Abstract
Via audiovisual communications and a controllable physical embodiment, Mobile Robotic telePresence (MRP) systems aim to support enhanced collaboration between remote and local members of a given setting. But MRP systems also put the remote user in positions where they frequently rely on the help of local partners. Getting or 'recruiting' such help can be done with various verbal and embodied actions ranging in explicitness. In this paper, we look at how such recruitment occurs in video data drawn from an experiment where pairs of participants (one local, one remote) performed a timed searching task. We find a prevalence of implicit recruitment methods and outline obstacles to effective recruitment that emerge due to communicative asymmetries that are built into MRP design. In a future where remote work becomes widespread, assistance through remote work technology like MRPs needs close examination at a fundamental interactional level, taking into account how communicative asymmetries are at play in everyday use of such technologies.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for a range of flexible and robust remote collaboration technologies
While traditional 2D video meetings will undoubtedly make up the bulk of remote collaborations for some time to come, Mobile Robotic telePresence (MRP) systems may become less exotic as organisations seek ways to enable more flexible physical workplace presence due to social distancing requirements
In this work we have closely examined the interaction between local and remote MRP-piloting participants working together in a collaborative search task, focusing on just how remote users recruit assistance from local participants
Summary
248:2 these features often leave pilot users needing help from local people—but asking for help is not a neutral act Given these issues, what do we need to know about recruiting assistance, from its practical methods to its micropolitics, to enable an effective and inclusive workplace?. Significant work has been done on communicative asymmetries in video-conferencing ([11, 28]), and in our study we see the imbalance in physical abilities and access to information between the local and remote participants as clearly shaping their interactions and impacting on effective recruitment of assistance. Drawing from literature on face-to-face assistance and CSCW work on communicative asymmetries, we examine the structure of the interactions and how it is shaped by the asymmetries introduced by the medium of MRP. Doing so may empower remote users to participate in activities with their local co-workers on a more equal and capable footing
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