Internet Video Calls Research Articles

A Pilot Study Conducting Online Think Aloud Qualitative Method during Social Distancing: Benefits and Challenges.

COVID-19 social distancing restrictions provided unprecedented insights into online research methodologies and approaches for both participants and researchers. Field research traditionally conducted face-to-face had to be transferred online, highlighting the great strides made in communication technologies (particularly live video streaming) over the last two decades for online qualitative research. However, dedicated research on these phenomena is tentative, including with regard to specific methods such as Think Aloud. This paper contributes to literature on online Think Aloud in qualitative research, evaluating new insights on its adoption online. It draws on findings from an online piloting study of Think Aloud tasks to explore the implications of using real-time internet video calls via SoIP applications by MS Teams. To assess the online Think Aloud process, this review called upon some of the comments made by participants during the semi-structured interview or comments made during the Think Aloud process, when they were relevant to the online process itself. It focuses on different dimensions of benefits, rapport in the session’s encounter, challenges, and ethical concerns. Overall, the findings indicate that online Think Aloud sessions cannot completely replace in-person sessions for some particular and highly in-depth research areas, but they can greatly facilitate qualitative data collection in most conventional contexts. It is necessary to carry out further studies exploring the use of this and other online approaches and instructions.

Internet Video Calling and Desktop Sharing (vcds) as an Emerging Research Method for Exploring Pedagogical Reasoning in Lesson Planning

Abstract This article presents the specific case of video calling and desktop sharing (vcds) used in a small-scale doctoral study exploring the lesson planning processes of teachers as a result of a national curriculum change. Accessing the participants’ actions and live think-aloud exposition of their pedagogical practices also generated dialogue as new data. The study set out to explore how pedagogical content knowledge was enacted through pedagogical reasoning when participant teachers planned Computing lessons. Two central case studies captured using vcds are shared. One presents a dialogic research interview which developed a shared understanding of the impact of the curriculum change on one teacher’s practices. The second case study shows the potential of vcds to capture the verbalised thoughts and observable actions of a second teacher preparing to teach new programming skills. The video data collected provided a rich audio-visual record of the lesson planning process as it happened. This article shares the approach taken, exemplifies the data captured and reflects on vcds as a method for exploring teachers’ pedagogical reasoning. It concludes that, depending on the nature of the research question, vcds may be justified as more suitable than face-to-face, artefact-based interviews.

Using internet video calls in qualitative (longitudinal) interviews: some implications for rapport

Forming part of the new ‘methodological frontier’ the use of digital communication technologies has become increasingly commonplace in social research. Whilst audio-only online interviews and asynchronous means of communicating online has been discussed for over two decades, video capabilities; being able to see a participant face-to-face online (e.g. via Skype, Face Time, Google Hangouts) is a much more recent phenomenon. Discussion of such new opportunities has tended to centre on the practicalities and technicalities. Alternatively, this paper moves beyond the recent empiricist focus to reflect critically on the implications of using internet video calls on methodological matters of importance to qualitative (longitudinal) researchers. Drawing on a long-standing qualitative longitudinal study following lives of over 50 young people, the paper focuses on the potentials and pitfalls for rapport of using internet video calls for qualitative interviewing. The findings have resonance for short-term studies, and longitudinal endeavours.

Internet Video Telephony Allows Speech Reading by Deaf Individuals and Improves Speech Perception by Cochlear Implant Users

ObjectiveTo analyze speech reading through Internet video calls by profoundly hearing-impaired individuals and cochlear implant (CI) users.MethodsSpeech reading skills of 14 deaf adults and 21 CI users were assessed using the Hochmair Schulz Moser (HSM) sentence test. We presented video simulations using different video resolutions (1280×720, 640×480, 320×240, 160×120 px), frame rates (30, 20, 10, 7, 5 frames per second (fps)), speech velocities (three different speakers), webcameras (Logitech Pro9000, C600 and C500) and image/sound delays (0–500 ms). All video simulations were presented with and without sound and in two screen sizes. Additionally, scores for live Skype™ video connection and live face-to-face communication were assessed.ResultsHigher frame rate (>7 fps), higher camera resolution (>640×480 px) and shorter picture/sound delay (<100 ms) were associated with increased speech perception scores. Scores were strongly dependent on the speaker but were not influenced by physical properties of the camera optics or the full screen mode. There is a significant median gain of +8.5%pts (p = 0.009) in speech perception for all 21 CI-users if visual cues are additionally shown. CI users with poor open set speech perception scores (n = 11) showed the greatest benefit under combined audio-visual presentation (median speech perception +11.8%pts, p = 0.032).ConclusionWebcameras have the potential to improve telecommunication of hearing-impaired individuals.

A Hybrid Scalable Peer-to-Peer IP-Based Multimedia Services Architecture in Ethernet Passive Optical Networks

Peer-to-peer (P2P) applications such as P2P video streaming and internet video calling have gained tremendous popularity and are expected to be vastly increasing in the next few years. However, low-cost large-scale video services have remained an intangible goal. The ethernet passive optical network (EPON) is being regarded as one of the promising for next-generation optical access solutions in the access networks attempt to tackle this problem but facing a major challenge to offer scalable large-scale video services. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an architecture which combines the advantages of EPON and P2P architecture to provide scalable Internet Protocol delivery multimedia services and improve quality-of-services. In the proposed architecture, we design new optical network unit (ONU) mechanisms, which support traffic redirection communication among ONUs in combination with caching. Thus, it can reduce the resource consumption and add extra downstream bandwidth at the optical line terminal since the intra-PON traffic is not necessary to be buffered and scheduled in the downstream direction. Finally, we propose a “Redirect” dynamic bandwidth allocation scheme, which can support intra-PON traffic redirection and intertraffic bandwidth allocation. Simulation results have shown that our proposed architecture can improve the overall QoS in terms of end-to-end delay, jitter, system throughput, fairness, and packet dropping rate.

A national survey of the infrastructure and IT policies required to deliver computerised cognitive behavioural therapy in the English NHS

ObjectiveThis study aimed to identify if patients have adequate access to Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (cCBT) programmes in all mental health trusts across England.DesignThe primary researcher contacted a targeted sample...

Safety for home care: the use of Internet video calls to double-check interventions

We investigated the feasibility of using Internet video calls for a double check on medication or other complex interventions being administered in the home. Seven nurses were recruited to the study and received training on using laptop and tablet computers with mobile Internet connections. The devices were taken on scheduled home visits to patient homes and video calls with a second clinician were conducted to double-check various items associated with the clinical care of the patient. Over a 14-month period, 88 video calls were conducted during which a total of 600 checks were completed. The items checked included medication names, doses, segmentations on syringes and details of ventilator settings. The quality of the video call was acceptable on 97% of occasions. On three occasions (3%) it was not possible to establish a connection and the double check was not achieved. On every occasion that the video call was successful (n = 85), nurses were 100% confident that they were able to carry out the full requirements of a double check. The use of Internet video calls is feasible for double-checking and has the potential to improve patient safety and reduce costs.

Overview

Welcome to the Bell Labs Technical Journal special issue on the Mobile Handset Platform for Service Delivery. The notion of what a mobile phone is and the tasks that it is expected to discharge has undergone a rapid evolution in the past few years. In many ways the evolution of the mobile handset has paralleled our definition of being connected. It is no longer enough to be able to have a real-time verbal conversation. Modern handsets are required to support a wider, richer version of communicating: via social networking sites, Internet video calls, and various textual exchange mechanisms. Add to this personal entertainment: resident and streaming music and video. The handset is also increasingly becoming a mechanism for e-commerce: from traditional web commerce experiences to specialized applications for everything from ordering takeout to paying at a parking meter. With the convergence of 1) high performance low power processors, 2) bright, high resolution screens, 3) the ability to bridge multiple wireless communication technologies, and 4) increasing wireless wide area network (WAN) data coverage, the stage is set for a smart mobile handset—a new device that marries the functions of a traditional PC with that of a mobile phone. The burgeoning capabilities of the modern mobile handset pose a number of opportunities and technical challenges. This issue of the Bell Labs Technical Journal explores a few of the challenges and potential applications for a smart handset and the network infrastructure requirements, such as security, that are needed.