The affordances of media spaces for collaboration
William W. Gaver · 1992
In this paper, I discuss the affordances offered by media spaces for collaboration, contrasting their properties with those of the everyday medium and exploring the implications for perception and interaction. Collaboration is situated in a physical environment which supports or constrains the various forms social interactions might take. An analysis of the affordances of the environment – the properties that offer actions and interactions to those within it – thus complements analyses which emphasize social and cultural factors. Examining the "physics " of media space systems is helpful both in understanding how people use them to collaborate and in suggesting possibilities for design.