Mobile Video Conferencing

Next-generation interfaces for mobile video conferencing

Many near-future scenarios involve using mobile video conferencing technologies to share and make sense of remote environments.
Many near-future scenarios involve using mobile video conferencing technologies to share and make sense of remote environments.

Current video conferencing tools were designed with a “talking heads” metaphor – that is, people sitting in an office or meeting room chatting with other people sitting in an office or meeting room. Yet, mobile devices and mobile networks are now capable of rich, high resolution and high fidelity experiences without the ned to be physically tethered to a desk. In this project, we have been involved in several lines of inquiry: what are new ways that people can have and share experiences in the world [Procyk, J., Neustaedter, C., Pang, C., Tang, A., and Judge, T. (2014). Exploring Video Streaming in Public Settings: Shared Geocaching Over Distance Using Mobile Video Chat. In CHI '14 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2163--2172.] [Procyk, J., Neustaedter, C., Pang, C., Tang, A., and Judge, T. (2014). Shared Geocaching Over Distance with Mobile Video Streaming. In CSCW 2014 Video Program.] , what are the basic challenges that mobile video conferencing presents to participants [Jones, B., Witcraft, A., Tang, A., Bateman, S., and Neustaedter, C. (2015). Mechanics of Camera Work in Mobile Video Collaboration. In CHI 2015: Proceedings of the 2015 SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 957-966.] , and how can we design effective and enjoyable experiences for mobile video conferencing participants [Jones, B., and Tang, A. (2015). Improving Collaboration and Shared Experiences in Out-and-About Mobile Video Conferencing. In Everyday Telepresence: Emerging Practices and Future Research Directions - Workshop at CHI 2015.] .

An awkward but common interaction to see in mobile video collaboration is that people point through the video camera when referring to objects in the scene.
An awkward but common interaction to see in mobile video collaboration is that people point through the video camera when referring to objects in the scene.

We are currently exploring how novel technologies can be designed to enable remote people to provide assistance for physical tasks. Our explorations have included novel interaction techniques for mobile devices, AR, and other techniques.

Publications

Procyk, J., Neustaedter, C., Pang, C., Tang, A., and Judge, T. (2014). Exploring Video Streaming in Public Settings: Shared Geocaching Over Distance Using Mobile Video Chat. In CHI '14 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2163--2172.
Acceptance: 22.8% - 471/2064.
Procyk, J., Neustaedter, C., Pang, C., Tang, A., and Judge, T. (2014). Shared Geocaching Over Distance with Mobile Video Streaming. In CSCW 2014 Video Program.
video + 4 page abstract
Jones, B., Witcraft, A., Tang, A., Bateman, S., and Neustaedter, C. (2015). Mechanics of Camera Work in Mobile Video Collaboration. In CHI 2015: Proceedings of the 2015 SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 957-966.
Jones, B., and Tang, A. (2015). Improving Collaboration and Shared Experiences in Out-and-About Mobile Video Conferencing. In Everyday Telepresence: Emerging Practices and Future Research Directions - Workshop at CHI 2015.