On September 23rd, 2024 at 3.15 pm the seminar titled "Volumetric Hybrid Workspaces: Interactions with Objects in Remote and Co-located Telepresence" will take place at Politecnico di Milano, Room E\F  (Building 11).

Volumetric telepresence aims to create a shared space, allowing people in local and remote settings to collaborate seamlessly. Prior telepresence examples typically have asymmetrical designs, with volumetric capture in one location and objects in one format. In this paper, we present a volumetric telepresence mixed reality system that supports real-time, symmetrical, multi-user, partially dis- tributed interactions, using objects in multiple formats, across multiple locations. We align two volumetric environments around a common spatial feature to create a shared workspace for remote and co-located people using objects in three formats: physical, virtual, and volumetric. We conducted a study with 18 participants over 6 sessions, evaluating how telepresence workspaces support spatial coordination and hybrid communication for co-located and remote users undertaking collaborative tasks. Our findings demonstrate the successful integration of remote spaces, effective use of proxemics and deixis to support negotiation, and strategies to manage interactivity in hybrid workspaces.

Frank Vetere is Deputy Dean (Engagement) in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology and professor of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in the School of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Frank’s has research interests in human-centered approaches to AI, interactivity in mixed reality, technologies for ageing well and technologies for quality work. He has published over 200 papers in leading international journals and conferences, and has been awarded extensive funding to support his research from industry and government, including seven Australian Research Council projects. He was a founding member and leader of the HCI group at the University of Melbourne and director of the Microsoft Research Centre for Social Natural User Interfaces (SocialNUI). He was awarded the CHISIG Medal for outstanding service to and promotion of Human-Computer Interaction in Australia, and the HFESA Ron Cummins award for highly esteemed human factors and ergonomics-related research.