Mobile, ubiquitous information seeking, as a group: the iBingo collaborative video retrieval system

iBingo features two or more users performing collaborative information seeking tasks, using mobile devices, Apple iPod iTouch in our case. The novelty in our work is that the system, called iBingo, mediates the collaborative searches among the users and performs a realtime division of labour among co-searchers so users are presented with documents which are both unique and tailored to the individual. This enables each user to explore unique subsets of the retrieved information space. We demonstrate iBingo mobile collabo-rative search on a video collection from TRECVid 2007

iBingo mobile collaborative search

This paper describes a collaborative video search system for mobile devices, 'iBingo'. It supports division of labour among users, providing search results to colocated iPod Touch devices

Division of labour and sharing of knowledge for synchronous collaborative information retrieval

Synchronous collaborative information retrieval (SCIR) is concerned with supporting two or more users who search together at the same time in order to satisfy a shared information need. SCIR systems represent a paradigmatic shift in the way we view information retrieval, moving from an individual to a group process and as such the development of novel IR techniques is needed to support this. In this article we present what we believe are two key concepts for the development of effective SCIR namely division of labour (DoL) and sharing of knowledge (SoK). Together these concepts enable coordinated SCIR such that redundancy across group members is reduced whilst enabling each group member to benefit from the discoveries of their collaborators. In this article we outline techniques from state-of-the-art SCIR systems which support these two concepts, primarily through the provision of awareness widgets. We then outline some of our own work into system-mediated techniques for division of labour and sharing of knowledge in SCIR. Finally we conclude with a discussion on some possible future trends for these two coordination techniques

DCU collaborative video search system

This paper describes the Dublin City University collaborative video search system. The system is a development on our previous year's VideOlympics submission which will explore the notion of division of labour and sharing of knowledge across collaborating users engaged in a shared search. Division of labour and sharing of knowledge across collaborating searchers is realised through system-mediated coordination of the search

Division of Labour and Sharing of Knowledge for Synchronous Collaborative Information Retrieval

a b s t r a c t Synchronous collaborative information retrieval (SCIR) is concerned with supporting two or more users who search together at the same time in order to satisfy a shared information need. SCIR systems represent a paradigmatic shift in the way we view information retrieval, moving from an individual to a group process and as such the development of novel IR techniques is needed to support this. In this article we present what we believe are two key concepts for the development of effective SCIR namely division of labour (DoL) and sharing of knowledge (SoK). Together these concepts enable coordinated SCIR such that redundancy across group members is reduced whilst enabling each group member to benefit from the discoveries of their collaborators. In this article we outline techniques from state-of-the-art SCIR systems which support these two concepts, primarily through the provision of awareness widgets. We then outline some of our own work into system-mediated techniques for division of labour and sharing of knowledge in SCIR. Finally we conclude with a discussion on some possible future trends for these two coordination techniques

Evaluation of the influence of personality types on performance of shared tasks in a collaborative environment

Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) is an area of computing that has been receiving much attention in recent years. Developments in groupware technology, such as MERL’s Diamondtouch and Microsoft’s Surface, have presented us with new, challenging and exciting ways to carry out group tasks. However, these groupware technologies present us with a novel area of research in the field of computing – that being multi-user Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). With multi-user HCI, we no longer have to cater for one person working on their own PC. We must now consider multiple users and their preferences as a group in order to design groupware applications that best suit the needs of that group. In this thesis, we aim to identify how groups of two people (dyads), given their various personality types and preferences, work together on groupware technologies. We propose interface variants to both competitive and collaborative systems in an attempt to identify what aspects of an interface or task best suit the needs of the different dyads, maximising their performance and producing high levels of user satisfaction. In order to determine this, we introduce a series of user experiments that we carried out with 18 dyads and analyse their performance, behaviour and responses to each of 5 systems and their respective variants. Our research and user experiments were facilitated by the DiamondTouch – a collaborative, multi-user tabletop device

Digital life stories: Semi-automatic (auto)biographies within lifelog collections

Our life stories enable us to reflect upon and share our personal histories. Through emerging digital technologies the possibility of collecting life experiences digitally is increasingly feasible; consequently so is the potential to create a digital counterpart to our personal narratives. In this work, lifelogging tools are used to collect digital artifacts continuously and passively throughout our day. These include images, documents, emails and webpages accessed; texts messages and mobile activity. This range of data when brought together is known as a lifelog. Given the complexity, volume and multimodal nature of such collections, it is clear that there are significant challenges to be addressed in order to achieve coherent and meaningful digital narratives of our events from our life histories. This work investigates the construction of personal digital narratives from lifelog collections. It examines the underlying questions, issues and challenges relating to construction of personal digital narratives from lifelogs. Fundamentally, it addresses how to organize and transform data sampled from an individual’s day-to-day activities into a coherent narrative account. This enquiry is enabled by three 20-month long-term lifelogs collected by participants and produces a narrative system which enables the semi-automatic construction of digital stories from lifelog content. Inspired by probative studies conducted into current practices of curation, from which a set of fundamental requirements are established, this solution employs a 2-dimensional spatial framework for storytelling. It delivers integrated support for the structuring of lifelog content and its distillation into storyform through information retrieval approaches. We describe and contribute flexible algorithmic approaches to achieve both. Finally, this research inquiry yields qualitative and quantitative insights into such digital narratives and their generation, composition and construction. The opportunities for such personal narrative accounts to enable recollection, reminiscence and reflection with the collection owners are established and its benefit in sharing past personal experience experiences is outlined. Finally, in a novel investigation with motivated third parties we demonstrate the opportunities such narrative accounts may have beyond the scope of the collection owner in: personal, societal and cultural explorations, artistic endeavours and as a generational heirloom