HCC: Small: Telecollaboration in Physical Spaces

该项目的目标是开发和评估远程协作的新方法--有效集成视频和语音通信、基于计算机视觉的跟踪和增强现实显示的远程协作方法，以使参与者能够在远程交互中更充分地利用本地物理环境。在这种远程协作模式中，远程和本地用户将使用从本地用户手持或佩戴的摄像机的实时图像导出的模型与物理环境进行交互，而不仅仅是被动地观看视频流。该方法的一个关键方面是，它不需要准备环境或模型信息，因此可以被视为一种“随时随地”的移动通信技术。智力优势：拟议的研究建立在关于远程合作的有前景的初步工作的基础上，展示了世界稳定的“远程指示器”的有效性--由远程用户控制的标记，在动态环境中粘着真实世界的指代物。该项目将通过提供整合真实和虚拟、语言和空间、本地和远程的新能力，推动远程协作的最先进水平。为了使物理空间成为远程协作的一个更基本的部分，有必要进行拟议的发展，并将进行重要的用户研究，以便更好地了解基于物理的远程互动的机会和限制。更广泛的影响：更好、更有说服力的远程协作工具可以在生产力和环境后果方面产生巨大影响，因为改进的远程交互减少了实际配置的需要，从而减少了旅行。该项目的教育影响包括对研究生的培训和指导，以及一个新的研讨会课程。研究小组将广泛传播研究成果和收集的数据，并利用开发的技术为选定的小组提供参加实验室开放参观的外展机会。

The goal of this project is to develop and evaluate novel methods for telecollaboration - remote collaboration that effectively integrates video and voice communication, computer vision based tracking, and augmented reality display in order to enable participants to more fully leverage the local physical environment in their remote interactions. In this telecollaboration paradigm, remote and local users will interact with the physical environment using models derived from live imagery from a camera that the local user holds or wears, rather than merely passively viewing the video stream. A key aspect of the approach is that it does not require preparation of the environment or model information, so it can be viewed as an "anywhere, anytime" mobile communication technology. Intellectual merit: The proposed research builds on promising preliminary work on telecollaboration showing the effectiveness of world-stabilized "telepointers" - markers controlled by the remote user that stick to the real-world referents in a dynamic environment. The project will advance the state of the art in remote collaboration by providing new capabilities to integrate real and virtual, verbal and spatial, local and remote. The proposed developments are needed in order to make the physical space a more fundamental part of telecollaboration, and significant user studies will be conducted to acquire a better understanding of the opportunities and limitations of physically-grounded remote interaction. Broader impacts: Better, more compelling tools for telecollaboration can have a tremendous impact in terms of productivity and environmental consequences, as improved remote interaction reduces the need for physical collocation and thus travel. The educational impacts of the project include the training and mentoring of graduate students and a new seminar course. The research team will disseminate research results and collected data widely and use the developed technologies to provide outreach opportunities for select groups to participate in lab open houses.