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ClearFace: Translucent Multiuser Interface for TeamWorkStation
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Date
1991
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Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands
Abstract
Through the experimental use of TeamWorkStation, we found the most serious problem is the smallness of the shared screen space. In order to fully use the limited screen space, this paper proposed a new multiuser interface design technique "ClearFace". The face windows are translucent and over/aythe shared workspace window. We implemented a prototype of ClearFace system on a TeamWorkStation. Several types of face window layout strategies were tested: fixed location windows (right side, left side, top) and movable windows. Through experimental design sessions, we experienced little difficulty in switching our focus between the face images and drawing objects. The theory of selective looking accounts for this flexible perception mechanism. Although users can see draw objects behind a face with little difficulty, we found that users hesitate to draw figures or write texts over face images. Because of this behavior, we concluded that the movable strategy is the best. TeamWorkStation demonstrated the power of two different usage of translucent overlay technique: fused over/ayof drawing surface images for seamless shared workspace, and selective over/ayto save screen space.