0000000000918936
AUTHOR
Yu You
Meeting others—supporting situation awareness on the WWW
Abstract World Wide Web (WWW) techniques provide a simple interface, which is accessible almost everywhere. The WWW supports document sharing and information retrieval, but has no tools for direct user interaction, simply because the mechanisms to support user awareness are missing. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, we present general concepts of situation awareness, which concerns the user interaction on the WWW platform, and a theoretical framework, which is used in examining existing awareness support systems. Second, we provide an analysis of PeopleAwarenessEngine, which supports situation awareness and enables user communication and collaboration on the WWW.
From information to conversation
We support the calls from many commentators to include human interaction in the web, rather than as an extra outside the web. We suggest a generic model of awareness, and some specific interpretations: action-event couplings to call a receiver; general awareness of known others; and local awareness of all others. We then consider extensions to the web into mobile and domestic appliances, and suggest that an underlying awareness service will be needed there as much, or more than in classic desktop web access.