Virtual Collaboration Spaces: Bringing Presence to Distributed Collaboration

Authors

  • Austin Tate Artificial Intelligence Applications Institute (AIAI), School of Informatics, The University of Edinburgh
  • Jeffrey T Hansberger Human Research and Engineering Directorate, US Army Research Laboratory
  • Stephen Potter Artificial Intelligence Applications Institute (AIAI), School of Informatics, The University of Edinburgh
  • Gerhard Wickler Artificial Intelligence Applications Institute (AIAI), School of Informatics, The University of Edinburgh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4101/jvwr.v7i2.7090

Keywords:

Collaboration, Presence, Virtual Space, Emergency Response

Abstract

This paper concerns the use of virtual worlds alongside web technologies for on-line collaborative activities. The potential of this combination of technologies lies in the complementary notions of presence that these technologies offer their users. After discussing the nature of synchronous and asynchronous distributed collaboration, we describe a virtual collaborative environment that has been developed for task-focused communities and support to them through specific problem-solving episodes. This environment has been subject to experiments involving the development and provision of expert advice in the context of the response to a large-scale emergency crisis.

Author Biography

Austin Tate, Artificial Intelligence Applications Institute (AIAI), School of Informatics, The University of Edinburgh

Austin Tate is Director of the Artificial Intelligence Applications Institute (AIAI) and holds the Personal Chair of Knowledge-Based Systems at the University of Edinburgh. He holds computing and e-Learning degrees and a PhD in Machine Intelligence. His research work is focused on emergency response and involves advanced knowledge and planning technologies, and collaborative systems especially using virtual worlds. He is Coordinator for the Virtual University of Edinburgh (Vue) and runs the Openvue OpenSimulator grid.

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Published

2014-05-30

Issue

Section

Peer Reviewed Research Papers