Social telepresence bakeoff: Skype group video calling, Google+ Hangouts, and Microsoft Avatar Kinect

This panel compares across recently released products that enable groups of people to socialize online using rich media (video, avatars). Each tool takes a different approach toward online socializing. The panelists will compare and contrast the design features and rationale of each system, review what has been learned from studying their usage so far, and elicit stories of how people in the audience have been using these tools. This discussion will help us learn how these tools are being used and identify design implications for future work in developing new ways to support socializing.

• Human-Computer Interaction and Visualization