An exploratory analysis of partner action and camera control in a video-mediated collaborative task

This paper reports on an exploratory experimental study of the relationships between physical movement and desired visual information in the performance of video-mediated collaborative tasks in the real world by geographically distributed groups. Twenty-three pairs of participants (one "helper" and one "worker") linked only by video and audio participated in a Lego construction task in one of three experimental conditions: a fixed scene camera, a helper-controlled pan-tilt-zoom camera, and a dedicated operator-controlled camera. "Worker" motion was tracked in 3-D space for all three conditions, as were all camera movements. Results suggest performance benefits for the operator-controlled condition, and the relationships between camera position/movement and worker action are explored to generate preliminary theoretical and design implications. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.5.3 Group and Organization Interfaces

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: CSCW
• Authors: Abhishek Ranjan, Jeremy P. Birnholtz, Ravin Balakrishnan
• Keywords: Camera, Computer-supported Cooperative Work, CSCW 2006, Fixed Scene Camera, Social Sciences