The amount of people working with knowledge and refinement of data and information, i.e. performing knowledge work [4, 10] is increasing [5]. Increased knowledge-intensity has made learning an integral and inseparable part of work. An interesting pedagogical perspective to this phenomena is to see learners as knowledge workers, and to try to support the learning process by providing tools for knowledge work (KW) [2].
Although KW activities often involve extensive use of modern information technology, significant working time is spent on activities in the physical environment as well. However, knowledge work environments (KWEs) equipped with personal computers tend to create a significant gap between the virtual environment offered by the computer system(s) on the one hand, and the surrounding physical environment on the other [14].
My thesis work aims to (1) define and acknowledge some existing problems for knowledge workers caused by the gap between physical and virtual environments, (2) suggest a design perspective and technology-based solutions for helping knowledge workers overcome these problems. My thesis work also (3) aims to suggest technology-based solutions that facilitate KW tasks that today are poorly supported by computer systems. Some of these solutions do themselves introduce new foreseeable problems for knowledge workers, problems of which some are also identified and addressed in my work.
Seeing Wellner's DigitalDesk [18] as a starting point, there has been a continuous interest in merging the physical and virtual worlds in office environments and in more specialised settings [1, 12]. Other sources of inspiration to the present work have been the research done on Graspable [6], Tangible [9] and Manipulative User Interfaces [8]. Seeing learners as knowledge workers and the approach to support them by supplying them with collections of cognitive, physical and virtual tools, has been proposed by Broberg et al. [3].
A field study involving 90 professionals categorised as knowledge workers with the aim of investigating the effects of alternating between physical and virtual environments has been performed during 1999 and 2000. Early analysis supports the belief that the gap is a common and noticeable obstacle in everyday KW although further empirical investigation is necessary.
Based on analysis of differences and similarities between physical and virtual environments, such as [1, 14], a perspective for design and analysis of integrated physical-virtual environments has been derived. This "physical-virtual design perspective" emphasises a holistic view on the design of KWEs and the objects within them, in order to break loose from traditional distinctions made by designers of software, electronics hardware and architecture. In practice, the physical-virtual design perspective is about categorising physical and virtual objects with the aim to find ways to conceptually and technically link objects residing in both worlds to each other, forming Physical-Virtual Artefacts (PVAs).
Definition: A physical-virtual artefact is an abstract artefact that (1) is instantiated in both the physical and virtual environment, where (2) these instantiations to a large extent utilize the unique affordances and constraints that the two different environments facilitate, and finally (3) where one instantiation of a specific physical-virtual artefact is easily identified if an equivalent instantiation in the other environment is known. [14]
For experimental purposes, a system has been developed that keeps track of objects based on a wearable, position-tracked RF/ID reader placed on a finger [15, 16] (see http://www.cs.umu.se/~top/Magic_Touch/). The user of the system can easily assign names and functionality to physical objects and spaces, as well as create PVAs, e.g. link paper documents to Internet URLs. The system maintains a hierarchical representation of the physical environment where each physical space (e.g. book shelf) and object (e.g. coffee cup) is represented digitally. As soon as the user moves a physical instantiation of a PVA from one place to another, the hierarchical representation on the screen is immediately updated. By keeping information about all PVAs in a database, the system fulfils claim 3 of the PVA definition since this allows users to search for PVA instantiations both in physical and virtual space and inspect them at wish.
Telepresence:
Within a physical environment facilitated with a Magic Touch system, users can define three-dimensional "active volumes" in physical space that automatically is given a virtual representation (a folder in the hierarchical structure). Soon, the system will allow the sharing of active volumes among users in connected offices so that physical activities within these distributed spaces are immediately visible to all participants. Interconnected Physical-Virtual Knowledge Work Environments (PVKWEs) allow for more physical interaction among distributed knowledge workers and probably increases "workspace awareness" [7].
The system is continuously evolving and enhanced. An empirical evaluation of the PVKWE provided by the Magic Touch system, compared to an ordinary office environment, is planned to take place during spring 2001.
It is too early to draw any general conclusion regarding the benefits and possibilities of integrating physical and virtual environments for the purpose of supporting KW. However, along the way so far, new things about the meaning of "physicality" and "virtuality" have been found. Additionally, alternative interaction styles have more or less automatically emerged when we have applied the proposed design perspective on the office environment enhanced with the Magic Touch system.
The technological challenges posed by PVAs have been one centre of attention for my research so far. More theoretical challenges that have to be addressed in the future involve:
Since the CSE community clearly addresses the issue of teaching abstract problem solving using computer technology both for providing a "learner's test bench" and as means for course-related communication, CSE can be said to concern KW support with a certain emphasis on learning. My work has so far only to small extent involved the support of learning in a computational context and my hope is to get hints and suggestions how to incorporate and extend my framework for analysis and design of PVKWEs from fellow doctoral students that are more acquainted with theories and practices in pedagogy and related areas. Social constructionism and phenomenography seems to be attractive theories for my purpose [3]. As mentioned earlier, learning is an important part in KW and it is reasonable that pedagogical and cognitive issues related to the process of learning should be reflected in any design of KWEs. Perhaps, my participation could help other doctoral students to see their own work from a different perspective by putting it in the context of KW support as well as re-evaluating their use of physical and virtual environment characteristics in their design.
I am at the time of writing 2.5 years into a 5 year registration period.