Social presence in a home tele-application

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Communication Technology
• Psychology

Background:

• Informal telecommunication platforms are evolving for home use.
• Social presence is a key factor in user experience for remote communication.
• Existing tools often lack immersive features for shared experiences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the subjective experience of the PhotoShare tele-application.
• To investigate the impact of video communication on social presence.
• To assess the usability of an electronic pointer feature and validate the IPO Social Presence Questionnaire (IPO-SPQ).

Main Methods:

• Conducted a study on the PhotoShare tele-application, which includes shared photo viewing, audio, and video connections.
• Collected subjective evaluations of social presence and feature usability.
• Utilized the IPO Social Presence Questionnaire (IPO-SPQ) for measurement.

Main Results:

• Broadband, life-size video communication significantly enhanced social presence.
• Women reported higher social presence ratings compared to men.
• The electronic pointing function did not significantly affect social presence.

Conclusions:

• Life-size video communication is crucial for increasing social presence in telecommunication applications.
• User experience and social presence may differ based on gender.
• Advanced workspace features like electronic pointers may be less critical for perceived social presence than communication bandwidth.