Mapping Out Work In A Mixed Reality Project Room

We present results from a study examining how the physical layout of a project room and task affect the cognitive maps acquired of a connected virtual environment during mixed-presence collaboration. Results indicate that a combination of physical layout and task impacts cognitive maps of the virtual space. Participants did not form a strong model of how different physical work regions were situated relative to each other in the virtual world when the tasks performed in each region differed. Egocentric perspectives of multiple displays enforced by different furniture arrangements encouraged cognitive maps of the virtual world that reflected these perspectives, when the displays were used for the same task. These influences competed or coincided with document-based, audiovisual and interface cues, influencing collaboration. We consider the implications of our findings on WYSIWIS mappings between real and virtual for mixed-presence collaboration.