Massimo Zancanaro

The Collaborative Workspace: A Co-located Tabletop Device to Support Meetings

In this chapter, we describe the design and development of co-located multi user collaborative displays that aim to support effective social interactions within a small group of professionals engaged in meeting activities. Several studies have investigated and tried to go beyond the design paradigm developed for single-user/singledesktop interaction in order to support face-to-face collaborative activities. Several helpful design principles have emerged from research on shared workspaces and colocated technologies.

Virtual helper or virtual card player? contrasting responses of older users

In the NETCARITY project, we conducted several complementary investigation activities with elderly people revolving around the design of technology for the home environment. In this paper, we investigate the potential impact of virtual characters in making the interaction with the technology-enhanced home more effective and engaging. We briefly discuss two experiences in using a virtual agent as an interface metaphor for a computer system targeted to elderly people with very low computer skill. The lesson that can be learned from those experiences is that a virtual agent may sometimes be effectively used to improve the acceptance of new technologies for this class of users. In particular, in settings characterized by a social interaction, where emotional stress is low (as with entertainment applications), the presence of a virtual character facilitates the acceptance of the technology by helping it to fit into the social environment. In the opposite case, in contexts where trust is an important factor or in life-threatening situations, a virtual agent is less likely to be credible.

Evaluation of Early-Stage Design Concepts via Online Discussion: A Case Study

User involvement through an online platform may have several benefits for evaluating early-stage design ideas. In this paper, we present a case where we supported two companies with gathering customers’ early feedback on service concepts. Our findings suggest that a scenario-based approach coupled with an explicit rewarding mechanism based on actual participation may prompt vivid discussions, reduce dropouts and lurkers as well as provide useful insight into the evaluation of services and elicit new ideas.

Automatic Relational Reporting to Support Group Dynamics

The complexity of social dynamics occurring in small group interactions often hinders the performance of teams. The availability of rich multimodal information about what is going on during the meeting makes it possible to explore the possibility of providing various kinds of support to dysfunctional teams, from facilitation to training sessions addressing both the individuals and the group as a whole. A necessary step in this direction is that of automatically capturing and understanding group dynamics. In order to improve the performance of meetings, external interventions by experts such as facilitators and trainers are commonly employed. Facilitators participate in the meetings as external elements of the group, and their role is to help participants maintain a fair and focused behavior as well as to direct and set the pace of the discussion.

Activities Distribution Around a Horizontal Interface Supporting Small Group Meetings

In this paper, we present a preliminary field study aimed at investigating collaborative work activities supported by a horizontal interface. We analyzed the use of system by focusing on activities distribution and on coordination dynamics during actual meetings. The results have implications for the understanding of social dynamics occurring when groups of users explore horizontal displays.