Improving Quality of Interaction in Distributed Real-Time Groupware

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Real-time distributed groupware systems are becoming common, but the types of collaboration supported in groupware are still limited. In particular, real-time interaction is poorly supported, even though in the real world, people are experts at this kind of shared work: in face-to-face settings, people can coordinate fast turn-taking actions smoothly and efficiently. In distributed groupware, which lacks the rich information of a face-to-face setting, this 'interactional expertise' becomes difficult to maintain, and groupware still traps users in a 'beginner mode' of interaction where shared activity is stilted, awkward, and slow. The problem addressed in this proposal is that current groupware systems do not provide adequate support for true real-time interaction. Without this support, distributed groupware systems cannot provide the rich and subtle environments that are needed for expert performance in many tasks. The long-term goal of this research is to make distributed collaboration as expressive and flexible as it is in face-to-face settings. To achieve this aim, two areas of research are needed: first, groupware must support faster interaction that happens at a smaller time scale; second, groupware must support more expressive interaction to provide the rich set of cues and signals that people use to coordinate real-time interaction in the real world. The proposal contains eight separate projects in these two themes, and includes work on determining the effects of delay, toolkits and protocols for improved network performance, new techniques for expressive gesturing and movement, and better support for prediction and awareness. There is considerable potential for economic and social benefit in this research. We will produce several enabling technologies that make new kinds of interaction possible at a distance; as groupware systems become more common, systems that are able to support true real-time interaction will clearly differentiate themselves from competitors. In addition, reducing frustration, effort, and errors in real-time collaboration will have a substantial impact on the quality of everyday work life for those who collaborate at a distance.