Culture and control in a media space

  • Authors:
  • Paul Dourish

  • Affiliations:
  • Rank Xerox EuroPARC, Cambridge, UK

  • Venue:
  • ECSCW'93 Proceedings of the third conference on European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work
  • Year:
  • 1993

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Abstract

Media spaces integrate audio, video and computer networking technology in order to provide a rich communicative environment for collaboration. The connectivity which they provide brings with it important concerns regarding privacy, protection and control. In order to derive the fullest benefit from this technology, it is essential that these issues be addressed. As part of our investigation of media space systems, we developed a computational infrastructure addressing these problems our own working environment. A key aspect of this work is the relationship between two aspects of this control system-the technological components which determine how the system will behave, and the social components which determine acceptable use and behaviour. This paper discusses our experiences with the privacy and control aspects of our RAVE media space environment, specifically with regard to connection management, and compares them to the experiences of other research groups. We discuss the nature of the relationship between technological and social elements in using this technology, and discuss the consequences for the design of such systems.