Representations can be good enough (original) (raw)

Telepresence in Interaction Space: resources for shared understanding

In this paper we present a multi-disciplinary framework that brings together empirical studies of communication in the real-life workplace with the design and implementation of novel technologies to support it. In particular, we focus on user experience in telepresence environments that are immersive, simple and allow access for everyone 1 . We explore how the principles that guided the design of office-based telepresence environments may help us to understand how to enhance telepresence in a wider range of work contexts, outside of the specially designed iRoom settings.

Telepresence: Integrating shared task and person spaces

1992

From a technological and human perspective, shared space in remote collaboration has tended to focus on shared space of either the people or the task. The former would be characterized by traditional video/teleconferencing or videophones. The latter could be characterized by synchronous computer conferencing or groupware. The focus of this presentation is the area where these two spaces meet and are integrated into what could be characterized as video-enhanced computer conferencing or computerenhanced video conferencing. From the behavioural perspective, the interest lies in how-in collaborative work-we make transitions between these two spaces. For example, in negotiating, the activity is mainly in the shared space of the participants themselves, where we are "reading" each other for information about trust and confidence. On the other hand, in preparing a budget using a shared electronic spreadsheet, for example, the visual channel is dominated by the task space. How well systems affords natural transitions between these spaces will have a large impact on their usability, usefulness, and acceptance. Consequently, we investigate the design space and some of the issues affecting it.

Supporting awareness and interaction through collaborative virtual interfaces

1999

This paper explores interfaces to virtual environments supporting multiple users. An interface to an environment allowing interaction with virtual artefacts is constructed, drawing on previous proposals for 'desktop' virtual environments. These include the use of Peripheral Lenses to support peripheral awareness in collaboration; and extending the ways in which users' actions are represented for each other. Through a qualitative analysis of a design task, the effect of the proposals is outlined. Observations indicate that, whilst these designs go some way to re-constructing physical co-presence in terms of awareness and interaction through the environment, some issues remain. Notably, peripheral distortion in supporting awareness may cause problematic interactions with and through the virtual world; and extended representations of actions may still allow problems in re-assembling the composition of others' actions. We discuss the potential for: designing representations for distorted peripheral perception; and explicitly displaying the course of action in objectfocused interaction.

Maintenance support: case study for a multimodal mobile user interface

Multimedia on Mobile Devices II, 2006

Maintaining and repairing complex technical facilities such as generating plants requires comprehensive knowledge on subsystems, operational and safety procedures by the technician. Upgrades to the facility may mean that knowledge about these becomes outdated, raising the need for documentation at the working site. Today's commonplace availability of mobile devices motivates the use of digital, interactive manuals over printed ones. Such applications should provide high-quality illustrations and interaction techniques tailored for specific tasks, while at the same time allow flexible deployment of these components on a multitude of (mobile) hardware platforms. This includes the integration of multimodal interaction facilities like speech recognition into the user interface. To meet these demands, we propose a model-based approach that combines task, object and dialog models to specify platform-independent user interfaces. New concepts like relating tasks to domain objects and dialog views allow us to generate abstract canonical prototypes. Another focus is on the necessary adaptation of visual representations to the platform capabilities to remain effective and adequate, requiring tight coupling of the underlying model, the visualization, and alternative input/output modes. The above aspects have been addressed in a prototype for air-condition unit maintenance, presented on the CeBIT 2005 fair.

Reach-Through-the-Screen: A New Metaphor for Remote Collaboration

2004

For some years, our group at FX Palo Alto Laboratory has been developing technologies to support meeting recording, collaboration, and videoconferencing. This paper presents several systems that use video as an active interface, allowing remote devices and information to be accessed “through the screen.” For example, SPEC enables collaborative and automatic camera control through an active video window. The NoteLook system allows a user to grab an image from a computer display, annotate it with digital ink, then drag it to that or a different display. The ePIC system facilitates natural control of multi-display and multi-device presentation spaces, while the iLight system allows remote users to “draw” with light on a local object. All our systems serve as platforms for researching more sophisticated algorithms to support additional functionality and ease of use.

Supporting Awareness and Interaction through

2002

This paper explores interfaces to virtual environments supporting multiple users. An interface to an environment allowing interaction with virtual artefacts is constructed, drawing on previous proposals for 'desktop' virtual environments. These include the use of Peripheral Lenses to support peripheral awareness in collaboration; and extending the ways in which users' actions are represented for each other. Through a qualitative analysis of a design task, the effect of the proposals is outlined. Observations indicate that, whilst these designs go some way to reconstructing physical co-presence in terms of awareness and interaction through the environment, some issues remain. Notably, peripheral distortion in supporting awareness may cause problematic interactions with and through the virtual world; and extended representations of actions may still allow problems in reassembling the composition of others' actions. We discuss the potential for: designing representations for distorted peripheral perception; and explicitly displaying the course of action in objectfocused interaction.

Object-focused interaction in collaborative virtual environments

ACM Transactions on Computer-human Interaction, 2000

This paper explores and evaluates the support for object-focused collaboration provided by a desktop Collaborative Virtual Environment. An experimental 'design' task was conducted and video recordings of the participants' activities facilitated an observational analysis of interaction in, and through, the virtual world. Observations include: problems due to 'fragmented' views of embodiments in relation to shared objects; participants compensating with spoken accounts of their actions; and difficulties in understanding others' perspectives. Implications and proposals for the design of CVEs drawn from these observations: the use of semi-distorted views to support peripheral awareness; representations of actions and pseudo-humanoid embodiments; and navigation techniques that are sensitive to the actions of others. The paper also presents some examples of the ways in which these proposals might be realised.