Computer-Supported Collaboration: Theory and Practice

Discover the latest developments in AR, VR, mobile, and wearable technologies for the remote guidance of physical tasks

In Computer-Supported Collaboration: Theory and Practice, an expert team of researchers delivers the latest instruction in using augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mobile or wearable technology to support remote guidance on physical tasks. The authors offer an overview of the field before moving on to discuss state-of-the-art research developments in everything from shared visual spaces to the use of hand gestures and gaze information for better collaboration.

The book also describes the hardware devices, software tools, and libraries that can be used to help build remote guidance systems, as well as the industrial systems and applications that have been used in real world settings. Finally, Computer-Supported Collaboration includes a discussion of the current challenges faced by practitioners in the field and likely future directions for new research and development.

Readers will also discover:

• A thorough introduction and review of the art of remote guidance research and engineering
• Comprehensive explorations of the shared visual space used to support common grounding and the remote guidance of physical tasks, as well as mobility support for local workers
• Practical discussions of mobility support of workers and helpers in remote guidance, including systems that support hands-free interaction
• In-depth explorations of communication cues in remote guidance, including systems that support gesturing and sketching on a touch-based display

Perfect for researchers and professionals working in human-computer interaction or computer-supported collaborative work, Computer-Supported Collaboration: Theory and Practice is also an ideal resource for educators and graduate students teaching or studying in these fields.

Weidong Huang, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. He received his PhD degree in computer science from the University of Sydney. His research interests are in human-computer interaction, visualization and data science.

Mark Billinghurst, PhD, is the Director of the Empathic Computing Laboratory and a Professor at the University of South Australia in Adelaide, Australia, and also at the University of Auckland in Auckland, New Zealand. He conducts research on how virtual and real worlds can be merged, publishing over 650 papers on augmented reality, virtual reality, remote collaboration, empathic computing, and related topics.

Leila Alem, PhD, is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology Sydney Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. She was a principal research scientist at the CSIRO Digital Productivity and Services based in Sydney. Her main focus of research is in the area of human factors in computer mediated collaboration settings. Drawing on cognitive psychology, social science and human-computer-interface research she has investigated the media, cognitive and social factors at play in telepresence systems and environments.

Chun Xiao, PhD, is a Research Data Insights Analyst at the University of Technology Sydney. She received her PhD in computer science from Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany.

Troels Rasmussen, PhD, was a Faculty Member in the Department of Computer Science at Aarhus University, Denmark, and received his PhD from the same university. His research interests are in augmented reality and human-computer interaction.