https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2145204.2145367

Work teams that are geographically distributed and have large time-zone differences often face challenges in coordinating their work due to lack of overlapping working hours. In this study, we investigated the use of asynchronous video communication in such teams. We developed a tool called VideoThreads, which provides a unique visualization of video messages in a thread-based format. Based on our deployment of VideoThreads to four teams, we provide design recommendations and insights into the benefits of using asynchronous video sharing.

  • Background
    • Asynchronous Video Communication Tools: There are commercially available tools, such as Techsmith’s Camtasia Studio and Jive Systems, that allow users to send or broadcast individual videos and screencasts to multiple recipients. However, these tools have limited support for visualizing the flow of conversations and can be complex to use. Our tool, VideoThreads, focuses specifically on providing lightweight interaction and conversation visualization.
    • Related Tools: There are also non-commercial tools like AIR (Accelerated Instant Replay) Conferencing and PAVE (PAL Virtual Environment) that are relevant to our study. AIR Conferencing enables distributed attendees to catch up on missed content during a meeting using various modalities like audio, video, shared workspace, and text [9]. PAVE was designed to support asynchronous collaboration among distributed researchers by allowing them to replay captured media (audio, text, and drawing) used in a virtual meeting room [1]. However, video was not included in PAVE due to its large file size at the time of its development. Our work addresses this gap by incorporating video and screen recording threads to facilitate richer interactions.
      • AIR Conferencing: [AIR conferencing: Accelerated Instant Replay for In-Meeting Multimodal Review]
      • Kori Inkpen: Did she work on both VideoThreads and AIR?