The impact of distributed multimedia systems on computer support for co-operative work
Neil Williams, Gordon S. Blair, Geoff Coulson, Nigel Davies, Tom A. Rodden · John Wiley & Sons, Inc. eBooks · 1994
Neil Williams, Gordon S. Blair, Geoff Coulson,Nigel Davies and Tom RoddenComputing Department,Lancaster University,Bailrigg, Lancaster,LA1 4YR,UK.Tel. +524 593054email [nw,gordon,geoff,nigel,tam]@comp.lancs.ac.ukABSTRACTRecent advances in distributed multimedia technologies are likely to have asignificant impact on the co-operative work practices of organisations.However, at present there is little practical experience with distributedmultimedia systems. This paper examines the potential for multimedia systemswithin a particular end user organisation. A pilot multimedia informationsystem is described which has been designed to support a specific co-operativeworking scenario identified within the organisation. The paper concludes thatmultimedia can have a significant impact on co-operative working. However,considerable attention must be given to the required system support for suchapplications. The development of integrated multimedia information systems isseen as particularly important. Without this, the full potential of multimedia andco-operative working cannot be fully realised.1. INTRODUCTIONCo-operative working involves a number of people working together to achieve acommon goal. The distribution of organisations, however, often requires that personnel areforced to work with colleagues who are situated remotely. The geographic distancebetween personnel constrains the degree to which they can collaborate. Communicationstechnologies are important in helping to overcome these constraints and achieve the desiredlevel of remote co-operation. Until recently, however, communications technologies havefailed to provide the required level of support for remote user interaction. For example,technology constraints have restricted computer support for co-operative working (CSCW)to a limited set of media types. The majority of applications have been restricted to text andgraphics communication, but have not been able to exploit media types such as audio andvideo. Those systems developed to provide co-operative working in conjunction with audioand video have been forced to use non-digital networks for these more demanding forms ofmedia. Such systems present the user with a non-integrated information system.However, advances in networking technology and the availability of multimediaworkstations have led to the emergence of distributed multimedia systems. Such systemsare able to support a full range of media including text, graphics, image, audio and video in