A shared physical workspace at a distance

Abstract: In the year 2020, we saw an increase in people working from home and practicing social distancing due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19. It became clear that common tools used to substitute for this physical presence might be considered lacking. The objective of this work was to explore and evaluate a tool for improving communication at a distance and contribute with insight and knowledge to the field of Human-Computer Interaction and Computer Supported Cooperative Work. A prototype system was constructed with commonly accessible and low-cost projectors and web cameras to provide a shared workspace at a distance as a complement to commonly used video calls. A user study was held including seven pairs of participants in which each pair performed collaborative tasks using the system while spatially separated. The System Usability Scale together with a Thematic Analysis of follow-up interviews was utilized to evaluate how the participants perceived the systems usability and affordances. The construction of the prototype system also led to insights on some of its challenges. The results show that the system embodies a high usability and a variety of affordances. The system could therefore be considered as a valid substitute for physical presence in spatially distant collaborative meetings or as an alternative to some commonly used groupware.