Some Experiences with IRC, Webcams, and a Virtual Environment as Means for Informal Communication Theme: Collaborative Work and Education

Within the framework of an exploratory Human Factors study three systems were examined in terms of their usefulness and usability for informal communication of distributed work groups: An Internet Relay Chat (IRC) system, an IRC system supplemented by Webcam pictures (i.e. periodically updated still pictures on a Web page), and a virtual environment system. Results showed, among other things, that IRC supports text based informal communication in an easy and straightforward manner. Shortcomings of IRC are problems with synchronising the textual speech acts and difficulties with finding out whether another user is willing to communicate. The latter problem was solved—at least partially—by the IRC plus Webcams system: Users could assess the availability of their potential interlocutors to a far better extent. The Human Factors test of the virtual environment system showed, that the graphical capabilities of the system are suitable for conveying mimic and body language signals, at least in principle.