Common Knowledge: A Survey

This paper discusses the motivation behind common knowledge. Common knowledge has been argued to be necessary for joint action in general and for language use as a particular kind of joint action. However, this term has been broadly interpreted. Two major issues must be addressed: (1) What mental state corresponds to common knowledge, i.e., is knowledge, belief or supposition the appropriate mental attitude? (2) What inference process allows agents to achieve common knowledge? Most generally, common knowledge is used to describe the knowledge that is evidenced in reflexive reasoning. The term has also been used to refer to facts or objects which are mutually salient. One of the main problems for a theory of common knowledge is whether knowledge is the appropriate mental attitude. It seems as though probabilistic beliefs might approximate the cognitive phenomenon of common knowledge more closely than knowledge. The main problem with a usable notion of common knowledge is that inference must play a critical role in what becomes common knowledge. I discuss the nature of conversational inference. It has a number of properties that distinguish it from other inferential systems, such as being apparently abductive and probabilistic, but a precise characterization of it is an unsolved problem. I suggest that in cases where ensuring common knowledge really matters, participants in dialogue accomplish this is by exploiting opportunities for redundancy in conversation

Regulating Nimbus and Focus: Organizing Copresence for Creative Collaboration

Creative collaboration often takes place in collaborative spaces that increasingly use virtual modes of interaction. To better understand the organizational conditions and organizing practices that facilitate collaboration in such spaces, we compare ethnographies of an online platform for collaborative songwriting and a physical songwriting camp, with each of these spatial settings coming with distinct advantages and disadvantages for creative collaboration. We identify the emergence of copresence – an active mutual orientation toward one another – as a common organizational condition for collaboration. Copresence was fostered by practices of regulating nimbus (i.e. making people more or less visible) and focus (i.e. directing attention to others) that not only stimulated moments of converging copresence marked by collaborative problem-solving, but also enabled diverging copresence marked by undirected attention and more serendipitous interactions. Our comparison reveals the challenges of negotiating between converging and diverging copresence to counteract tendencies towards excessive, or conversely, insufficient nimbus and focus of the participants, both of which are barriers to copresence. These insights contribute to ongoing debates about the organization of online and offline collaborative spaces by shifting the focus away from co-location towards copresence, highlighting the oscillation between converging and diverging copresence as important for a collaborative atmosphere and identifying practices by which copresence can be organized in different spatial settings

Hawker Centres: A Social Space Approach to Promoting Community Wellbeing

This article sets out to examine how the use of social spaces, namely hawker centres, has contributed to community wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Using an extensive thematic analysis of online conversations, we have identified that the use of social spaces can have a positive influence on individual, relational and social wellbeing. Access to social spaces during stressful events contributes to the feeling of normalcy, supports routines and structured activities, encourages responsible behaviours, facilitates social connectedness, and helps maintain community resilience. We present a new framework for urban social space characterisation containing three dimensions: coaction, copresence, and colocation (the three Cs). Here, coaction is associated with better visibility of community practices, copresence enhances the sense of connectedness, and colocation is concerned with the use of spatial design factors for influencing movement and interactions. The framework is central to our understanding of social space and its impact on wellbeing. Underpinning the three Cs is the notion of the integration of policy, community wellbeing, and various urban agendas. The findings were considered in terms of their relevance for social space development in Singapore

MMOG Game-Based Knowledge Conversion: An Ecological View Of Mutualistic Co-Presence

This research-in-progress study aims to extend the research on Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) collaborative learning by theoretically exploring the role of virtual co-presence from an ecological perspective. Although a growing number of researchers has started to investigate learning behaviors of digital native in the MMOG virtual environment, the study for theoretical justification of collaborative behavior and motivational profile of players in MMOG is still under-researched. To bridge this gap, this study applies concepts from ecology, namely biological interactions, and integrates with technology-based collaborative learning streams of research to theoretically explore the patterns of knowledge conversion in MMOG. Based on existing literatures, this study proposes two constructs of co-presence based on the theory of symbiosis in the field of ecology on biological interaction to explain and predict gamers’ motivational profile and participation in knowledge conversion mode in the MMOG game-based learning, Also, this study proposes a multiple method approach (including field observation, self-reported survey and focus group interview) to test four hypotheses that advocate the research potentials of MMOG in future research

Co-presence Communities: Using pervasive computing to support weak social networks

Although the strongest social relationships feature most prominently in our lives, we also maintain a multitude of much weaker connections: the distant colleagues that we share a coffee with in the afternoon; the waitress at a our regular sandwich bar; or the ‘familiar stranger’ we meet each morning on the way to work. These are all examples of weak relationships which have a strong spatial-temporal component but with few support systems available. This paper explores the idea of ‘Co-presence Communities’ - a probabilistic definition of groups that are regularly collocated together - and how they might be used to support weak social networks. An algorithm is presented for mining the Copresence Community definitions from data collected by Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones. Finally, an example application is introduced which utilises these communities for disseminating information

Examination of interactive experience: Construction of physical and social presence in virtual environments

Interactivity seems to be a familiar concept, which partially explains its frequent use in discussions about new communication technologies and what they can bring to communication studies. However, interactivity research has yet to reach a comprehensive and concrete consensus concerning the antecedents and consequences of interactive experiences. The main objective of this research is to determine the factors responsible for fostering the interactivity experience in the multiuser virtual environments and to observe how this variance in interactivity will affect the formation of physical and social presence. The study also examines the possible relationship between physical and social presence via correlation analysis and uses a one-way ANOVA with Post-Hoc Tests to designate the effects of interactivity on physical and social presence

Im/material objects: Relics, gestured signs and the substance of the immaterial

This book contributes to and evaluates this material turn, presenting thirteen chapters of new empirical research and theoretical reflection from some of the leading international scholars of material religion

The impacts of team virtuality: An investigation of team virtuality, team reflexivity, and copresence on team effectiveness

Teams have become the standard way of working in organizations. Therefore, it is of extreme importance to understand what differentiates high performing teams from other teams. Team Virtuality is also increasingly more common. Globalization, distributed skills and competencies, and the advances on communication technology have led organizations to increasingly rely on virtual teams. In this sense, the present study investigates the impact of Team Virtuality on Team Reflexivity, a team process that highly contributes to Team Effectiveness. Despite the geographic and/or temporal distance, and the loss of some cues when communicating through virtual tools, one can still feel present in an environment and that others are present with them and collaborating. This study investigates if this sense of copresence is able to moderate the relationship between Team Virtuality and Team Reflexivity. A sample of 93 Start-up employees has been analyzed. Results showed that the extent of use of virtual tools, informational value and synchronicity have actually a positive effect on Team Reflexivity; that Team Reflexivity has, in fact, a positive influence on Team Performance and Team Viability; but, however, that Copresence has no moderation power on the relationship of Team Virtuality with Team Reflexivity. This research extends the literature, as the impact of Team Virtuality in team processes, Team Reflexivity included, hasn’t received significant dedication yet. Moreover, Copresence’s impacts have not been studied at all, and it needs further research. Practical and theoretical implications of the findings and potential questions for future research are discussed.As equipas tornaram-se a forma de trabalho mais comum nas organizações. Por isso, é de extrema importância compreender o que diferencia as equipas de alto desempenho das outras equipas. A virtualidade na equipa é, também, cada vez mais comum. A globalização, as competências e skills distribuídas, e os avanços na tecnologia de comunicação levaram as organizações a recorrer, cada vez mais, a equipas virtuais. Neste sentido, o presente estudo investiga o impacto da Virtualidade das equipas na Reflexividade das mesmas, um processo de equipa que contribui altamente para a Eficácia das equipas. Apesar da distância geográfica e/ou temporal e da perda de algumas pistas quando a comunicação é feita através de ferramentas virtuais, é possível, ainda, sentir que se está presente num determinado interface e que os outros estão, também, presentes connosco e a colaborar. Este estudo investiga se este sentimento de copresença é capaz de moderar a relação entre a Virtualidade da equipa e a Reflexividade da equipa. Foi analisada uma amostra de 93 empregados de Start-ups.Os resultados mostraram que a quantidade de ferramentas virtuais utilizadas, o valor informacional e a sincronia das mesmas têm, na realidade, um efeito positivo na Reflexividade da equipa; que a Reflexividade da equipa tem, de facto, um impacto positivo no Desempenho e na Viabilidade da Equipa; mas, no entanto, que a Copresença não tem poder de moderação na relação entre a Virtualidade da equipa com a Reflexividade da equipa. Implicações práticas e teóricas dos resultados e potenciais questões para investigação futura são discutidas

vManagement: Initial Exploration of Management Practice

For several years, the authors have maintained a simulation (sim) in Second LifeTM, with management responsibility for allocating sim resources across research and instructional projects, some of which involved working with residents. Although not originally anticipated to be a research site in management theory and practice, the project presented an unexpected pattern of difficulty and an unexpectedly rich case study to examine why and how the virtual environment generated norms of power and empowerment for which traditional management practice was not effective. We conducted a theoretical thematic analysis on a body of conversation transcripts, meeting agendas and minutes, email messages and other administrative documents, applying concepts from the literature on presence, copresence, embodiment and social capital, seeking to identify the sociocultural context and structural conditions that shaped meanings and experiences of participants in this project. This exploratory analysis suggests a need for development of management theory and practice based on norms of empowerment shaped by designer-user role hybridization – in short, vManagement

Gamers’ Sensations of Spatial, Social, And Co-Presence While Playing Online Video Games

There is an increasing number of video gamers who are playing games online. Previous research has demonstrated that off line gamers experience sensations of presence “the illusion of non-mediation” (Lombard & Ditton, 1997). The current study, explores through focus groups, the type of presence online gamers report experiencing. The results demonstrate that online gamers report having sensations that can be classified into all three main presence types: spatial (physical), social, and co-presence