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Moving Beyond Talking Heads to Shared Experiences:
The Future of Personal Video Communication

Workshop at the ACM Group 2012 Conference

October 28, 2012, Sanibel Island, Florida, USA

Paper submission deadline: August 1, 2012

http://clab.iat.sfu.ca/beyondtalkingheads/

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This one-day workshop will take place at the ACM Group Conference 2012.

OVERVIEW

The use of video communication systems such as Skype or Google Chat
has rapidly increased over the last several years (Ames et al., 2009,
Judge et al., 2010 & Kirk et al., 2010). With this has come a design
paradigm for video communication dominated by "talking heads." By
"talking heads" we mean that the common usage of video chat systems is
often thought of as two people talking where each sees the other's
face and not much more. Yet studies of existing video chat systems
have shown that family members often share or view activities rather
than just converse while they are connected (Ames et al., 2009, Judge
et al., 2010 & Kirk et al., 2010). For example, grandparents might
watch their grandchildren play over Skype (Ames et al., 2009 & Judge
et al., 2010). Long-distance partners have even been found to leave
video chat systems going over extended periods of time to create a
shared sense of intimacy (Neustaedter & Greenberg, 2012). There are
many possibilities for personal video communications where sharing
everyday life, as opposed to seeing talking heads, is likely a
dominant theme of the future. Imagine people sharing meals, outdoor
sports events, holiday get-togethers, parties, etc. where video
communication is the technology that facilitates the sharing of the
activities over distance.

The objective of this workshop is to bring together researchers,
designers, and practitioners who are studying or designing personal
video communications technologies. We want to explore the future of
such technologies as they move beyond the current design paradigm of
"talking heads." We want to build community around this topical area,
brainstorm what the next generation of video communication tools might
look like and encompass, and understand the value in moving the field
to video communication systems that allow people to share everyday
experiences over distance. We also expect the workshop to lead to a
magazine publication or a special journal issue.


TOPICS OF INTEREST

- connecting grandparents and grandchildren
- supporting long distance relationships
- connecting traveling parents with their family
- virtually hanging out with friends
- infrastructure and technological issues with video communication
- mobile-based video communication
- various cultural uses of video communication systems


WORKSHOP ACTIVITIES

We are planning a highly engaging workshop that "moves beyond just
presentations". Workshop participants will share their ideas through
highly interactive group sessions. We will also be engaging with
people in the local community to explore their thoughts and desires
for the future of personal video communications.


SUBMISSION DETAILS

Potential workshop participants should submit 2-4 page position papers
(CHI Archive Format) by *August 1, 2012* that describe:

- their area of research as it relates to personal video communications
- the future direction they see research in this space taking

We also ask that authors include short biographies for each of the
position paper’s authors.

Email submissions to [log in to unmask]


ORGANIZERS

Carman Neustaedter, School of Interactive Arts & Technology, Simon
Fraser University
Erick Oduor, School of Interactive Arts & Technology, Simon Fraser University
Gina Venolia, Microsoft Research
Tejinder Judge, Google Inc.

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