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Ambient video-awareness is a logical extension to the ambient state-awareness provided by pervasive and popular instant messengers. The challenging concept was trialled in a variety of different contexts in systems such as XEROX and NYNEX Portholes in the 1990s, to enhance the collaboration between individuals and workgroups. Individuals in such systems can see live video feeds from a large group of other individuals collected together. Users can remain within the system for extended periods of time, leaving the camera image as an ‘ambient’ view of their community – not consciously attended to for most of the time. When consciously attended to for short periods, users can then choose patterns of interaction based around the video information. The classical research work explored aspects such as users’ views of privacy, interruption, and their ability to judge ‘state and availability’ from relatively short and relatively artificial studies of the ambient video at their desks. This paper investigates the communication, interaction, and social patterns produced by the Hexagon ambient video awareness system in a detailed analysis of samples of interaction taken from a set of naturalistic deployments to real users during a 3-year research programme. Hexagon (http://hexagon.open.ac.uk/) is a light-weight video sharing technology providing video awareness and instant messaging in a web browser applet. Complex interaction patterns can involve collaboration whilst working on the same team, on the same project, collaboration amongst a central hub, or node individuals. User feedback indicates that the concept is very powerful for collaboration at the same or different physical location, social awareness and the creation of a sense of community. However, it is also clear from the use of the system in this time that users are highly resistant to the disruptive potential of ambient technologies of this sort.

Stream: Human Technologies and Usability

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

Dr Peter J. Scott is the Head of the Centre for New Media at the Knowledge Media Institute of the Open University. Peter's research group prototypes the application of new technologies and media to learning at all levels. Peter’s current research interests range widely across knowledge and media research. Three key threads at the moment are: tele-presence; streaming media systems; and ubiquity. He has a BA (1983) and PhD (1987) in Psychology. Before joining the Open University in 1995, Dr Scott lectured in Psychology and Cognitive Science at the University of Sheffield. He joined the OU to help launch the innovative Knowledge Media research agenda. In this new field he has over 15 recent major research grants from the UK EPSRC. Recent EU grants include the successful EU Network of Excellence, Prolearn, where he serves on the executive board. The Prolearn network also supports two of Peter’s hottest current technology developments: Hexagon and FlashMeeting. The FlashMeeting research into effective live and online events is also now a core element of the Open University’s OpenLearn LabSpace which was launched in October 2006. He has a strong portfolio of over 40 conventional research publications in this field.

Kevin Quick is a Research Fellow in the Knowledge Media Institute at the Open University, UK. His work focuses on the development and research into new collaborative multimedia tools, and their application into various types of online communities. His current works forms part of the ProLearn European Network of Excellence. Current areas of investigation include the FlashMeeting video conferencing tool, FlashVlog video blogging tool and Hexagon video presence tool. In addition to his knowledge in new media systems Kevin also has a background in electronics and a PhD in new material technologies from Imperial College, London.

Eleftheria Tomadaki is a research fellow in the Knowledge Media Institute (Open University, UK), focusing on collaborative media, e-Learning and social software. Her role involves the integration of the video conferencing tool FlashMeeting with the Moodle e-learning environment and the development of a theory and analytical framework to underpin the study of large-scale synchronous collaborative media, in the context of the Open Content Initiative. She received her PhD in information extraction by the University of Surrey. Her PhD research investigated the merging of information from texts describing video content for video annotation by employing cross-document coreference techniques and introduced a new and challenging scenario - film and the variety of collateral text genres narrating its content, including unrestricted sets of events.

Jon Linney is a research project officer in the Centre for New Media, at the Knowledge Media Institute (Open University, UK). His research interests focus on collaborative media and social software. He has extensive experience in Macromedia Flash based technologies and a background in design and art. His recent work involves the research and development of new collaborative multimedia tools including the FlashMeeting video conferencing tool, FlashVlog video blogging tool and the Hexagon ambient video awareness and presence tool. He is involved in a number of projects, investigating open sensemaking communities, re-usable learning objects, webcasting large-scale live events, educational games and radio frequency identification.