Abstract

There have been many attempts to support awareness and lightweight interactions using video and audio, but few have been built on widely available infrastructure. Text-based systems have become more popular, but few support awareness, opportunistic conversations, and mobility, three important elements of helping distributed groups coordinate. We built on the popularity of text-based Instant Messengers (IM) by building a mobile IM called Hubbub that tries to provide all three, notably through the use of musical sounds. In a 5.5-month use study, we found that Hubbub helped people feel connected to others in different locations and supported opportunistic interactions. Sound was a useful cue for helping people feel connected, although some found it annoying. It was more important to support graceful transitions between multiple fixed locations than to support wireless access, although both were useful.

Citations