Evaluation of the IRORI: A Cyber-Space that Catalyzes Face-to-Face Informal Communication

Abstract

AbstractThe importance of face-to-face informal communication is well recognized. The ‘irori’ is a Japanese-traditional little sitting space or room with a fire burning which affords relaxation and intimacy among a family. We, adopting the ‘irori’ as a metaphor, have designed and developed a cyber-space called IRORI as an IT-based space that catalyzes face-to-face informal communication among members of a small organization. We conducted evaluations of the IRORI by user experiments. The results of the experiments suggested that the IRORI brought about relaxation and conversation catalysis.KeywordsProxy ServerInformal CommunicationComputer Support Cooperative WorkOriginal EnvironmentTouch PanelThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.