Communication in High Performance Computing Environments:
Social Science Perspectives
(What follows is a Letter of Proposal developed collaboratively among University of Texas, Michigan State University, Stanford University and University of Illinois. If funded, we will hold the first plenary session to address the social science research agenda for high performance computing environments.)
The next steps in new applications of high performance computing require the understanding of interaction, navigation and communication. To date, most application development research has been focused on systems, devices and software. These are essential components of the high performance computing industry. However, the time to market and customer acceptance of new products in consumer and business markets can be shortened by doing two things. First, understanding the social communicative dimensions of high performance digital experiences is essential. Second, the requirements that emanate from these dimensions must be incorporated into product development efforts.
High performance computing environments allow larger and more data streams to be exchanged faster. New media, new functions and applications are certain to emerge. Limited today to the realm of high speed intranets and education, government and industry research networks, high performance computing environments preview the connectivity which will eventually be widespread. Thus, communication research can beneficially address todayís specialized high performance environments such as the national collaboratories but also should be directed toward future users and markets. Likewise, more mature ethernet-connected and even dial up applications can usefully be studied to inform development of future high performance applications and products.
Preliminary research on social science perspectives of communication in high performance computing environments has begun to emerge. A handful of established researchers have independently embarked on new avenues of research that explore the salience and implications of the interface between social communication science and high performance computing.
These early efforts, though fragmented, are important. An intellectual structure for inquiry and experimentation is needed in order to leverage these beginning research efforts into significant research programs that will pave the way for effective product development.
The College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin, as one of these early research participants, convened the principal investigators of this emerging research field in a teleconferenced meeting in March 1998. A preliminary inventory of interests and capabilities was made. Participants voiced a desire to collaboratively build an industry-relevant intellectual framework that could channel the next wave of social communicative research on high performance computing environments. Participants expressed a need for a working plenary with academic, business and governmental colleagues, in which this intellectual framework could be constructed.
The College of Communication is seeking a grant of $50,000. to from Cisco and other Internet II industrial partners to underwrite travel and meeting expenses for a plenary session to identify a communication research agenda for communication in high performance computing environments. Participants would include 15 - 20 leading researchers and visionaries from academic, business and governmental sectors, including a selection of participants from other Internet II workshops, such as networking applications, etc. In a three-day symposium, participants would present overviews of the research in their areas of specialization, status reports on their own research, and perspectives on research that will be needed for next generation applications. An intellectual framework and research agenda would be developed. A summary report of the symposium would chart future directions for research and participation needed from the government. Participation in the session would provide sponsors with opportunities receive state-of-the-art updating on research results, as well as opportunities to influence the establishment of a national research agenda for social communicative dimensions of high performance communication technologies.
For example, results from a multi-year research program about psychological responses to media have shown that people apply many of the same social rules to media that are used in human-human relationships. These findings have profound implications for the design of interactive technology- media assets, functionality, entities, and synchronization. In a three-day symposium, participants would present overviews of the research in their areas of specialization, status reports on their own research (review of various methods and technologies used to test ideas, results of experiments, and implications), and perspectives on research that will be needed for next generation applications. An intellectual framework and research agenda would be developed. A summary report of the symposium would chart future directions for research and participation needed from the government, academic and business sectors.
Topics to be discussed span the broad spectrum of communication research, including interpersonal communication, mass media, organizational communication, human-computer interaction, as well as social and psychological responses to communication technologies for interaction, collaboration and tele-immersion.
SMART INTERFACES
Adaptation: When and how should an interface adapt to a user?
Environmental Monitoring: How much does an interface need to know about the userís current state?
What kinds of agent or agency are most effective? What features of character are most effective in communication mood, information, confidence, alertness, credibility?
EFFECTIVE INTERFACES
Personality: Can products or product components have a ëpersonalityí? Do text-based computers have personality?
Social norms: Are people polite to media? Is flattery from an interface effective?
Size and shape: How does the size and shape of a display affect users?
Fidelity: How does audio and video fidelity effect perception? What is the trade-off between audio and video facility? What about spatial audio and video? High definition? How do interpersonal communication needs compare to mass media entertainment needs?
Synchrony: How does the timing of human-technology interaction affect peopleís reactions to information? To each other?
SPATIAL MEDIA
Narrative environments in spatial media: How do audience and media characteristics influence the degree of definition, structure and interactivity required in virtual environments for computer-mediated performances, such as teaching, training, and the arts?
Exploration environments: What are the key determinants of spatial media to optimize collaborative investigation and decision analysis in simulated situations or by remote engineering teams (e.g., space command and control systems, power plants, manufacturing systems)?
How can spatial media be used to enhance learning and participation?
TELERELATING
How can technology better assist in maintaining and even enhancing close personal relationships? Can systems be developed which connect people and alleviate loneliness and isolation for the elderly, the ill, the telecommuter? How can work relationships be improved? Should these systems use avatars, high definition video, etc?
Help environments: In relationships based on expertise and advice (health care, social services, investment management, education, etc.) what aspects of authority, trust and caring can be incorporated into ìmiddlewareî products for processing personal relationships over time and space?
Familial, community and political relationships over space and time: How can tele-immersion technology facilitate relationships?
INFORMATION PROCESSING
Use and distribution of information in communities: How do computer systems that create shared information influence the development and maintenance of communities? Of community politics? At what level of immersion do these dynamics change?
Use and distribution of information in work teams: How does the ability to map and communicate knowledge processes effect the creativity, structure and management of work teams?
Use and distribution of information in organizations: How does the need to manage computationally-intensive knowledge assets affect the structure of companies/firms/agencies? Of industries?
Digital libraries: How does ubiquitous access to archived knowledge influence the organization and future development of new knowledge?
INFORMATION ENVIRONMENTS
Assuming unlimited screen real estate and unlimited bandwidth, how would individuals structure their work environments? What streaming media sources would they allocate to foreground and background? What about their entertainment information environment? Communication?
What kinds of tools and methods can help users cope with ever expanding plethora of information? How do individuals stay informed and aware without being overwhelmed?
How would high performance computing environments be used if they could also be wireless?
What are the input/output methods for communication when bandwidth is not a limitation? What role should speech, gesture, motion play?
These are only a few initial avenues of inquiry. A goal of the retreat would be to focus and narrow these kinds of thoughts into a research agenda to guide academics and industry toward meaningful studies.
CONTACT
Martha G. Russell, Ph.D.
Assistant Dean, Instructional Technology
College of Communication
A 0900 CMA4.133
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX 787112
t:512-475-4195
f:512-471-8500