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<P><FONT size=2>Hi.. some thoughts that come to my mind.<BR>Clearly both points,
made by Jennifer and Barbar, are important to look at, but I think:<BR>"what
disadvantages AG-based communication have over face-to-face..." question
is<BR>for finding a technological improvement for AG.<BR>"what advantages ..."
question is for research thrust of AG community.<BR><BR>"Dourish, Adler,
Bellotti & Henderson (1996) report the experience of two dyads that used
open audio/video connections between their offices for 2-3 years. To be sure,
these dyads were members of advanced research labs who had intrinsic motivations
to use the technology. However, they report that what at first glance might seem
to be serious limitations of the technology (e.g., poor support for eye contact
across the video link) are adapted to over time, and fade into the background as
concerns. If the tools have useful functionality, new practices will emerge to
adjust to the characteristics of the tool." -- Distance Matter, Olson and Olson,
2000.<BR></FONT><FONT size=2></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>kyoung..</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2><BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From:
owner-ag-tech@mcs.anl.gov [<A
href="mailto:owner-ag-tech@mcs.anl.gov">mailto:owner-ag-tech@mcs.anl.gov</A>]On
Behalf Of Barbara A. Kucera<BR>Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2002 9:07 AM<BR>To:
Julia Shiela Mullen<BR>Cc: Jennifer Teig Von Hoffman;
ag-tech@mcs.anl.gov<BR>Subject: Re: [AG-TECH] Human factors and AG<BR><BR><BR>Hi
Julie,<BR><BR>As usual, Jennifer has given a lot of thought to this and
responded quickly. However, in reading her points, it brought a couple to
my mind.<BR><BR>The first and most obvious is: What disadvantages does
AG-based communication have over face-to-face communication, and what can be
done to overcome them?<BR><BR>As the technology has progressed, the AG is being
used for more secure high level meetings. Will this have an impact on who
is selected to be a node operator? <BR>How will it effect the status of the
position?<BR><BR>As the role of node operator becomes more automated, at the
same time that the demand for someone knowledgeable about the technology and
managerial areas increases, is the title still descriptive, or should the the
position be renamed to more appropriately describe the role?<BR><BR>Here at NCSA
we have a two-person staff with a manager. Small AG nodes often have one
person who does everything, perhaps with the help of a student. The sites
with which I'm familiar often have limited funds and are interested in making
this easy for users to be able to operate without a full-time operator
present. Has anyone attempted to define the AG operator
position?<BR><BR>Lots of things to think
about.<BR><BR>Barbara<BR>------------<BR><BR>At 05:08 PM 8/28/2002 -0400,
Jennifer Teig Von Hoffman wrote:<BR><BR>Hi Julie,<BR><BR>Cool! Here are some
ideas, with the big caveat that I'm not a human factors expert (I don't even
play one on TV).<BR><BR>* How does the presence of a node operator affect
interpersonal dynamics? Can this be positive? How can it be minimized?<BR><BR>*
What human factors implications come into play when bridging the AG with VR
environments?<BR><BR>* What human factors implications come into play when a
given AG session is joined by "regular" AG nodes, PIGs, VRVS clients,
etc?<BR><BR>* What would happen if we gave all session participants laptops and
MOO access?<BR><BR>* What advantages does AG-based communication have over
face-to-face communication, and how can we make better use of these
advantages?<BR><BR>And of course, since you folks at WPI are close by, I'm happy
to drive out to brainstorm sometime if that's helpful (or have her come to visit
BU, of course).<BR><BR>- Jennifer<BR><BR>Julia Shiela Mullen wrote:<BR><BR>Hi
-<BR>We have an undergraduate who is interested in<BR>human factors and the
Access Grid. At WPI<BR>we require each student to complete a
major<BR>project which relates technology and society.<BR>(This project is a
graduation requirement.)<BR>The descriptions and content of such projects<BR>is
fairly flexible. We are currently at the<BR>beginning of her project
experience so I am<BR>turning to the AG community for suggestions.<BR>What is
the AG community most interested in<BR>with regards to 'human factors and the
AG'?<BR>Is there a wish list of studies that folks<BR>would like to
see? Are there project ideas<BR>that we just didn't have the
manpower for?<BR>I welcome any and all suggestions - I will<BR>present them to
the student and we will<BR>see what interests her.<BR>Thanks for your help on
this -<BR>
Julie<BR><BR>------------------------------------------<BR> Julia S.
Mullen, Ph.D<BR> Academic Computing Application Scientist<BR>
Computing and Communications Center<BR> Worcester Polytechnic
Institute<BR> Worcester, MA<BR> phone: 508.831.6054<BR>
fax: 508.831.5680<BR> email:
jsm@wpi.edu<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>________________<BR>Barbara A.
Kucera<BR>Alliance/EPSCoR Liaison<BR>National Center for Supercomputing
Applications (NCSA)<BR>University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign<BR>(217)
244-0131 * Fax (217) 244-2909<BR><BR>Computer Science is no more about computers
than astronomy is about<BR>telescopes. - Edsger W. Dijkstra, computer science
professor</FONT> </P></BODY></HTML>