Video support for shared work-space interaction – an empirical study

A study has been carried out to identify the effects of different human-to-human communication modes on dyadic computer supported group work. A pilot study evaluated an available shared work-space software system, supplemented by face-to-face, telephone-based, and text-based communication modes between two users. The findings from this study were then used to design an extensive experiment to explore the relative impact of face-to-face, full motion video, slow motion video, and audio only communication modes when used in conjunction with the type of CSCW system. This paper describes the experiments, and examines the findings of this empirical study with the aim of establishing the importance of co-presence in CSCW, and the effectiveness of these various communication modes in achieving it