Tracking serendipitous interactions

Abstract

In many creative work environments, serendipitous interactions between members of different groups may lead to enhanced productivity, collaboration and knowledge dissemination. Two factors that may have an influence on such interactions are cultural differences between individuals in highly multicultural workplaces, and the layout and physical spaces of the workplace itself. In this work, we investigate how these two factors may facilitate or hinder inter-group interactions in the workplace. We analyze traces collected using wearable electronic badges to capture face-to-face interactions and mobility patterns of employees in a research laboratory in the UK. We observe that those who interact with people of different roles tend to come from collectivist cultures that value relationships and where people tend to be comfortable with social hierarchies, and that some locations in particular are more likely to host serendipitous interactions, knowledge that could be used by organizations to enhance communication and productivity.

Online serendipity: A contextual differentiation of antecedents and outcomes

“…Finally , our study is limited to a single Western European country. Because the identified antecedents of serendipity may vary by cultural context, we could assume that serendipity and its outcomes are also culture‐specific to a certain degree (Brown et al, ). Comparative studies could shed light on the cultural contingency of serendipity.…”

“…We propose a positive effect of self‐disclosure on online serendipity because providing personal information to online services allows for richer web experiences, thereby enhancing the likelihood of serendipitous encounters. Examinations of serendipity in an offline context have stressed the importance of social interactions for serendipity experiences (e.g., Brown, Efstratiou, Leontiadis, Quercia, & Mascolo, ). Applied to the online context, higher levels of online self‐disclosure can be assumed to facilitate social connections and exchange on the Internet (e.g., in social media).…”

A Study of Bluetooth Low Energy performance for human proximity detection in the workplace

“…Bluetooth-based systems for example can rely on widespread adoption but are usually power hungry and do not offer fine grained data [8], [9], [10], [6]. On the other hand, systems based on custom built devices can provide fine granularity but require dedicated hardware which hinder adoption [11], [12], [13]. The recent interest in wearable devices [14] has brought us to question if those devices are able to fulfill both needs.…”

"No powers, man!": A Student Perspective on Designing University Smart Building Interactions

“…Taylor et al [52] identified that the home should support the smartness (meaning intelligence) of its occupants, though in the work context 'smartness' will have different meanings, including e.g. fostering social interactions [13]. We need to shift the rhetoric of smartness away from automation back towards the human, so that smart buildings can be smart for occupants, too, not just building managers.…”