Ubiquitous Learning

15. Physical Embodiment of Virtual Presence

15 Physical embodiment of virtual Presence karrie g. karahalios Mark Weiser’s seminal paper (1991) that introduces ubiquitous computing describes an environment where people collaborated and communicated using tabletlike interfaces of various scale. Large screens were used by groups of people, whereas smaller screens were used for more intimate or private work. These screens were scattered throughout the surroundings and were connected via a network. The form and rectilinear screens of these tablets dictated how they should be used—often as one would use a software application on a computer. Although their location might suggest function (a large screen in a public space could be used by a large group of people to collaborate), the remainder of the space was not incorporated into the experience. This work presented in this chapter pushes the boundaries of the virtual and the physical. Weiser anticipated this in his explanation of the role of the library (Weiser 1994). He argues that putting all books and documents online is not a library. A library is also the space that provides the opportunity for interaction, socialization, and exploration of data and people. Chit Chat Club, described below, takes the first steps in moving away from the rectangular screen and melds into its environment—in this case, a café. By looking at how interaction evolves in such a setting, we gain insight to designing future ubiquitous spaces that combine the virtual and the physical. Chit Chat Club Cafés function very well as informal public gathering places. One can enjoy the company of others or be quite comfortable alone. And they are great places to sit and watch people. The online world also functions as a public gathering place. As 174 . karahalios in the café, conversation is one of the primary activities—but with some striking differences. Online, conversing with strangers is quite common, and there are few barriers to such interactions, while in the real world such encounters are less common and occur couched in complex social rituals. In the online world, one is fundamentally alone: although there are many others virtually present, one’s sense of their presence is minimal. In the real-world café, the number of people is fewer, but their presence is far greater. These two worlds come together in Chit Chat Club. It reproduces a real café, with real tables, coffee, and pastries. Yet the customers gathered round the tables may be present physically or virtually—some are real people, sitting in ordinary chairs; others are seated “telesculptures,” equipped with monitors and network connections. While this is a ubiquitous computing environment, great care has been taken to make the interaction between the real and virtual seamless, and to mitigate the appearance of the traditional computer display and interface. In this chapter, through an examination of the Chit Chat Club, I explore the physical embodiment of virtual presence. the café scenario Chit Chat Club is an experiment in bringing people together in a mixed physical and virtual environment. Online chatrooms and real-world cafés are both venues for social interaction, but with significant differences—for example, the participants’ knowledge of each other’s expressions and identity and the traditional etiquette governing face-to-face introductions, turn-taking, and so forth. The goal is to create, through careful design of the physical environment and computer interface, a place that gracefully combines these two cultures (see figure 15.1); the analysis of how well this space actually functions will further our understanding of social interaction, both online and in person. the first chit chat club installation TELESCULPTURE The telesculpture was designed to be of human scale. The idea was to communicate with an interface that has an embedded “face,” as opposed to being a screen with a face on it. I and my collaborators, Judith Donath and Kelly Dobson, designed the telesculpture to be anthropomorphic to a degree, but not so anthropomorphic that one would expect human movement and human expression. The body frame was meant resemble a relaxed figure of human proportion (see figure 15.2). The head resting on the frame has some curvature and is painted white so that it makes a good projection surface. A projector hangs in a wire basket beneath the crossed “hands” of the telesculpture, in this case named Slim. This projector is aligned to project moveable faces onto Slim’s head. Above Slim’s Figure 15.1. Top: Artistic rendering of the Chit...