Workspace configurations: setting the stage for remote collaboration on physical tasks

In this paper, we are interested in understanding how cutting-edge mobile technologies can be used to create advanced services for remote assistance, particularly in the execution of physical tasks. To explore this topic, we conducted a pilot study to observe: (1) how a user and a remote expert configure handheld devices to set an appropriate "stage" for collaboration; (2) what behaviors and strategies they adopt to ground the communication process in an efficient way. This investigation led to the generation of a conceptual framework to drive the design of future applications in this field, going beyond the state-of-the-art in video-conference software. In this framework, we have identified a set of what we call "stage set-ups" defined by specific configurations of connected devices, and aimed at supporting different collaborative situations.