Abstract:
In this presentation I review next generation technologies for collaboration in a COVID world. People have been researching collaborative tools for many years, but the global pandemic forced large numbers of people to work from home for the first time. The experience of long-term use of video conferencing and other collaborative tools, soon highlighted the limitations of current technology. I review some of the lessons learned from this widespread use, and discuss how new approaches to collaboration using AR and VR could overcome some of the limitations of desktop tools. In particular use of AR and VR can enable more natural ways to work together remotely, while new directions such as Empathic Computing can enable new ways to work together. As remote working becomes the new normal, there are opportunities and directions for future work which will also be discussed.
Biography:
Mark Billinghurst is Professor of Human Computer Interaction at the University of South Australia in Adelaide, Australia. He earned a PhD in 2002 from the University of Washington and researches innovative computer interfaces that explore how virtual and real worlds can be merged, publishing over 300 papers on topics such as wearable computing, augmented reality and mobile interfaces. Prior to joining the University of South Australia, he was Director of the HIT Lab NZ at the University of Canterbury and he has previously worked at British Telecom, Nokia, Google and the MIT Media Laboratory. His MagicBook project, was winner of the 2001 Discover award for best entertainment application, and he received the 2013 IEEE VR Technical Achievement Award for contributions to research and commercialization in Augmented Reality. In 2013 he was selected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Click here to learn more about Mark