Being Here: Designing for Distributed Hands-On Collaboration in Blended Interaction Spaces

Abstract

This paper describes a concept for supporting distributed hands-on collaboration through interaction design for the physical and the digital workspace. The Blended Interaction Spaces concept creates distributed work environments in which collaborating parties all feel that they are present 'here' rather than 'there'. We describe thinking and inspirations behind the Blended Interaction Spaces concept, and summarize findings from fieldwork activities informing our design. We then exemplify the Blended Interaction Spaces concept through a prototype implementation of one of four concepts.