OVIK – Places for Virtual-Informal Communication

OVIK – Places for Virtual-Informal Communication

DOI of the original publication

URI

https://irf.fhnw.ch/handle/11654/31233

Project type

angewandte Forschung

Project start

01.01.2014

Project end

31.12.2016

Project status

abgeschlossen

Project contact

Project manager

Simon, Andreas

Contributors

Mahrer, Alban

Mertens, Mirko

Description

Abstract

Many companies are now working together with employees in distributed locations. Informal communication, which has been found to be an important factor for successful collaboration, is strongly diminished over spatial distance and with reduced visibility and presence. The localized character of informal communication appears to influence and limit collaboration for work in distributed organizations. The project will therefore examine how informal communication between sites can be enabled “virtually” – without the need for frequent and close physical encounter and presence, supported by video communication. Architectural elements, furniture and video communication technology, together with guidelines for workplace organization are developed within the project that aim to support informal communication and enable successful collaboration in different spatial constellations as “places of virtual-informal communication”. The main project objective is the development and evaluation of products to enable and promote informal communication between distributed sites. Advanced goal is the successful characterization and implementation of “places for virtual-informal communication” (OVIKs) based on the products developed. The project aims to contribute to the understanding of distributed collaboration in general and to the understanding of the specific potential and risks of the extensive use of video communication in workplace settings.

Link

https://www.ixdm.ch/portfolio/ovik/

Created during FHNW affiliation

Strategic action fields FHNW

School

Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst

Institute

Institut Experimentelle Design- und Medienkulturen

Financed by

Kommission für Technologie und Innovation (KTI)

Project partner

Contracting authority

Hochschule für Angewandte Psychologie FHNW, Institut für Kooperationsforschung und -entwicklung ifk
Hochschule Luzern Technik & Architektur, CCTP
Cisco Systems (Switzerland) GmbH
Vitra AG
Post CH AG
SKAN AG
Trivadis AG