Display and Presence Disparity in Mixed Presence Groupware
Date
2003-09-02
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Mixed Presence Groupware (MPG) supports both co-located and
distributed participants, working over a shared visual workspace. It does this
by connecting multiple single-display groupware workspaces together through
a shared data structure. Our implementation and observations of MPG systems
exposes two problems. The first is display disparity, where connecting
heterogeneous tabletop and vertical displays introduces issues in how one
seats people around the virtual table and how one orients work artifacts. The
second is presence disparity, where a participant's perception of the
presence of others is markedly different depending on whether a collaborator
is co-located or remote. This is likely caused by inadequate consequential
communication between remote participants, which in turn disrupts group
collaborative and communication dynamics. To mitigate display and presence
disparity problems, we determine virtual seating positions and replace
conventional telepointers with digital arm shadows that extend from a
person's side of the table to their pointer location.
Description
Keywords
Computer Science