Human Aspects of Interactive Multimedia Communication

Abstract The aim of the VISION project was to determine the value added to an office system by incorporating audio and video. The performance, feelings and perceptions of work groups were measured while they carried out cooperative tasks in a controlled environment using an experimental video communication system. The results showed no significant differences in the quality of the output, or the time taken to complete the tasks, under three conditions: data sharing; data sharing plus audio; data sharing plus audio and video. The results suggest that high bandwidth communication is particularly effective for social, informal communication. Finally, some of the implications and issues for HCI community are discussed.