Integrating real-world and computer-supported collaboration in the presence of mobility

Abstract

We have developed an environment in which real-world collaborative working (RWCW) and computer-supported collaborative working (CSCW) can be seamlessly integrated. Real-world collaboration usually involves mobile individuals in casual or pre-arranged meetings with colleagues. On the other hand computer-supported collaboration involves using computer-based tools to cooperate, e.g. multimedia conferencing and shared design tools. Our environment generalizes activities from the real-world and computer-supported collaboration as events. This enables computer-based applications to be built around a mixture of both scenarios, e.g. a user mobile in the real-world, may be using computer-supported tools to collaborate with other users. If the user moves between locations in the physical world, the computer-based tools he/she is using follow, being transported to the nearest, or a selected workstation. Our environment supports the automatic storage of events, both real-world and computer-supported so that collaborative activities can be later replayed, queried, analyzed and visualized. It is our thesis that this paradigm effectively removes the limitations that each form of collaboration has in isolation, and applications like the ones we have been able to develop using this infrastructure can enhance individual and group productivity.