awareness and coordination in media spaces

8/7/2019 Awareness and coordination in Media Spaces

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Awareness and Coordination in MediaSpaces

William Kennedy Student No: 0726885

Introduction and Basic Concepts

In tackling the issue of Awareness and Coordination in Media Spaces, I find it necessary to first

provide some clarification into the basic terms and the history behind the concepts. Some of the

earliest research into Media Spaces was conducted in Xerox PARC in the 1980 s at Palo Alto by

researchers such as Robert Stults, Steven Harrison and later by William Buxton and groups at

academic institutions around the world. This early research was largely based around work and

office augmentation and allowing users and office workers to share and coordinate through virtual

spaces. Media Spaces, as defined at this time, are in essence: Electronic settings in which groups of

people can work together, even when they are not present in the same place and time (Stults,

1986). However this may be seen, in a modern context, as an oversimplification of the concept,

therefore I prefer to add the addendum that a Media Space is also a space which connects fixed

locations such as office desktops, uses continuous audio and video media, and enables both

awareness and communication by means of always-open channels. (Aoki et al, 2006).

In terms of Awareness, we must also examine the basic term. Most researchers would agree that

awareness, in terms of CSCW work is very different from the dictionary definition, which the

MacMillan Dictionary defines as knowledge or understanding of a subject , or the ability to notice

things (Macmillan Dictionary , 2011). Instead, to view awareness through the lenses of CSCW, we must

approach it with the following in mind: [that] awareness is not simply a state of mind or a

cognitive ability , but rather a feature of practical action which is systematically accomplished within



developing course of everyday activities (Heath, 2002). With this in mind, we can extrapolate a

number of important points.

a) That Awareness is not the same as Cognizance. Cognizance implies a level of forethought

and higher level thinking which is just not supported by the evidence. Instead, we tend

to see that awareness is an automatic response to our environment, which we can direct

when needed.

b) We can also see that Awareness is a social activity, in that we take cues from those

around us which can influence our awareness and lead to a greater shared awareness.

An example of this would be air traffic controllers, who often monitor not only their own

screens, but also, without cognizance, are aware of what is happening on the monitors

of their colleagues around them. This leads to a shared awareness which can reduce risk

and chance of accidents. According to Heath, 2002: Awareness is ongoingly achieved

in collaboration with others.

c) We can see that awareness in a media space involves awareness not only of one input,

but of Auditory, Visual, Textual, Contextual and Multisensory inputs.

Finally, we need to ask ourselves, What does it mean to coordinate in a Media Space? , and this is

actually an area where the dictionary definition might be useful, as it is defined as: the harmonious

functioning of parts for effective results (Merriam Webster, 2011). While this may seem a broad

definition, it encompasses perfectly the many and myriad tools, methods and supports which allow

users to coordinate effectively through media spaces. There are, however other aspects to take into

account. Firstly, is the coordination taking place through a synchronous (such as Telephone) or

asynchronous medium (such as E-mail)? There are obvious advantages and disadvantages to each.

While synchronous coordination tools allow users to interact immediately, and often to judge social

and behavioral cues such as tone of voice, pauses, and in the case of Video, facial expressions, they

also have disadvantages such as not allowing adequate time for reflection before responding, and



the feeling of being put on the spot . It can also be difficult to keep track of audio or video

discussions for future reference.

On the other hand, while asynchronous tools such as E-mail, Project Management Software, shared

Calendars and Messaging convey obvious advantages in record keeping and the ability to track a

decision making process, they also have the disadvantage of not allowing for the instant feedback

and social and behavioral cues which come with Synchronous communication. Taking into account

the advantages and disadvantages of both, I believe that Symmetric systems may be more useful for

instant feedback and asymmetric systems may be more useful as big picture organizational tools

as well as day to day coordination.

R eview of Literature

a. Media Spaces in the Mobile World (Aoki et al, 2006)

This paper dealt with the mutual relevance of researching both Media Spaces and Mobile Phone

Communications, due to the huge similarity between them, the existing connections in research, and

the narrowing of the gap between both areas of research. They argue that it is possible to use

modern mobile phones in a way that essentially follows the original uses of media spaces , and

therefore that there is a demonstrable overlap between the findings of these two research areas .

They ask whether a Mobile Phone could be treated as a Media Space, and argued that the core

properties of a media space lie in its use, not in the specifics of its delivery technology , and in

doing so find numerous points of commonality including:

y Sustaining relationships

y Keeping company

y Temporality

They found that while there were indeed many commonalities, and indeed huge portions of overlap

between the two fields, however they also argued that while there were many commonalities, there



were also many important differences in real world use, not least that mobile phones are used in a

more physically diverse environment, both organizationally and physically.

b. Asymmetry in Media Spaces (Voida et al, 2008)

This paper was primarily concerned with the value of asymmetry in Media Spaces, and exploring the

different types of Asymmetries which exist within Media Spaces. The authors begin by examining the

current position taken by most CSCW researchers in relation to asymmetry, which they claim tends

to focus on supporting and fostering symmetries , and conclude that asymmetry is an undervalued

and underrepresented area of research in the area of CSCW. Specifically, they note that

asymmetries are frequently either overlooked in the research literature or considered a design

challenge that must be addressed , rather than a feature with its own inherent value.

The authors then go on to examine the types of asymmetries which exist within Media Spaces, and

their individual attributes. The particular forms of asymmetry identified in this paper are:

y Asymmetry of Media

y Asymmetry of Fidelity

y Asymmetry of Participation

y Asymmetry of Engagement

y Asymmetry of Benefit

y Asymmetry of Place

The authors conclude that asymmetry has huge value as a design asset, with the statement:

Asymmetries can be valuable assets in the design of media spaces and perhaps in other CSCW

systems, more generally and as such, they ought to be explored alongside symmetries as part of

the active design space of collaborative systems.

c. Configuring Awareness (Heath et al, 2002)



This paper deals with with the ways in which people produce and sustain awareness in and

through social interaction with others , and in particular the ways in which participants design

activities to have others unobtrusively notice and discover, actions and events, which might

otherwise pass unnoticed . The authors then proceed to examine what they see as a serious issue in

the realm of CSCW, that the concept of awareness is ill-defined or defined in an incorrect manner for

the subject matter. They argue that awareness is not simply a state of mind or a cognitive

ability , but rather that awareness is a feature of practical action which occurs during our every

activity.

The authors then go on to examine the following issues with regards to awareness:

y Awareness and centers of coordination

y Rendering activities selectively available

y Embodying action in the environment

y Figuring the signi cance of events

They take each individual issue by giving real world scenarios and examples of where each form of

awareness takes place, and the social and contextual qualities of awareness in each situation.

Finally, the authors conclude that awareness rests not simply on the ability of one participant to

remain discriminatory sensitive to the actions of another, but rather that awareness rests upon the

ability to build activities to enable others to retrieve certain features or implications of those

actions. Simply put, that awareness is not merely about of ability to notice a difference, but about

the ability of a person to appropriate sensory information in a specific (often social) environment.

d. Social Catalysts: enhancing communication in mediated environments (Karahalios, 1995)

This dissertation was written by a Phd student at MIT and deals primarily with four key installations

undertaken by the student, and the aggregation of knowledge from those projects to give a greater

understanding of how social catalysts work in aiding communication within a media space



environment. The author was interested in not creating a substitute for face-to-face interaction,

but rather new modes of conversational and physical interaction within this blended space , and felt

that the concept of social catalysts would play a large role in creating these modes of

communication.

The author defined social catalysts as events which act as catalysts that connect people who would

not otherwise be communicating with each other , and throughout the dissertation, provided

reasons as to why catalysts provide easier and more realistic interaction through media spaces, by

emulating some of the missing social cues which would normally go with face to face conversation.

The author examined the vast area of communication within media environments through the

following lenses, and used an installation to point out the flaws, virtues and general features of each

area of the creation of Hybrid Spaces.

Transformation

Abstraction

Physical Manifestation of Virtual Presence

Time, Motion and Continuity

Finally, the author concludes that in the creation of Hybrid Worlds and Media Spaces, we no longer

interact as we do in an online-only space or in a physical-only space. We have created a new style of

space that brings people together in unfamiliar and serendipitous ways.

D iscussion

Once I had presented in class, I left a final slide on the screen which asked the following:

How can we lessen the gap (where appropriate) between Symmetric and Asymmetric

communication in Media Spaces?



Do you think that the concept of Social Catalysts is useful for facilitating communication and

coordination?

While neither of these questions were taken up with much vigor by the audience, I still feel they are

important questions to ask within the field of Awareness and Coordination in Media Spaces.

Some useful questions were also asked by Fabiano, which led to a short discussion on the

differences between Cyberspace and Media Spaces, and whether Media Spaces were merely a

subset of Cyberspace technology. I argued however that in many ways, Cyberspace technologies are

now a subset of the broader Media Space technologies, as Media Space technologies are not simply

based on online transmission and reception of information, but also on the real world social and

environmental context.

awareness and coordination in media spaces

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