(2007-10) A-CSCW – Attentive CSCW. Financed by FCT (PTDC/EIA/67589/2006). Project coordinator. Participants: FCUL, INESC.
During the late 1990’s several researchers from the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) field became interested in Attentive User Interfaces (AUI). A prime motivation for AUI is the recognition that, as the needs for information rise, so do the costs of not paying attention and being interrupted. Therefore, instead of assuming the users are always focused on the task, AUI allow users to negotiate their degree of attention to the task, and at the same time manage the information flows taking into consideration the attention status. Most AUI research is directed towards single-user activity and assumes that individual performance degrades with the number of simultaneous requests for attention. Experiments in this area typically study the effects on a primary task caused by interruptions that require processing of a secondary task, possibly unrelated and unexpected. In this research line, researchers are enhancing both input and output devices so that the user remains focused on the primary task without getting too much distracted by the secondary task. The study of attention in the multi-user collaborative context is largely an unexplored research area. In this context, we must equate the group attention problem: as the needs for collaboration rise so do the costs of not paying attention and being interrupted by the others. While current research trends in Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) aim at conveying more, but not necessarily better, information about the group, neglecting the group attention problem, we suggest a route that explicitly recognizes the limitations of the human, and therefore the group, information-processing capacity. This route is consistent with AUI research and we argue that the existing body of knowledge can be extended into the CSCW field. This assumption is based on our prior research, which lead to a preliminary group attention framework specific for CSCW. The fundamental objective of this project is to move beyond our preliminary research inquiries and towards a sound theory about group attention. This ambitious goal will be pursued in two major steps: 1. Prototype several specialized attentive devices; 2. Use these devices in laboratory experiments to understand the role of group attention in CSCW. These two steps will be supported by the following set of concrete tasks: – Task 1 develops the framework to understand group attention; – Task 2 builds upon the framework to develop the attentive devices; – The goals of Task 3 and 4 is to prepare the experiments; – The purpose of Task 5 is to formally conduct the experiments; – The goals of Tasks 5 and 6 is to permanently confront and evolve the framework according to the intermediate and final results, and to produce theory. The major contribution of this research is the convergence between AUI and CSCW, giving insights on how group participants manage group attention. Furthermore, the specialized attentive devices for sensing and enhancing group attention also represent an important contribution to the state-of-the-art.
Project’s Documentation
Thesis
Ferreira, António (2010, September) Evaluating Groupware Usability at the Cognitive Level of Human Action. Ph.D. Thesis, supervised by Pedro Antunes. Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. Informatics Department. Lisbon. http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/reports/T27.pdf
António Ferreira. Attentive devices for groupware systems. PhD qualifying examination at the Department of Informatics of the University of Lisbon. May 2007. http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/reports/T23.pdf
Papers (supported by the project)
Ferreira, A., P. Antunes and V. Herskovic (forthcoming) “Improving Group Attention: An Experiment with Synchronous Brainstorming.” Group Decision and Negotiation, to appear. ISI 5-year impact factor: 1.301.
Antunes, P. and H. Mourão (2010) “Resilient Business Process Management: Framework and Services.” Expert Systems With Applications, to appear. ISI 5-year impact factor: 3.162. This Journal is ranked #1 in ISI category Operations Research & Management Science.
Antunes, P., C. Sapateiro, G. Zurita and N. Baloian (2010) Development of a Mobile Situation Awareness Tool Supporting Disaster Recovery of Business Operations Annals of Information Systems: Supporting Real Time Decision-Making: The Role of Context in Decision Support on the Move. F. Burstein, P. Brezillon and A. Zaslavsky, vol. to appear. Heidelberg, Springer-Verlag.http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/dss-annals-10.pdf
Antunes, P., L. Carriço and R. Bandeira (2010) Assessing Risk in Healthcare Collaborative Settings. Human Resources in Healthcare, Health Informatics and Health Systems. S. Kabene, IGI Global.http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/igi-book-hc-10.pdf
Sapateiro, C., N. Baloian, P. Antunes and G. Zurita (2009) Developing Collaborative Peer-to-Peer Applications on Mobile Devices. Proceedings of the 2009 13th International Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design (CSCWD 2009) Santiago, Chile. IEEE.http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/cscwd-09-em.pdf
Sapateiro, C. and P. Antunes (2009) An Emergency Response Model toward Situational Awareness Improvement International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, Göteborg, Sweden. Paper acceptance ratio: 50%.http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/iscram-09.pdf
Ferreira, A., P. Antunes and J. Pino (2009) “Evaluating Shared Workspace Performance Using Human Information Processing Models.” Information Research, 14(1). ISSN: 1368-1613. ISI 5-year impact factor: 1.108. CORE A. http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/ir-09.pdf
Carriço, L., L. Duarte, M. Sá, R. Bandeira and P. Antunes (2009) Tackling Collaborative-Design of Mobile Prototypes. Proceedings of the 2009 13th International Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design (CSCWD 2009) Santiago, Chile. IEEE. Best Paper Award.http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/cscwd-09-prot.pdf
Antunes, P., G. Zurita and N. Baloian (2009) A Model for Designing Geocollaborative Artifacts and Applications Groupware: Design, Implementation, and Use. 15th Collaboration Researchers’ International Workshop on Groupware, Criwg 2009, Douro, Portugal. L. Carriço, N. Baloian and B. Fonseca, vol. 5784, pp. 278-294. Heidelberg, Springer-Verlag. http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/criwg-09-geo.pdf
Antunes, P. and H. Mourão (2009) Adding a Resilience-Enhanced Component to the Wfmc Reference Architecture. Proceedings of the 2009 13th International Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design (CSCWD 2009) Santiago, Chile. IEEE. http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/cscwd-09-wf.pdf
Ferreira, A., V. Herskovic and P. Antunes (2008) Attention-Based Management of Information Flows in Synchronous Electronic Brainstorming. Groupware: Design, Implementation, and Use. 14th International Workshop, CRIWG 2008, Omaha, Us, September 2008 Proceedings. R. Briggs, P. Antunes, G. Vreede and A. Read, vol. 5411, pp. 1-16. Heidelberg, Springer-Verlag. http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/criwg-08-at.pdf
Sapateiro, C., P. Antunes, G. Zurita, R. Vogt and N. Baloian (2008) Evaluating a Mobile Emergency Response System. Groupware: Design, Implementation, and Use. 14th International Workshop, CRIWG 2008, Omaha, Us, September 2008 Proceedings. R. Briggs, P. Antunes, G. Vreede and A. Read, vol. 5411, pp. 121-134. Heidelberg, Springer-Verlag. http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/criwg-08-em.pdf
Antunes, P., R. Bandeira, L. Carriço, G. Zurita, N. Baloian and R. Vogt (2008) Risk Assessment in Healthcare Collaborative Settings: A Case Study Using Shell. Groupware: Design, Implementation, and Use. 14th International Workshop, CRIWG 2008, Omaha, Us, September 2008 Proceedings. R. Briggs, P. Antunes, G. Vreede and A. Read, vol. 5411, pp. 65-73. Heidelberg, Springer-Verlag.http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/criwg-08-hc.pdf
Ferreira, A. and P. Antunes (2008) An Attentive Groupware Device to Mitigate Information Overload. Interactive Systems: Design, Specification, and Verification. Proceedings of the 2008 Conference on Design, Specification, and Verification of Interactive Systems, Kingston, Canada. T. Graham and P. Palanque. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 5136, pp. 29-42. Heidelberg, Springer-Verlag.http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/dsv-08.pdf
Zurita, G., P. Antunes, N. Baloian, F. Baytelman and A. Farias (2008) Visually-Driven Decision Making Using Handheld Devices. Collaborative Decison Making: Prospectives and Challenges. P. Zaraté, J. Belaud, G. Camilleri and F. Ravat. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications, pp. 257-269. Amsterdam, Netherlands, IOS Press. Papers from the Collaborative Decision Making Conference CDM08, Toulouse, France. Full paper acceptance ratio: 49%. http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/cdm-08.pdf
Sapateiro, C., P. Antunes , G. Zurita, N. Baloian and R. Vogt (2008) Supporting Crisis Management Processes by Wirelessly Interconnected Tablet-PCs. 2008 IEEE International Conference on e-Business Engineering, Xi’an, China. IEEE Press. http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/icebe-08.pdf
Ferreira, A. and P. Antunes (2008) Tackling Information Overload in Electronic Brainstorming. Proceedings of the 2008 Conference on Group Decision and Negotiation Coimbra, Portugal.http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/gdn-08.pdf
Sapateiro, C., P. Antunes , G. Zurita, R. Vogt, P. Infante and N. Baloian (2008) Assisting Teams in Emergent Work Activities. Proceedings of the 2008 Conference on Group Decision and Negotiation, Coimbra, Portugal. Extended Abstract. http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/gdn-08-emergency.pdf
Ferreira, A. and P. Antunes (2007) On the Need for a Framework for Attentive Groupware Systems. V. Dimitrova, M. Tzagarakis and J. Vassileva. Workshop Proceedings SociUM: Adaptation and Personalization in Social Systems: Groups, Teams, Communities, Corfu, Greece. http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/papers/socium-07.pdf
Technical Reports
António Ferreira, Pedro Antunes. Attentive groupware systems: A framework and a prototype tool. Technical report TR-07-31. Department of Informatics of the University of Lisbon. November 2007.http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/reports/di-fcul-tr-07-31.pdf
Project A-CSCW. A-CSCW – Attentive CSCW. Project Proposal. Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, P. Antunes, Ed., 2006. http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~paa/reports/R032.pdf