Reactions to Mixed-Context Always-On Video for Connecting Close Personal and Work Contacts

Commercial video chat systems are now commonplace in people’s lives where they are used for a combination of work and personal needs. Most are designed for conversation-style interactions where people ‘call ’ each other and converse. This paper explores an alternative design paradigm of ‘always-on ’ video connections for communicating with both personal and work contacts. We conducted an online survey with forty-five respondents that investigates people’s reactions to such technology followed by a four-week field trial with five participants who used a fully functional mixed-context media space. Our results show that many people saw value in such a system, yet had reservations about the ‘always-on ’ nature. Most said they would use it in observational situations. Field trial participants also faced challenges with an automated audio channel and a lack of dedicated devices. The implications are that while such systems can provide an easier communication channel, concerns with distractions, trust, and privacy should be mitigated within the design. ACM Classification Keywords H.5.m. Information interfaces and presentation (e.g., HCI)