1. Motivation. I work in a room with one window all-day and often all-night to meet deliverable deadlines. Let’s face it. If you are any kind of social creature you would be motivated in an office setting because everyone else is working also. A virtual cam-based implementation would definitely help me IMO.

2. Support. I’ve been in the situation where I was deadlocked on an issue and even the people I worked with had no solutions. This happens very often when using new/cutting edge technologies where docs are sparse. Instead of having to wait for a posted request on a forum or mailing list I could ask someone right now and hopefully find someone in the group who could offer at least some sort of assistance and vice-versa.

I understand many people’s view of the lack of privacy with this type setup. However, the way I look at it I could either a) have an employer who REQUIRED it which would not be as favorable as voluntary IMO. b) I could be working in a office somewhere. c) it doesn’t have to be something you are forced to camp-out all day. This scenario would only apply to those individuals who would find it favorable.

Ryan
http://mindonstatic.com

I am not willing to set status messages in my IM client. It is not only disruptive, but if I forget to update it, it becomes counterproductive. It would be a huge improvement if my calendar and phone could set status with my IM client. Of course, that will add layers of complexity that would either require a more sophisticated IM client or an agent. Something needs to prioritize the information sent by the two (or more) devices. Beyond the basics, I’d want different calls to have different priorities (“Talking to boss–Do not disturb” v. “On phone”).

Using cameras is sort of a “Mechanical Turk” approach to the problem. It makes sense to me that it would be relatively easy to glean better presence information from a glance at video. (Funny how these things all weave together.) Kind of clever–it just comes at too high a price (the intrusiveness) for me. Perhaps if this issue is more widely recognized as a problem, other potential solutions will emerge.

In your FlashMeeting discussion with Peter and Marc, he is describing my work as a building restoration carpenter and how I share my knowledge with this new internet/video media:

http://flashmeeting.open.ac.uk/fm/fmm.php?pwd=18b1a8-6923&jt=00:04:11

For about a year now I have been using FlashMeeting to train people in the building restoration skills. For example, here I show how to glaze a window sash with tradition putty:

http://flash.kmi.open.ac.uk:8080/fm/memo.php?pwd=444f34-4846&jt=00:45:41

I package and archive these sessions in a simple catalog that is indexed with text links that drill down into specific topics in each session. You can see that here, as FlashMeeting replays:

http://historichomeworks.com/hhw/conf/vidconf.htm

I’m currently working on upgrading the text index to an image index, for non-English speaking and illiterate viewers. Some of these training session replays have been used 5,000 times by 2,000 viewers on six continents:

http://flashmeeting.open.ac.uk/kmi_fm/replaymap.php?pwd=0f3ad1-5717

I’m hoping to work with Peter and Marc to analyze this viewership to extend my reach even further and help them more effectively.

The topics for these sessions are set by the participants. I often do a little preparation, but the session is live and the details covered are in direct response to participants questions and reactions. After the session I do a little rough editing in the FlashMeeting system, then catalog and index the material. I have just put together an outfit so I can shoot these session in my workshop, or on a worksite:

http://flashmeeting.open.ac.uk/fm/memo.php?pwd=514db8-6988&jt=00:52:55

I’m using a completely mobile and compact TC-1100 tablet PC, and a Sony PC330 video cam over my wireless LAN:

http://flashmeeting.open.ac.uk/fm/memo.php?pwd=514db8-6988&jt=00:41:04

You ask if this work captures the character of the preservation carpenter’s work. Well, the intent of these sessions to pass my own knowledge on to the very specific interests and needs of others. The thrust is more to cover particular procedures and drill right down to very detailed nuances of craft technique–something that can only be done INTERACTIVELY, in these LIVE sessions.

For capturing the character and essence of the work, I think my video blogging might become better at that. See my Reports from the Field video blog:

http://historichomeworks.phovi.com/

I’d be interested in your comments on what you think is working here, and how I might best carry this work forward.

John
by hammer and hand great works do stand
by cam and light he shoots it right
by Mind, Hand and Heart we share the Art

http://www.HistoricHomeWorks.com

JohnLeeke >>at>dot

I believe Peter would claim that part of the benefit is not having to explicitly set a status message — though you do have to explicitly “enter” the room.

Still, I agree that visual cues can be insufficient or even, in a case Peter cited, misleading. He showed a screenshot of himself, head buried in hands, which was captured by a coworker whose evaluation Peter had just done. The obvious conclusion was that Peter was in despair over the coworker, in fact it was due to news he’d just received about a completely different matter.

I mentioned to him that maybe, if you buy into this model, more context might be needed. So the system might, for example, show which (non-confidential) items people have recently read or posted, or are actively reading and posting.