edition of the conference series, organised annually since 2002, CW26 continues to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation in shared digital environments and cyberspace.
Topics
Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:
AI and Machine Learning
- Learning Algorithms for Cyberworlds: Supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning; Deep neural networks; Self-supervised and foundation models; Online and continual learning for dynamic virtual environments, etc.
- Multimodal AI and Perception: Learning from vision, audio, text, motion, and haptics; Multimodal fusion and representation learning; Cross-modal generation and understanding; Embodied and perceptual AI in cyberworlds, etc.
- Intelligent Agents and Digital Humans: AI-driven avatars and agents; Behaviour modelling and simulation; Social and emotional intelligence; Autonomous decision-making in shared virtual worlds, etc.
- Trustworthy and Human-Centered AI: Explainable and interpretable AI; Ethical and responsible AI; Bias mitigation and fairness; Privacy-aware and secure AI systems in cyberspace, etc.
Visual and Interactive Computing
- Visual Computing: Extended reality (XR); Computer graphics; Computer animation; Visualisation; Image processing; Computer vision, Deep learning in visual computing, etc.
- Data Science for Immersive Communication: Immersive visual analytics; Machine and deep learning in visual communication; Collaborative visual analysis, etc.
- Applications: Digital humans; Education in cyberspace; Shared art and cultural heritage; Health care in cyberspace; Online games and living in shared virtual worlds; Shared digital fabrication, etc.
- Multimodal Interaction and Human Factors: Man-machine interaction (haptics, olfaction, sonification); Human dynamics; Communication; Collaboration; Entertainment; Digital assistants; Enhanced living; Human augmentation, etc.
Cognitive Human-Machine Interaction
- Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) in Extended Reality (XR): BCI applications; EEG-based neuroimaging; Mobile and adaptive BCIs; Neurofeedback systems and games; Neurorehabilitation and neuroplasticity; Machine-assisted cognitive enhancement, etc.
- Human Factors in Cyberspace: Affective computing; Emotion artificial intelligence; Human factors in transportation and industry; Biosignals; Internet of bodies; Machine and deep learning for biosignal-based algorithms; Neuroergonomics; Cognitive multimodal interfaces; Human factors in XR; Cognitive human-robot interaction, etc.
Cybersecurity for Cyberworlds
- Cybercrime Prevention: Identity and trust management; Content protection and digital rights management; Information hiding and anonymity; Privacy protocols; Security protocols; Malware detection; Attack detection; Zero Trust Models; Fraud Analytics, etc.
- Biometrics in Cyberspaces: Behavioural biometrics; Biometric template protection; Emerging biometrics; Multi-biometrics; Presentation attack detection, etc.
- Internet of Things: Security of embedded systems; Security protocols; Security in V2X and smart cities; Mobile networks security, IoT & big data; Edge security and fog computing; etc.
- Analysis of Digital Traces in Cyberspaces: Forensics (computer, mobile devices, network, social media); Altered content detection (multimedia, deep fake); Digital data analysis (social media, file carving), etc.
Quantum Computing for Cyberworlds
- Quantum Computing Models and Algorithms: Quantum algorithms; Hybrid quantum-classical computing; Quantum simulation; Quantum optimisation for large-scale cyberworld applications, etc.
- Quantum Machine Learning: Quantum-enhanced learning algorithms; Variational quantum circuits; Quantum neural networks; Applications of quantum learning in visualisation, interaction, and data analysis, etc.
- Quantum Security and Cryptography: Post-quantum cryptography; Quantum key distribution; Quantum-resistant authentication; Secure communication and trust in cyberworlds, etc.
- Quantum Technologies for Future Cyberworlds: Quantum sensing and data processing; Quantum networking and the quantum internet; Integration of quantum systems with AI and XR; Challenges and future directions of quantum-enabled cyberworlds, etc.
Submission Categories
- Full paper - up to 8 pages
- Short paper - up to 4 pages
- Poster paper - up to 2 pages
Paper Submission
Submission Link: CW26 Paper Submission Link
Reviewing Process
DOUBLE-BLIND. This means that reviewers will not know the identity of the author(s), and author(s) will not know the identity of reviewers.
Authors must ensure that manuscripts are prepared in a way that does not give away identity, to avoid desk rejection.
- Remove any identifying information, including author names, from the paper title, file names, and document properties.
- Cite your own relevant papers in the third person, e.g., replace phrases like 'as we have shown before' with 'it has been shown before'.
- Make sure figures and figure captions do not contain any affiliation revealing your identity.
- Remove all references to funding sources.
- Do not include acknowledgements.
CW26 Submission Instructions
Submission categories include full paper (up to 8 pages), short paper (up to 4 pages), and poster paper (up to 2 pages), including references. Please refer to the Important Dates below for the current schedule.
Papers must be written in good English, carefully proofread, and formatted to A4 following IEEE Manuscript Templates for Conference Proceedings.
Authors are encouraged to submit title and abstract first; the paper file and attachments can be edited as many times as needed before the submission deadline.
Reviewing is double-blind, meaning reviewers do not know author identities, and authors do not know reviewer identities.
- Remove identifying information from paper title, file names, and document properties.
- Write papers in the third person when referring to your own prior work.
- Ensure figures and captions do not reveal affiliation.
- Limit self-references only to papers relevant for reviewing.
- Cite your own papers as '[Anonymous, 2010]' and in references as '[Anonymous 2010] Details omitted for double-blind reviewing.'
- Remove references to funding sources.
- Do not include acknowledgements.
Publication Policy
By submitting a paper, authors confirm that the paper represents original, previously unpublished work, and that if accepted, at least one author will register for the conference and present the paper/poster.
As in past Cyberworlds conferences, the conference proceedings with all accepted papers are planned to be published by Conference Publishing Services (CPS), pending application.
The extended version of the best full papers will be considered for publication in special issues of journals. Information on journal publications of past Cyberworlds conferences is available at http://www.cyberworlds-conference.org/.
Important Dates
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Submission opening | 3 April 2026, Friday |
| Submission closing | 12 June 2026, Friday |
| Paper notification | 7 August 2026, Friday |
| Camera-ready paper submission deadline | 11 September 2026, Friday |
| Author registration deadline | 11 September 2026, Friday |
| Conference | 15-17 December 2026 |