Mediated meetings
Project title
Mediated meetings (2008-2010)
Project description
This project builds on the notion that meetings between individuals and/or groups of individuals – be it planned and structured working meetings, learning situations, social or cultural events, or spontaneous encounters – by means of mediating technology can reduce travel and transportation needs, thereby reducing environmental load. In addition, mediated meetings can initiate and support community building as well as further social inclusion. Widespread adoption of mediated meetings as a complement and alternative to physical meetings requires user acceptance, which in turn is dependent on factors that are both technical (audio/video quality; equipment size, cost, design and reliability; transmission latency; etc.) and non-technical (usage environment design; sense of presence; trust; work and usage practices; etc.). The project consists of four coordinated subprojects sharing a common set of practical case studies:
A) Mediated spaces – investigation of the spatial implications for mediated work and learning practices where dialogic interaction is crucial, aiming to inform workplace design for mediated communication,
B) Mediating technology – design, integration, deployment and evaluation of audio, video, systems, and telecommunication equipment and components for the support of mediated meetings,
C) Users and usage in mediated meetings – study of user behavior, preferences, attitudes and experiences during mediated meetings, and
D) Sustainability potential of mediated meetings – evaluation of the practical cases with regard to the potential of sustainability improvement through widespread acceptance and adoption of technology, practices and environments for mediated meetings.
The Mediated Meeting project cooperates closely with the project Sustainable social practices and will partly use the same set of practical cases, thereby adding a fifth perspective to the study. The proposed case studies include: 1) The mediated therapist, (2) iCoaching, (3) Mediated professors, and (4) Organizational conferencing.
Project leader
Nils Enlund
Partners
Stiftelsen Folkets Hubb, Ericsson, TeliaSonera
Contact
Nils Enlund (nilse@kth.se)
