What video can and can’t do for collaboration: A case study

As multimedia becomes an integral part of collaborative systems, we must understand how to design such systems to support users’ rich set of existing interaction skills, rather than requiring people to adapt to arbitrary constraints of technology-driven designs. To understand how we may make effective use of video in remote col-laboration, we compared a small team’s interactions through a desktop video conferencing prototype with face-to-face interactions and phone conversations. We found that, compared with audio-only, a video channel adds or improves the ability to show under-standing, forecast responses, give non-verbal information, enhance verbal descriptions, manage pauses and express attitudes. These findings suggest that video may be particularly useful for handling conflict and other interaction-intense activities. But the advantages of video depend critically on the nearly-instantaneous transmission of audio, even if it means getting out of sync with the video image. On the other hand, when compared with face-to-face, it can be diffi-cult in video interactions to notice peripheral cues, control the floor, have side conversations, point to things or manipulate real-world objects. To fully enable rich interactions, video should be integrated with other distributed tools that increase the extent and type of shared space in such a way that enables natural collaborative behaviors within those environments