A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Face-to-Face and Virtual Communication: Overcoming the Challenges

Virtual communication has become the norm for many organizations (Baltes, Dickson, Sherman, Bauer, & LaGanke, 2002; Bergiel, Bergiel, & Balsmeier, 2008; Hertel, Geister, & Konradt, 2005). As technology has evolved, time and distance barriers have dissolved, allowing for access to experts worldwide. The reality of business today demands the use of virtual communication for at least some work, and many professionals will sit on a virtual team at some point (Dewar, 2006). Although virtual communication offers many advantages, it is not without challenges. This article examines the costs and benefits associated with virtual and face-to-face communication, and identifies strategies to overcome virtual communication\u27s challenges

Analysis domain model for shared virtual environments

The field of shared virtual environments, which also encompasses online games and social 3D environments, has a system landscape consisting of multiple solutions that share great functional overlap. However, there is little system interoperability between the different solutions. A shared virtual environment has an associated problem domain that is highly complex raising difficult challenges to the development process, starting with the architectural design of the underlying system. This paper has two main contributions. The first contribution is a broad domain analysis of shared virtual environments, which enables developers to have a better understanding of the whole rather than the part(s). The second contribution is a reference domain model for discussing and describing solutions - the Analysis Domain Model

Performance of grassed swale as stormwater quantity control in lowland area

Grassed swale is a vegetated open channel designed to attenuate stormwater through infiltration and conveying runoff into nearby water bodies, thus reduces peak flows and minimizes the causes of flood. UTHM is a flood-prone area due to located in lowland area, has high groundwater level and low infiltration rates. The aim of this study is to assess the performance of grassed swale as a stormwater quantity control in UTHM. Flow depths and velocities of swales were measured according to Six-Tenths Depth Method shortly after a rainfall event. Flow discharges of swales (Qswale) were evaluated by Mean- Section Method to determine the variations of Manning’s roughness coefficients (ncalculate) that results between 0.075 – 0.122 due to tall grass and irregularity of channels. Based on the values of Qswale between sections of swales, the percentages of flow attenuation are up to 54%. As for the flow conveyance of swales, Qswale were determined by Manning’s equation that divided into Qcalculate, evaluated using ncalculate, and Qdesign, evaluated using roughness coefficient recommended by MSMA (ndesign), to compare with flow discharges of drainage areas (Qpeak), evaluated by Rational Method with 10-year ARI. Each site of study has shown Qdesign is greater than Qpeak up to 59%. However, Qcalculate is greater than Qpeak only at a certain site of study up to 14%. The values of Qdesign also greater than Qcalculate up to 52% where it shows that the roughness coefficients as considered in MSMA are providing a better performance of swale. This study also found that the characteristics of the studied swales are comparable to the design consideration by MSMA. Based on these findings, grassed swale has the potential in collecting, attenuating, and conveying stormwater, which suitable to be applied as one of the best management practices in preventing flash flood at UTHM campus

A Content-Analysis Approach for Exploring Usability Problems in a Collaborative Virtual Environment

As Virtual Reality (VR) products are becoming more widely available in the consumer market, improving the usability of these devices and environments is crucial. In this paper, we are going to introduce a framework for the usability evaluation of collaborative 3D virtual environments based on a large-scale usability study of a mixedmodality collaborative VR system. We first review previous literature about important usability issues related to collaborative 3D virtual environments, supplemented with our research in which we conducted 122 interviews after participants solved a collaborative virtual reality task. Then, building on the literature review and our results, we extend previous usability frameworks. We identified twelve different usability problems, and based on the causes of the problems, we grouped them into three main categories: VR environment-, device interaction-, and task-specific problems. The framework can be used to guide the usability evaluation of collaborative VR environments

MINDtouch embodied ephemeral transference: Mobile media performance research

This is the post-print version of the final published article that is available from the link below. Copyright @ Intellect Ltd 2011.The aim of the author's media art research has been to uncover any new understandings of the sensations of liveness and presence that may emerge in participatory networked performance, using mobile phones and physiological wearable devices. To practically investigate these concepts, a mobile media performance series was created, called MINDtouch. The MINDtouch project proposed that the mobile videophone become a new way to communicate non-verbally, visually and sensually across space. It explored notions of ephemeral transference, distance collaboration and participant as performer to study presence and liveness emerging from the use of wireless mobile technologies within real-time, mobile performance contexts. Through participation by in-person and remote interactors, creating mobile video-streamed mixes, the project interweaves and embodies a daisy chain of technologies through the network space. As part of a practice-based Ph.D. research conducted at the SMARTlab Digital Media Institute at the University of East London, MINDtouch has been under the direction of Professor Lizbeth Goodman and sponsored by BBC R&D. The aim of this article is to discuss the project research, conducted and recently completed for submission, in terms of the technical and aesthetic developments from 2008 to present, as well as the final phase of staging the events from July 2009 to February 2010. This piece builds on the article (Baker 2008) which focused on the outcomes of phase 1 of the research project and initial developments in phase 2. The outcomes from phase 2 and 3 of the project are discussed in this article

Use and perceptions of second life by distance learners: comparison with other communication media

Research has demonstrated that the use of communication media in distance education can reduce the feeling of distance and isolation from peers and tutor, and provide opportunities for collaborative learning activities (Bates, 2005). The use of virtual worlds (VW) in education has increased in recent years, with Second Life (SL) being the most commonly used VW in higher education (Wang & Burton, 2012). There is a paucity of information available on students’ use and perceptions of SL in relation to other online communication media available to the distance learner. Consequently, in the study described here, this area was explored with a group of students registered in a part-time distance education Master’s program at a large UK University open to international students. A self-completion survey was designed to assess students’ use and perceptions of using SL compared with other communication media. The majority of students rated SL lower than other forms of communications media such as email, WebCT discussion boards, Skype, and Wimba for facilitating communication, promoting the formation of social networks, fostering a sense of community, and benefiting their learning.  It is possible that the results of this study were influenced by the lower frequency of use of SL in this program compared to other work reported on this subject. Further work is required to evaluate the effect of frequency of use of SL and availability of alternative communication media on students’ use and perceptions of this virtual world

Using virtual worlds as collaborative environments for innovation and design: lessons learned and observations from case studies in architectural projects

In this paper we discuss observations and lessons learned in conducting architectural design projects in virtual worlds. By integrating a community of users in virtual worlds into a collaborative architectural design process, organisations can tap the community's creativity and intelligence through immersive technology. The paper provides an overview of the latest advances of information and communication technologies in immersive virtual environments and discusses some of the observations and lessons learned which should be taken into account in developing collaboration models for such activities. Here we propose four modes of collaboration, based on the choices for degree of openness and governance structure, which are illustrated by four case studies

Communicating with feeling

Communication between users in shared editors takes place in a deprived environment - distributed users find it difficult to communicate. While many solutions to the problems this causes have been suggested this paper presents a novel one. It describes one possible use of haptics as a channel for communication between users. User's telepointers are considered as haptic avatars and interactions such as haptically pushing and pulling each other are afforded. The use of homing forces to locate other users is also discussed, as is a proximity sensation based on viscosity. Evaluation of this system is currently underway

Reflections on the use of Project Wonderland as a mixed-reality environment for teaching and learning

This paper reflects on the lessons learnt from MiRTLE?a collaborative research project to create a ?mixed reality teaching and learning environment? that enables teachers and students participating in real-time mixed and online classes to interact with avatar representations of each other. The key hypothesis of the project is that avatar representations of teachers and students can help create a sense of shared presence, engendering a greater sense of community and improving student engagement in online lessons. This paper explores the technology that underpins such environments by presenting work on the use of a massively multi-user game server, based on Sun?s Project Darkstar and Project Wonderland tools, to create a shared teaching environment, illustrating the process by describing the creation of a virtual classroom. It is planned that the MiRTLE platform will be used in several trial applications ? which are described in the paper. These example applications are then used to explore some of the research issues arising from the use of virtual environments within an education environment. The research discussion initially focuses on the plans to assess this within the MiRTLE project. This includes some of the issues of designing virtual environments for teaching and learning, and how supporting pedagogical and social theories can inform this process

Designing an e-tutoring system for large classes: mixed-method research

This study aimed at assessing the perceptions of 167 teachers about the tutoring system adopted in an online training course involving teachers from 20 Schools of Sesimbra, Setúbal and Palmela counties. The course, called “Distributed Knowledge with Web 2.0”, was officially certified as a blended learning modality, with the duration of 50 hours, 41 of which occurred online in two editions, the first in February and the second in July of 2012, each one of them involving respectively 82 and 85 teachers, divided in four classes with about 20 trainees each. This blended learning course was designed at producing educational materials in digital format, and included autonomous and group activities, knowledge sharing and reflection. A learning environment, supported by the Ning platform, was set up. At the end of the course, the trainees answered to a pencil and paper survey, in order to evaluate the adopted online tutoring strategy. Additionally the trainees’ final reports contained evidence of how the trainees assessed the tutoring model component of the course; both the survey and the reports were the basis for this research. The results show that the teachers who attended the two course editions disclosed very positive perceptions about online learning, a modality they consider adequate to their current professional status and conditions. The trainees also showed their intention of, in the future, opting for blended training arrangements. Future developments of this study involve a content analysis of the tutor’s posts, in order to understand more accurately the tutor’s messages characteristics, in their social and cognitive dimensions