We are at a wonderful moment in the history of the human species. Computers, hooked together in various networked configurations, now allow us to communicate in ways that were never possible before, and the results are changing the ways in which we work, play, and live. Some of the more obvious new forms of computer-mediated communication are already in broad use, but even more amazing innovations are yet to be developed. I know what some of these prospective media look like, and have the tools (see my research interests) to find and develop others. I already have successes that can be attributed to these tools, and look forward to others, some of which are specified in more detail below.
The idea that computers can be used to structure human interaction is a compelling one, and I believe I understand what needs to be done in order to make it happen. This includes the development of agent engines, like RAISE that can handle the requisite decision making, and development of interaction engines like TR/2, that can store and distribute structured content. TurboConferencing was designed to enable such structuring of interaction in a near-synchronous manner, and Lotus Notes and other systems can be readily adapted to handle agent structured transcripts of synchronous and near-synchronous interaction. The mors important development work that needs to be done here is in the area of identifying genera in interaction that can be used for such decision making and rules that can successfully structure interaction.
There is a tendency, among those who are working on collaborative and interactive computer mediated communications systems, to regard asynchronous interaction and synchronous interaction as a dichotomy. I tend to regard this dichotomy as a continuum of relative interactivity. The range of interactivity values varies from disconnected to asymmetric to asynchronous to near-synchronous to synchronous to supersynchronous. This shift in thinking matters, as new forms of interaction can be identified at other waypoints on the continuum. Interesting projects that would be worth exploring here include asynchronous telephone, supersynchronous meeting environments, and systems that create continuity between periodic synchronous meeting spaces and more continuous asynchronous collaboration spaces.
The key to creating collaboration environments that merge both synchronous meeting capabilities and asynchronous groupware capabilities is the creation of compelling desktop environments that merge collaborative activities into normal work activities. I have proposed such an environment in the task-oriented collaborative desktop. I have already developed an early prototype of this kind of environment in DARWIN. HSHELL also explores functionality that would be key in this kind of working environment. There are many other interesting issues to explore in workstation based collaboration, including the varieties of whiteboard environments and agent structured asynchronous meeting environments.
Object oriented programming only solves part of the problem of encapsulating related code into conveniently packaged modules and enabling the reuse of vocabulary across different kinds of objects. The binding of procedures to structures ensures that vocabulary is reusable across data structures, but ignores the fundamental real world reality that the meaning of vocabulary sometimes varies meaningful across the same object. Context oriented programming, which I originally explored in the design of Toolsrun/2, solves this problem by breaking this tight linkage and using agent software to make decisions about when a particular procedural class applies to a given structural class. This allows multiple procedural classes, each with distinctive behavior, to be applied to the same structural class in different contexts.
Hope to continue exploring a variety of leading edge software concepts, including proactively intelligent (agent) systems, context sensitive systems, multi-media hypertext systems, and computer voice recognition systems. In particular, would like to explore the possibilities for a generalized proactively intelligent mailbox agent that extends the capabilities ofPARSMAIL, a real time usage pattern identification system that extends the concepts explored in HSHELL, and a context-aware shell that extends the concepts explored in DARWIN. Remain interested in developments associated with home automation and personal robotics. Hope to continue projecting the future of personal computers and workstations in new "future of PC's" talks.
The study of new, emerging, and prospective computer-mediated human communication systems is one of my primary interests, and one that I pursue on my own regardless of my current employment. Computer conferencing has been a primary interest so far, but I have been increasingly looking outward at other interactive computer-mediated systems, including varieties of computer-structured group interaction (groupware) and computer-structured interaction. Have identified well over 30 distinct computer-based human communications media that may warrant detailed study. In some cases there is money to be made in developing these prospective computer-based human communication media.
The theory of medium as process is the core of my explorations of computer-based media, and is the focus of continuing development and explication. Current plans include a book detailing the theoretical perspective (in progress), a detailed exploration of the relationship of other theoretical perspectives in the field of communication to "medium as process"; continued exploration of new media, their prospects, and their character; and exploration of ways in which medium as process suggests techniques that can be used to design media for success.
Have collected a list of over 230 distinct media and 180 distinct characteristics of media. Plan to use to explore the relationships between media and to create an elaborated version of my dissertation typology of media, which involved 52 media and 12 characteristics of media. There are substantial indications, based on this earlier study, that characteristic based typologies can be used to project the competitive environment within which new media will compete for use and, in particular, to identify distinctive opportunities that are not competitive with existing media and may have stronger prospects for success.
When I'm not working on software and systems development or exploring the nature of communication media, I enjoy a variety of indoor and outdoor activities. I am an avid reader, generally reading fifty or more books a year along with some number of science magazines and a daily surf through web and forum content. Outdoors, I enjoy a variety of sports and exercise venues, including bicycling, canoeing, roller blading, downhill skiing, running, and walking. I try to bicycle or run every day, and recently did the New York City Century (a very long bicycle ride). I've been known to build a piece of furniture or other convenience here and again, generally from my own designs. Most recently, I built a set of bookshelves into a window. A design for a corner bookcase with a oversized shelf for printers and scanners is waiting for a bit of time to build it. I generally enjoy both the discovery that comes from reading and doing new things.