Visualizing conversation

Author

Donath, J. ; Karahalios, K. ; Viegas, F.

Author_Institution

Media Lab., MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

Volume

Track2

fYear

1999

fDate

5-8 Jan. 1999

Abstract

Although the archive of text generated by a persistent conversation (i.e. newsgroup, mailing list, recorded chat, etc.) is searchable, it is not very expressive of the underlying social patterns. We discuss the design of graphical interfaces that reveal the social structure of the conversation by visualizing patterns such as bursts of activity, the arrival of new members, or the evolution of conversational topics. Our focus is on two projects: Chat Circles, a graphical interface for synchronous conversation and Loom, a visualization of threaded discussion. Through these examples we explore key issues in the generation, design and use of graphical interfaces for persistent conversations.

Keywords

data visualisation; graphical user interfaces; social sciences computing; Chat Circles; Loom; conversation visualization; conversational topics; graphical interface design; mailing list; newsgroup; persistent conversation; recorded chat; social structure; synchronous conversation; threaded discussion; underlying social patterns; Avatars; Facial animation; Graphics; Internet; Relays; Speech; Spine; Visualization; Watches;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Systems Sciences, 1999. HICSS-32. Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Hawaii International Conference on

Conference_Location

Maui, HI, USA

Print_ISBN

0-7695-0001-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/HICSS.1999.772675

Filename

772675