Ambient interfaces in a Web-based theatre of work

Abstract

Knowledge workers typically work in both the physical world with physical artefacts and in the electronic world with electronic artefacts. At the same time they work at a number of different places and cooperate with local or remote colleagues. In this paper we introduce ambient interfaces that capture information from real and virtual environments, present information in adequate quality and quantity, provide a shared context, and support application-independent and ubiquitous availability. These ambient interfaces are integrated in the Theatre of Work Enabling Relationships environment forming a hybrid environment that offers a framework for orientation in both worlds and provides a common ground for distributed teams.