INFO 447 - L08 - January 28, 2005 Notes By: Prins, Horm, Rose, Serim, Fortier, Yaptinchay Guest Speaker Steve Poltrock from Boeing Phantom Works Videoconferencing: Recent Experiments and Reassessment Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science (HICSS) The Unrealized Promise of Videoconferencing > Collaboration is generally most successful when people are collocated > Videoconferencing offers a multimedia alternative to collocation - Hear each other - See each other - See and interact with the same data > Companies and universities adopt videoconferencing to support distributed work and learning > But research finds little benefit compared to audio alone - exception was when Williams from M$ found out that when parties aren't natively english speakers, and aren't speaking the same language. Videoconferencing at Boeing and Microsoft > More than 30 yrs experience @ Boeing and fewer yrs @ Microsoft > Research on many issues - Studies of adoption - Studies of innovative applications - Facility and interface design for do-it-yourself conferences - Development and use of new technologies - Meeting capture > Three dimensions of videoconferencing implementations - Dedicated environments w/ continuous video vs. short-lived conferences that require setup > Setup is a costly activity > Serves as a barrier to adoption - Theater, conference room, or personal video > Microsoft less about distance communication, Boeing's down with it though - Transmission over analog, ISDN or IP networks > ISDN gives a guaranteed amount of bandwidth > less shifting of latency, constant amount of bandwidth > Analog connections are direct and can provide very high bandwidth > IP approach is new, but the quality is lower > Internet2 could solve this (higher throughput) - I2 will never be public though, just Institutions - Turn taking > function of lag (ie, less turn taking when lag is great (2 seconds) > same room = turn taking instantaneous Dedicated Environment with Continuous Video > Xerox PARC put one at each meeting space > Phenomenon of "lurkers" - people try to view monitor while avoiding camera > ASCII picture is of Boeing setup. They had 60" monitors so the people looked life-size. Later they divided the monitors in multiple panes, and the camera would point to the wall, and productivity decayed. - cheapy.... hah > ASCII TIME>!?! > Go Sean you first.. k +-------------------------+-----------------+ | | | [ Video ] | | Spares |D D| Systems [ Video ] [ Video ] specialist| | troubleshooter | | | | | | | | | | Structural|D D| Manager | | | | engineer | [Room] | | | | | | | | [Room] | | [Room] | Stress |D D| Field | | | | analyst |_________| service rep | | | | Everett RRC | | | | |_________| |_________| Long Beach RRC Duwamish RRC Walk-in-and-use Videoconference Rooms > Pair of video screens > Smart board > Looks like your run of the mill conference room > Separately set up the data conference from video conference Behavioral Issues with Rooms > Happy faces!! > Adding camera, Monitor, & Microphone - placement of big cheese - closeness to big cheese = deeper involvement > Camera and monitor would go on opposite end of big cheese - experience of watching television shifts attention away from cheese > Microphone goes close to big cheese so they can be heard - will still speak loudly because the monitor is on the other side ☺ ☺ ☺ [Camera] +---------------+ ☺| [mic]☎ | [screen] | [table] | +---------------+ ☺ ☺ ☺ Desktop Conferencing > Three Different Approaches - NetMeeting - Hydra * 3 different cameras w/ 3 different people on desktop * Others would have exact same setup * Reconstructs physical cues often loss in video conferencing * Body motion, gaze awareness - Many efforts have been made to allow for eye contact * That's not what people really do in a face-to-face meeting * Use a piece of glass > Area of active research and development for many years - Original intended use of television - An element of Doug Engelbart's 1968 demonstration - Explorations of novel user interfaces to make connections easy while preserving somethingorother > /* This line is a total loss.*/ - Williams found that video helps people engaged in high-conflict tasks and when using a non-native language Group Modes and Functions (McGrath, 1991) (4x3 table) - Functions > Inception > Provlem-Solving > Conflict Resolution > Execution - Modes > Production > Group Well-Being > Member Support - People would assume the setup on the other side is the same as theirs. Adoption Challenges > Polycom ViaVideo trial at Boeing - Deployed ViaVideo to a management team for two-party videoconferences and added an MCU for multiparty videoconferences - Participants rated it more satisfying than a telephone, about as satisfying as a face to face meeting, and very easy to use. - They rarely used it - Seen as more intrusive than a phone call > Managers have a secretary for a reason - Demanded attention > Users felt like they couldn't do other things during a meeting - Difficult to arrange the room properly > Usually need to close all the blinds or put their back against wall - Competes for computer display space - Didn't work well with NetMeeting > Tandberg 1000 trail at Boeing - Acquired by many senior executives - Very easy to use > Standalone monitor - Frequent use initially but diminished over time - Convenient way for executives to participate in videoconferences > Microsoft Research kitchen study - Video Links among kitchens - About 10% objected to the possibility of being observed via video in a public door-less kitchen > lead to sabotage with people putting dolls in front of the camera - Providing an OFF button did not satisfy everyone - Privacy is valued and some view video as an infringement > Microsoft Research lecture hall - Lectures are given to both local and remote audiences - TELEP displays the remote audience in the lecture room, providing some awareness of their presence - Live video was not a popular display because they didn't want their behavior...[to be on camera] Meeting Capture and Replay at Microsoft Research > built camera to capture 360 degrees > wanted to study it, but nobody interested in watching previous meetings Meeting Capture and Replay at Boeing Phantom Works > recorded presentation, audio, people coming in and out > couldn't find people again > TIP: before making video capture replay app, find people that wants to use it first. Looking Forward > Technology is rapidly improving - Excellent audio and video quality at reasonably lo cost - Uses the IP network infrastructure efficiently - Easy call setup for both two-party and multi-party calls > Some problems remain - Seperate set up and connections for AV and data conferencing - Lighting, camera and microphone placement * without addressing these issues, you can do more harm than good > Technology alone will not solve privacy concerns - Some people view video as a threat to their privacy * it's there all the time, whether you like it or not * still, the issue needs to be addressed if this technology is going to be successful - A videoconference system set to auto answer can be viewed as a security threat in some contexts - Will people want their behavior recorded in meetings? - Technology can help - eg., allow an office assistant to screen and forward calls to an executive - Time may also help - the multimedia generation may have different views # END #