Steve Howard 12, Jesper Kjeldskov 2, Mikael B Skov 2, Kasper Garnoes 2, Olga Gruberger 2 1 Interaction Design Group, 2 HCI Group Department of Information Systems Department of Computer Science The University of Melbourne Aalborg University CHI 2006 Proceedings. Awareness and Presence

Outline  Introduction  Understanding Presence-in-Absence  The Cube  Cube Evaluation  Conclusion

Introduction  Presence-in-absence is our subjective sense of social others whilst we are separated from them by time or space.  We discuss presence-in-absence in terms of its social (Contact) and information facets (Content), and the circumstance of the experience (Context).

Introduction (cont.)  Communication technologies in all their forms aid in bridging the gulf between physical absence and social presence.  If physical presence gains clearest support via ‘content oriented’ technologies, then social presence demands ‘contact oriented’ technologies.

Introduction (cont.)  Lombard and Ditton suggest that co-presence has received best support from technologies that converge content and contact capabilities.  A great deal of research has focused on its understanding and support, from video conference to tangible and ubiquitous solutions.

Understanding presence-in-absence  Previously we reported on the collection of forty- two weeks of ethnographic field data, across 6 intimate couples.  The primary data consisted of diaries, scrapbooks, photos and various self-reports.  Secondary data included interviews.

The Cube  The Cube consists of a virtual three-dimensional cube shared between intimate couples.

The Cube (cont.)  Each of the six sides of the Cube contains nine squares and users can compose messages to each other.  The Cube blends into the user’s virtual environment and the possibility for being in contact is increased despite being physically separated.

Cube Evaluation  All the participants were positive in regard to the value of personalized symbolic language.  We will highlight two examples from our data where we failed to strike an appropriate balance.

Cube Evaluation (cont.) 1. The Cube was nevertheless used selectively in mediating presence-in-absence. Several couples felt that a telephone call would provide a better impression of their partner’s state of mind.

Cube Evaluation (cont.) 2. Our earlier field work had indicated that intimate couples were not willing to expend effort in maintaining presence-in-absence. However, the Cube asked too much of this content creation.

Conclusion  The Cube did provide our participants with a feeling of being in touch, it supported lightweight and frequent exchanges.  The frequency of the exchanges was a critical variable in influencing that special sense of being there.