Norbert A. Streitz

i-LAND: an interactive landscape for creativity and innovation

We describe the i-LAND environment which constitutes an exampleof our vision of the workspaces of the future, in this casesupporting cooperative work of dynamic teams with changing needs.i-LAND requires and provides new forms of human-computerinteraction and new forms of computer-supported cooperative work.Its design is based on an integration of information andarchitectural spaces, implications of new work practices and anempirical requirements study informing our design. i-LAND consistsof several roomware components, i.e. computer-aug- mented objectsintegrating room elements with information technology. We presentthe current realization of i-LAND in terms of an interactiveelectronic wall, an interactive table, two computer-enhancedchairs, and two bridges for the Passage-mechanism. This iscomplemented by the description of the creativity supportapplication and the technological infrastructure. The paper isaccompanied by a video figure in the CHI99 video program.

The Disappearing Computer

It seems like a paradox but it will soon become reality: The rate at which computers disappear will be matched by the rate at which information technology will increasingly permeate our environment and our lives.

SEPIA: a cooperative hypermedia authoring environment

This paper addresses two main areas: 1) research on computer–based support for cooperative authoring and 2) research on cooperative hypermedia systems. This is done by reporting about the design, development, and implementation of SEPIA and presenting results on dedicated and comprehensive authoring functionality addressing also the new rhetoric of hypermedia, a hypermedia data model with composites, persistent and shared data storage for hypermedia, and support for cooperative work, esp. cooperative writing.We start by identifying the challenge of hypermedia authoring and production which serves as the driving force for our development. Using interacting problem spaces as the vehicle for modelling the dynamic aspects of authoring, we arrive at a set of requirements answered by the concept of “activity spaces”. The design of coherent hyperdocuments is facilitated by a “construction kit”. Furthermore, we describe the extensions and modifications necessary to support multiple authors with the cooperative version of SEPIA. Based on the requirements, we develop a system architecture and report on the implementation of the system. We describe the basis for access to shared hyperdocuments, the activity space browsers, the integration of multimedia functionality (audio, graphics, pictures), and the integration of an audio and video conferencing system. Finally, we report on more recent developments and future work.

Connectables: dynamic coupling of displays for the flexible creation of shared workspaces

We present the ConnecTable, a new mobile, networked and context-aware information appliance that provides affordances for pen-based individual and cooperative work as well as for the seamless transition between the two. In order to dynamically enlarge an interaction area for the purpose of shared use, a flexible coupling of displays has been realized that overcomes the restrictions of display sizes and borders. Two ConnecTable displays dynamically form a homogeneous display area when moved close to each other. The appropriate triggering signal comes from built-in sensors allowing users to temporally combine their individual displays to a larger shared one by a simple physical movement in space. Connected ConnecTables allow their users to work in parallel on an ad-hoc created shared workspace as well as exchanging information by simply shuffling objects from one display to the other. We discuss the user interface and related issues as well as the software architecture. We also present the physical realization of the ConnecTables.

DOLPHIN: integrated meeting support across local and remote desktop environments and LiveBoards

This paper describes DOLPHIN, a fully group aware application designed to provide computer support for different types of meetings: face-to-face meetings with a large interactive electronic whiteboard with or without networked computers provided for the participants, extensions of these meetings with remote participants at their desktop computers connected via computer and audio/video networks, and/or participants in a second meeting room also provided with an electronic whiteboard as well as networked computers. DOLPHIN supports the creation and manipulation of informal structures (e.g., freehand drawings, handwritten scribbles), formal structures (e.g., hypermedia documents with typed nodes and links), their coexistence, and their transformation.

From ideas and arguments to hyperdocuments: travelling through activity spaces

Discussing relevant issues for the next generation of hypermedia systems, Halasz [Hala88] provides also a classification along the following three dimensions: scope, browsing vs. authoring, and target task domain. In this paper, we will especially discuss aspects of the second dimension focussing on support for idea processing and authoring in hypertext systems. Although one cannot classify existing systems by assigning them exclusively to one category of this dimension1 hypertext systems are primarily discussed from the reading and browsing point of view and as support for retrieval. This is also reflected in attempts to transform existing (linear) text sources into hypertext structures in order to pro& from their additional interactive branching capabilities.

Cooperative buildings—integrating information, organization and architecture

INTRODUCTION Future wor~ cooperation, and organizations wifl be charactetied by a high degree of dynamics, flexibility and mobtity — substantitiy more so than today. Rerdizing this god has profound implications for information and communication technology as u’e~ as architecture because virtual and physical spaces have to be designed in an integrated fashion in order to provide equtiy flexible cooperati~e work environments. The notion of “Cooperative Btidings” [q provides a tiework to focus and merge a number of currentiy SW pardel approaches and developments in ~erent disciplines contributing to tie design of the workspaces of the future. me purpose of this panel is to introdum the CSCW audience to a chdenging generation of new problems and issues which me Nely to shape research in CSCW and architwture in the foreseeable future. Cooperative Workplaces and Buildings Volker Hartkopf, Center for BuiHing Pe#o~ce and Diagnostics, Carnegie Melbn Unh’ersity, Pi~burgh, USA

Roomware: computers disappear and interaction evolves

We develop a comprehensive approach to the design of information and collaboration environments that support human activities by starting in the real world. Our goal is to design environments that combine the affordances of real objects with potential computer-based support in the virtual world. This combination generates hybrid worlds that have significant consequences for the design of human-computer interaction. Hybrid worlds allow human-information interaction and human-human communication to move into the foreground while the computer disappears into the background.

User requirements for intelligent home environments: a scenario-driven approach and empirical cross-cultural study

This paper presents the results of an empirical cross-cultural study conducted at six different sites in five European countries in the context of the EU IST-IP project AMIGO, Ambient Intelligence for the Networked Home Environment [1]. The study employed a scenario-driven approach and used quantitative and qualitative methods to elicit feedback from the target user population on concepts for intelligent home environments. The results are clustered and transformed in prioritized design guidelines.

Coexistence and transformation of informal and formal structures: requirements for more flexible hypermedia systems

In this paper, we argue that some tasks (e.g., meeting support) require more flexible hypermedia systems and we describe a prototype hypermedia system, DOLPHIN, that implements more flexibility. As part of the argument, we present a theoretical design space for information structuring systems and locate existing hypertext systems within it. The dimensions of the space highlight a systems internal representation of structure and the users actions in creating structure. Second, we describe an empirically derived range of activities connected to conducting group meetings, including the pre- and post-preparation phases, and argue that hyptetext systems need to be more flexible in order to support this range of activities. Finally, we describe a hypermedia prototype, DOLPHIN, which implements this kind of flexible support for meetings. DOLPHIN supports different degrees of formality (e.g., handwriting and sketches as well as typed nodes and links are supported), coexistence of different structures (e.g., handwriting and nodes can exist on the same page) and mutual transformations between them (e.g., handwriting can be turned into nodes and vice versa).