Home video communication: mediating 'closeness'

Video-mediated communication (VMC) technologies are becoming rapidly adopted by home users. Little research has previously been conducted into why home users would choose to use VMC or their practices surrounding its use. We present the results of an interview and diary-based study of 17 people about their uses of, and attitudes towards, VMC. We highlight the artful ways in which users appropriate VMC to reconcile a desire for closeness with those with whom they communicate, and we explore the rich ways in which VMC supports different expressions of this desire. We conclude with discussions of how next-generation VMC technologies might be designed to take advantage of this understanding of human values in communicative practice.

[1]  G. Cosier,et al.  Whither video? — pictorial culture and telepresence , 1997 .

[2]  Pamela J. Hinds,et al.  Distributed Work , 2002 .

[3]  John Short,et al.  The social psychology of telecommunications , 1976 .

[4]  Mark Rouncefield,et al.  Fieldwork for Design - Theory and Practice , 2007, Computer Supported Cooperative Work.

[5]  Christian Heath,et al.  Disembodied conduct: communication through video in a multi-media office environment , 1991, CHI.

[6]  Gregory D. Abowd,et al.  Are you sleeping?: sharing portrayed sleeping status within a social network , 2008, CSCW.

[7]  Abigail Sellen,et al.  Understanding photowork , 2006, CHI.

[8]  David M. Grayson,et al.  Are you looking at me? Eye contact and desktop video conferencing , 2003, TCHI.

[9]  Abigail Sellen,et al.  One is not enough: multiple views in a media space , 1993, INTERCHI.

[10]  Richard Harper.  From tele presence to human absence : the pragmatic construction of the human in communications systems research , 2009 .

[11]  R. Harper,et al.  From tele presence to human absence: the pragmatic construction of the human in communications systems research , 2009, BCS HCI.

[12]  Victor Appleton,et al.  Picturephone and the Information Age The Social Meaning of Failure , 2003 .

[13]  Abigail Sellen,et al.  Understanding videowork , 2007, CHI.

[14]  Robert E. Kraut,et al.  Coordination of communication: effects of shared visual context on collaborative work , 2000, CSCW '00.

[15]  Florian Mueller,et al.  Holding hands over a distance: technology probes in an intimate, mobile context , 2006, OZCHI.

[16]  Mark Rouncefield,et al.  Fieldwork for Design: Theory and Practice (Computer Supported Cooperative Work) , 2007 .

[17]  Martin R. Gibbs,et al.  SynchroMate: a phatic technology for mediating intimacy , 2005, DUX '05.

[18]  Steve Whittaker,et al.  Things to Talk About When Talking About Things , 2003, Hum. Comput. Interact..

[19]  Kenton O'Hara,et al.  Everyday practices with mobile video telephony , 2006, CHI.

[20]  Paul Dourish,et al.  Portholes: supporting awareness in a distributed work group , 1992, CHI.

[21]  Abigail Sellen,et al.  The value of video in work at a distance: Addition or distraction? , 2000, Behav. Inf. Technol..

[22]  David M. Grayson,et al.  You looking at me? , 1999, Nature.

[23]  Abigail Sellen,et al.  Remote Conversations: The Effects of Mediating Talk With Technology , 1995, Hum. Comput. Interact..

[24]  Esther Schindler.  Lights, camera, inaction , 2006, NTWK.

[25]  E. Paulos,et al.  Intimate ( Ubiquitous ) Computing , 2003 .

[26]  Anne H. Anderson,et al.  Video data and video links in mediated communication: what do users value? , 2000, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[27]  Martin R. Gibbs,et al.  Mediating intimacy: designing technologies to support strong-tie relationships , 2005, CHI.