[Colloq] REMINDER: Hiring Talk, TODAY, Darren Gergle - Carnegie Mellon Univ.- 12pm

[Rachel Kalweit]

               Computer and Information Science Colloquium
                         Thursday, March 2, 2006
                           12:00 noon, 366 WVH

                            Darren Gergle
		    Human-Computer Interaction Institute
			Carnegie Mellon University

The Value of Shared Visual Information for Collaborative Task Performance

Abstract:
For several decades, researchers and engineers have struggled to develop
systems to support distance collaboration. The failure of many
collaborative technologies is due, in part, to a limited understanding
of how groups coordinate in collocated environments and how the
coordination mechanisms of face-to-face collaboration are impacted by
technology.

My research is building a theoretical understanding of the role shared
visual information plays in communication and collaboration. Visual
information provides evidence to support both situation awareness and
referential grounding. However, the effectiveness with which it can be
used for these purposes depends upon the features of the media (e.g.,
video refresh-rates) and the features of the task (e.g., the linguistic
complexity of the objects being discussed). At a theoretical level, my
research leads to an improved understanding of how features of tasks and
media, both alone and in combination, influence group coordination. At
an applied level, my work benefits developers by identifying the
features of technologies that enable people to work remotely, and
provides guidelines for the development of new technologies to support
distance collaboration.

Bio:
Darren Gergle is a doctoral candidate in the Human-Computer Interaction
Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. His research interests include
small group communication in face-to-face and computer-mediated
environments, the dynamics of collaboration, and the design and study of
computational tools to support distributed collaboration.

Further information regarding his research can be found at:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dgergle

Host: Carole Hafner