Computer-mediated communications (CMC) can be used as a substitute for face-to-face (FtF) meetings but their effectiveness is highly context dependent. This paper describes a theoretical framework and initial experimental design for characterizing a travel replacement threshold. This effort begins with a use case of remote engineering maintenance training, conducted in three conditions: side-by-side (physically proximate), teleconference (using off-the-shelf software), and a custom VR/AR system designed to provide the apprentice with a virtual view of both the instructor’s larger scale lab and smaller scale workbench. The research hypotheses, experimental protocol, and dependent measures are described. The task involves an instructor demonstrating a circuit board troubleshooting task to a remote apprentice. The apprentice then completes the trained task independently, and performance and subject preferences are compared across conditions. The details of this paper, the result of extensive literature review and winnowing of variables, may assist researchers exploring CMC, training, or social communication.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlexanderT.RipkensA.WesthovenM.KleiberM.PfendlerC. (2017, July). Virtual tele-cooperation: applying AR and VR for cooperative tele-maintenance and advanced distance learning. In International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (pp. 234-244). Springer, Cham.
2.
BadgerJ. M.KaminskyS. E.BehrendT. S. (2014). Media richness and information acquisition in internet recruitment. Journal of Managerial Psychology.
3.
BernieriF. J.DavisJ. M.RosenthalR.KneeC. R. (1994). Interactional synchrony and rapport: Measuring synchrony in displays devoid of sound and facial affect. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20(3), 303-311.
4.
de MorreeH. M.MarcoraS. M. (2010). The face of effort: frowning muscle activity reflects effort during a physical task. Biological Psychology, 85(3), 377-382.
5.
de WaardD.te GroningenR. (1996). The measurement of drivers' mental workload. Netherlands: Groningen University, Traffic Research Center.
6.
DelahercheE.ChetouaniM.MahdhaouiA.Saint-GeorgesC.ViauxS.CohenD. (2012). Interpersonal synchrony: A survey of evaluation methods across disciplines. IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing, 3(3), 349-365.
7.
DianiskaR.E.WuP.OldhamE.StonewallJ.MonaghanQ.PeasleyC.GilbertS.OliverJ.IsraelsenB. (Under review). A taxonomy of face-to-face communication objectives to inform telepresence technology adoption.
8.
EndsleyM. R. (1988, May). Situation awareness global assessment technique (SAGAT). In Proceedings of the IEEE 1988 national aerospace and electronics conference (pp. 789-795). IEEE.
9.
EnsB.LanirJ.TangA.BatemanS.LeeG.PiumsomboonT.BillinghurstM. (2019). Revisiting collaboration through mixed reality: The evolution of groupware. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies.
10.
GuheM.GrayW. D.SchoellesM. J.LiaoW.ZhuZ.JiQ. (2005, September). Non-intrusive measurement of workload in real-time. In Proceedings of the human factors and ergonomics society annual meeting (vol. 49, No. 12, pp. 1157-1161). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.
11.
HartS. G.StavelandL. E. (1988). Development of NASA-TLX (Task Load Index): Results of empirical and theoretical research. Advances in Psychology, 52, 139–183.
LiewT. W.TanS. M.IsmailH. (2017). Exploring the effects of a non- interactive talking avatar on social presence, credibility, trust, and patronage intention in an e-commerce website. Human-centric Computing and Information Sciences, 7(1), 42.
14.
MahlkeS.MingeM. (2006). Emotions and EMG measures of facial muscles in interactive contexts. Cognition and Emotion, 6, 169-200.
15.
MarshS.DibbenM. R. (2005). Trust, untrust, distrust and mistrust—An exploration of the dark(er) side. In HerrmannP.IssarnyV.ShiuS. (Eds.), Trust management: Third International Conference, iTrust Proceedings (pp. 17-33). New York: Springer.
16.
MayerR. C.DavisJ. H.SchoormanF. D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709–734.
17.
MokhtarianP. (2009). If telecommunication is such a good substitute for travel, why does congestion continue to get worse?. Transportation Letters, 1(1), 1-17.
18.
NourbakhshN.WangY.ChenF.CalvoR. A. (2012, November). Using galvanic skin response for cognitive load measurement in arithmetic and reading tasks. In Proceedings of the 24th Australian Computer-Human Interaction Conference (pp. 420-423).
19.
OhC. S.BailensonJ. N.WelchG. F. (2018). A systematic review of social presence: Definition, antecedents, and implications. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 5, 114.
20.
PanY.SteedA. (2017). The impact of self-avatars on trust and collaboration in shared virtual environments. PloS one, 12(12): e0189078.
21.
PetersC.CastellanoG.de FreitasS. (2009, November). An exploration of user engagement in HCI. In Proceedings of the International Workshop on Affective-Aware Virtual Agents and Social Robots (p. 9). ACM.
22.
SelconS. J.TaylorR. M.ShadrakeR. A. (1992, October). Multi-modal cockpit warnings: Pictures. words. or both?. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting (vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 57-61). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.
23.
SetzC.ArnrichB.SchummJ.La MarcaR.TrösterG.EhlertU. (2009). Discriminating stress from cognitive load using a wearable EDA device. IEEE Transactions on information technology in biomedicine, 14(2), 410-417.
24.
SmithH. J.NeffM. (2018, April). Communication behavior in embodied virtual reality. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-12).
25.
SteedA.PanY.ZischF.SteptoeW. (2016, March). The impact of a self-avatar on cognitive load in immersive virtual reality. In 2016 IEEE Virtual Reality (VR) (pp. 67-76). IEEE.
26.
TangA.PahudM.InkpenK.BenkoH.TangJ. C.BuxtonB. (2010, February). Three's company: understanding communication channels in three-way distributed collaboration. In Proceedings of the 2010 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work (pp. 271-280). ACM.
27.
Tickle-DegnenL.RosenthalR. (1990). The nature of rapport and its nonverbal correlates. Psychological Inquiry, 1(4), 285–293.
28.
Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition 33-2014
29.
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EI). Annual energy outlook 2016 with Projections to 2040 (Report No. DOE/EIA-0383). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.2172/1329373
30.
UzefovskyF.Knafo-NoamA. (2016). Empathy development throughout the life span. In SommervilleJ.DecetyJ. (Eds.) Social Cognition (pp. 89-115). Routledge.
31.
VenkateshV.MorrisM. G.DavisG. B.DavisF. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 425-478.
