Experimental Enquiry into Automatically Orchestrated Live Video Communication in Social Settings

'Orchestration' refers to the ability of a live video communication  system to adapt in real-time to the communication context with a view to enhance the quality of mediation and subsequently the quality of interaction between participants. For example, this can be done by reframing the cameras and changing the way in which the video content is mixed on each screen. To be a feasible solution, orchestration has to be an automatic process. This paper reports a study of orchestration carried out in the social setting of a group of friends playing social games from two separate living rooms. The quality of the communication was assessed via two measures: one objective, in the form of task efficiency, and one subjective, in the form of a questionnaire. The
 objective measure indicated that mediated communication can be improved through orchestration, but the subjective measure was inconclusive. The paper also uncovers some of the complexities of the experimental space associated with orchestrated mediated communication and aims to provide motivation for further research into this new communication paradigm.