Ubiquitous collaboration via surface representations

Abstract

Essentird prerqnisites to asynchronous work with shared artifacts include things such as an abfity to effectively communicate information, an abtity to understand the actions of co~aborators, and an abtity to integrate work from others. Systems designd to support ubiquitous co~aboration -co~aboration that can scale to communities the size of the ktemet -face a number of important chtienges in providing these prerequisites. For example, when the set of potential co~aborators becomes large, and co~abomtive media becomes richer, stiple interopembfity of application pro=~qnicMy becomes a diffictit issue. Further, various market pressures, along with the rapid wowti of a diverse kteme~~, for the most pm make these problem worse rather than better. This paper considers a new strategy for asynchronous coMaboration that is designed to support large-sale, u~lquitous, co~aboration through shared artifacts. This strategy is based on hmn comdle su$ace represe-m -representations of information that are designed to be direcdy understood by people. Printing on paper is an important example of such a representation. h the work presented here, we concentrate on 2D images or pictures (what wa be ctied pictorial su#aces, or simply su~aes) as one such representation. A prototype system that supports surface-based co~aboration Id be described. This system supports a co~aborahve process inspird by paper-based co~aborations, and is designed to demonstrate concepts of surface representations as a first step towards utilquitous collaboration. Ke~ordsAsynchronous co~aboratio% ubiquitous co~abomtion, shaed artifacts, pictorird surfaces.

Taking the Work out of Workflow: Mechanisms for Document-Centered Collaboration

“…Perhaps the closest related approach is that of Olsen et al (1998), who explore the use of collaboration and coordination through "surface representations." Like us, they want to move beyond the model in which each application encapsulates a fixed semantic interpretation of data that is kept separate from the actual document contents.…”

Looking at the whole picture: a case study of analyzing a virtual workplace

“…The results of their user study suggested key capabilities required of asynchronous systems: task-specific representations, emergent representations, emergent sharing, public/private elements, incremental formalization, and asynchronous awareness. A similar technique is discussed by Olsen et a1 [8]. These studies lend support for an artifact-centered approach to evaluating the asynchronous aspects of a mixed-mode collaboration system.…”