II-New: Laboratory for Studying Next Generation Computer-Mediated Teamwork

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of this project is to provide Cornell researchers with equipment that tracks people's physiological responses, eye gaze and body movements as they use communication and collaboration tools. This equipment can help researchers better understand how the use of these tools affects people's stress levels and task performance and will lead to the design of future tools that help people work more effectively. The proposed infrastructure will enhance education at Cornell and other locations. Cornell professors will be able to integrate the equipment into their classes to create novel and engaging learning experiences, and students will be able to use the equipment to explore their own ideas in class projects. The infrastructure will also be used as part of outreach activities aimed at increasing diversity in STEM disciplines, including two programs for junior and senior high school girls. The results of studies using this equipment will help businesses and organizations make informed decisions about what communication and collaboration tools will best support their mission. The results will also lead to new tools that individuals can use to manage their own stress levels and maximize their performance. This project will develop a laboratory for research on next generation computer-mediated and computer-enhanced teamwork and group interaction that will allow investigators to capture complex relationships among technology, individual cognitive and affective states, and team dynamics. The infrastructure will support a broad range of forward-looking research activities by Cornell faculty and students working in areas such as human computer interaction, computer-mediated communication, computer-supported cooperative work, virtual and augmented reality, social computing, and human-robot interaction. The infrastructure will support both the fine-grained measurement of human responses (e.g., heart rate, eye gaze, body movement) and the development and evaluation of new social computing tools that draw on these fine grained measures, such as 'just in time' interventions. It will allow investigators to ask new research questions that can only be answered by capturing complex interrelationships among technology, individual cognitive and affective states, and team dynamics. Investigators will also be able to design and test new types of computational tools that draw on the psychophysiological, gaze and body position data provided by the infrastructure.