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ClearBoard: Face-to-Face Awareness

In all of the applications we have seen so far, a user is indirectly aware of the actions of another through telepointers, encoding of users by colours, audio feedback, and other features. Clearboard [], designed for two-user collaboration, shows that it is possible for a user to be directly aware of the actions of a remote use. It appears to each user that other user is behind a transparent whiteboard, and the drawings made by the two users are shared rather than overlaid. Thus, one user can, for instance, erase a drawing made by another user or refine it. gif.

Mirrors, projectors, and a multiuser shared whiteboard application are used to create this illusion of face-to-face awareness. The displays of the users are tilted 45 degrees, and the image of a user is is reflected by a mirror, captured by an overhead camera, and transmitted to a rear projector at the other site which overlays the image on the screen. The shared whiteboard application ensures that users share changes to the objects drawn on the whiteboard.



Prasun Dewan
Tue Jan 28 17:46:09 EST 1997