Changing Community Connection
By Greg Gonzalez, Wei-Ting Huang, and Max Harberg
In this day and age, conference calls and video chats have become an integral part of society. While the pandemic has created a significant challenge for work travel and family reunions, people are frequently on Zoom, Skype, Google Meets, and Facetime for hours to participate in social and work–related meetings. While these platforms are great, individuals are quickly becoming fatigued due to the constant repetition. Additionally, while the platforms work fairly successfully in smaller sessions, it becomes a hassle with big conferences and classes to move between big sessions and break-out rooms continually. Imagine attempting to run an event such as SXSW on Zoom or Skype. It just wouldn’t be possible (or EXTREMELY challenging), to provide a seamless experience for that many people on one of those platforms. People also often become uncomfortable being forced to have a video–camera directly in their face. Many new companies are appearing in an attempt to break the current mundane mold of industry–standard chat offerings, introducing more unique ways to live video chat online.
Introducing: Teooh! A brand new way to host your conferences, meetings, classes, and family reunions!
Overview // Gameplay
To begin your Teooh experience, you would have to style a unique 3D avatar representing yourself in the virtual meeting world. There are multiple features to change and play around with. Feel free to be quirky and have blue skin with blue hair! In Teooh, you don’t have to worry about how you look when rolling out of bed for an early meeting; your avatar would always show up stylish.
Next, you could create your own virtual space by choosing a room design. There are several choices for different situations, such as community lounge, virtual office, big stage, etc. Each space is designed slightly differently, making online meetings more interesting and fulfilling different users’ needs. If your friends had already created a room, you could also join their room through hyperlinks.
The community lounge is a perfect space for presentations and seminars. By dragging and looking around the 360 virtual space, you could soon find the room is divided into two parts: on stage and off stage. Once you log in to the room, your avatar would appear on one of the tables off stage. There are several tables with different colors off stage, served as breakout rooms where people on the same table could interact with each other without being heard by other tables or the people on stage. By clicking on the seat, you can move immediately from one chair to another. However, Teooh does not allow users to walk around and explore the room freely. This might decrease the level of engagement in the virtual space.
If you want to be heard by everyone in the room, you have to wait until someone on stage invites you. When sitting on the chair on stage, your voice would be broadcast to everyone in the room. You could see the audience downstage just as holding presentation events in real life. By giving out a public speaking microphone, you could interact with the audience who wants to speak. Also, the lounge features two virtual televisions for users to share their screen on top. Users could see the shared screen through the monitor and zoom in by clicking on it. An Interesting design of the stage is it has a time monitor that records the current time and how long people have stayed in the room.
As mentioned, users could speak on Teooh without worrying about what they look like on camera. While users are talking, the avatar would make hand gestures and nod, making the conversation more natural, and users could easily recognize who is speaking at the moment. Users could also do reactions such as raising hands, clapping, sending hearts to make the meeting more interesting.
Accessibility
Teooh is compatible with Mac ios, Google, and Android. All you need is to do is download the app through a mobile phone or laptop, and connect the headphone set to access the audio. Then, Teooh is accessible for you anytime, anywhere. However, users should keep in mind that they might experience more bugs if playing the app through the Android system. For instance, the audio might follow some disturbing echo, and the app would accidentally log out if users try to shift between different apps.
Strengths // Weaknesses // Improvements
The Teooh experience offers users an opportunity to interact in a virtual space using Avatars which they select in a variety of different spaces. Each of the spaces provides features and arrangements geared towards other size groups and group dynamics. Small rooms can feature one or several tables, which each compose a private group of 1–4 people. Large rooms with tables for an audience and a stage for speakers allow small groups to watch a designated speaker or panel of speakers. The groups can talk and chat amongst each other or directly to one another using the whisper feature.
Similarly, speakers on stage can speak with each other privately or to the audience and everyone in the room. This functionality allows for intergroup discussion without disrupting the flow of the main speaker. This is a useful solution to the cross-talk phenomenon common in meeting apps such as Zoom, wherein participants must mute their microphones to keep from becoming featured speakers. This situation can be caused by background noises or other ambient disruption such as barking dogs, passing cars, or boisterous children in a separate room. Simultaneously, being able to have internal discussions within groups without leaving the main discussion is handy too. In other apps, breakout rooms are necessary for groups to have private conversations, and these rooms require a break in the flow of a presentation
Another benefit of Teeoh is the usage of Avatars. These avatars are not very sophisticated, but they allow participants to express themselves creatively, choosing avatars with characteristics that display their mood, attitude, or are merely analogous to their real self. Teeoh would do well to add more customization options for avatars. Research into the usage of avatars in online interactions “ indicate that increasing the number of customization options increases perceptions of identity with the source and control over the source, which reduces psychological reactance to the persuasive message and ultimately increases product liking” (Hanus & Fox, 2017). By adding more customization options, Teeoh improves its chance to be embraced by users who would also be more likely to identify with the avatars they create.
The benefits of these avatars are numerous. The anonymity of the representations allows for usage in sensitive discussions, such as support groups, AA meetings, or possibly for “blind dates.” This format would also be useful for interviews and market research. The anonymity could help combat potential bias that researchers/interviewers may have.
Another possibility could be for entertainment, for example, a game like the “masked singer” could be played. There are also more practical reasons for the avatar format. Users concerned about their physical appearance or the environment at their house don’t have to be self-conscious about their clothes, appearance, or the status of their home.
Currently, the app is in a free (Beta) format, but plans are in the works to monetize through ticketed events, unspecified gamification features, and customizable avatars. Right now, these features are lacking, though, and there is not a great deal of customization beyond the few room formats and character styles presented. One could also imagine that there is an enormous potential for abuse in a setup like this. You don’t need to look very far to see how anonymity can be abused in the internet space. Unsavory groups can meet and discuss all kinds of nefarious ideas and plans safe behind their avatars’ masks. I am unsure what type of moderation is available in the Teeoh space to prevent such things from happening.
One utility suggestion I would have would be to include more tools available to presenters and groups of spectators. Whiteboards such as those in Gather town would be useful. Also lacking is screen sharing within private groups (only the presenters can share their screen) and an option to use one’s camera to demonstrate something or share a real-life selfie. It would also be nice to change the background music selection to match the vibe of the group/presentation. Teeoh features some mellow “elevator music” type of soundtrack that can be enabled or disabled but not changed. Being able to customize this playlist would go a long way to setting the appropriate mood for a specific group.
Intentions: Motivations // Leveraging Engagement // Emotions // Experience
People who use Teoh will be looking for new ways to socialize and connect that allow them to be creative and which provides a sense of freedom that is lacking from the talking head format of most other virtual meetings. In these socially-distanced times, Zoom fatigue is real, and an opportunity to connect in a format that enables more organic interaction within groups will be embraced. By creating a virtual space filled with avatars, participants can relax a little, not intimidated by being on camera, and not constrained by full frontal views of faces. They will feel freer to look around a virtual space and maybe interject some whimsy into the experience by choosing avatars with outlandish clothes, hair, or styles. People seeking a freer format will enjoy being able to have side discussions within their groups. Additionally, seeing screenshots in a virtual screen above the presenter will prevent the jarring experience of switching back and forth between browser tabs.
Ideally, this sensation of freedom will allow participants to be more open, share more willingly, and participate more actively. Without the stigmas attached to physical experience or circumstance, Teeoh users can better express themselves. Many feel fear and discomfort as a result of their physical insecurities and possibly less than ideal circumstances. These emotions can be replaced by comfort, ease, and playfulness without the social pressures of conforming to traditional social expectations to the unflattering context of a video meeting. According to Cilka, “anonymity can have a socially equalizing effect by reducing judgments based on physical characteristics,”(2020). This effect should be conducive to increasing the free exchange of ideas and encouraging interaction for participants who can feel more secure expressing themselves without the possibility of being pre-judged based on their appearance, age, or physical characteristics.
While Teeoh still has many bugs and a limited set of features, it does promise a pleasing alternative to other meeting formats, each of which has its shortcomings.
The Four Stages of Activations
Audience:When utilizing the Teooh platform, the user will probably be physically alone, yet interacting with others online. There are multiple reasons for audience members to use the platform, so there is an opportunity for a wide variety of dynamics to be at play. Specifically, regarding a conference, such as SXSW, the user is either in a space where they are learning from high–profile professionals, or promoting themselves by networking with others.
Access: Teooh can be accessed “anytime, anywhere and from any device,” allowing seamless integration into events. The platform is available on Android and iPhone (via their respective app stores) and on personal computers through a downloadable desktop client from Teooh’s website.
Agenda: The user is most likely going to use this platform to attend big conferences, networking events, and school classes. There are multiple stages in life a person could be, but they have to be old enough to operate a computer. Specifically for our target audience of a SXSW attendee, the individual is probably in college, or working.
Attractors: As mentioned above, audience members will be attracted to Teooh for an easy way to interact with others during big conferences, networking events, and classes. The ability to simply move to other tables or rooms instead of jumping between platforms or assigning breakout rooms to create a more seamless user experience.
Comparisons
The Teooh experience made us think of two similar apps that also provide an interactive virtual space for people to meet online: Gather Town and Clubhouse.
Gather Town and Teooh both allowed users to present themselves by avatars in a decorated virtual room, but several features set them different from each other. Firstly, Gather Town still has the video chat feature, which would pop up when users are close to one another, while Teooh only uses audio. Gather Town might be convenient for people who have to receive visual information such as facial expressions while communicating. However, in our view, Teooh allowed users to take a break from online meeting fatigue, and interact with others without worrying about how they look on camera. Secondly, as Gather Town presents a 2D world, Teooh applied 3D into its virtual space. The two concepts have very different styles and may attract other user groups that prefer different interfaces. Lastly, users couldn’t walk around Teooh as they use to do in the Gather Town. To move around, they could only click and teleport to another position. The lack of ability to walk freely could decrease users’ immersive level to the experience.
Clubhouse and Teooh are both perfect for holding discussions and allowing users to meet in a virtual space without turning on their camera. Although they have the same concept, they still differ in several aspects. Firstly, by providing a 3D virtual space, Teooh seems to have more excitement for users who have the experience for the first time. However, it is unclear if users will get used to the interface and find it overwhelming to use. (MD.,2020) Secondly, clubhouse users couldn’t talk with each other off stage. If they want to share their opinion, they could only raise their hand and wait for permission to speak. However, in Teooh, users could simply teleport to another table to join a different discussion without interrupting the presenter. Lastly, Clubhouse would often send notifications that recommend rooms for users to join based on their interest and who they are following. Since Teooh lacks the recommendation feature, users may use it when they have a specific event to join, rather than constantly spending time on the app. Perhaps Teooh could include the feature in the service to increase the emotional stickiness of the experience.
Conclusion:
Ultimately, Teooh is a fantastic program, attempting to push the boundaries of online video–chatting. While there is significant competition in this sector, Teooh has taken an extremely strategic approach, specifically targeting large events. Although it is still in the Beta phases, and has room for many improvements, it has tremendous potential. It aims to solve many prevalent problems with current video–chat offerings, including, seamless transition between large meetings and breakouts, accessibility from multiple devices, price (free!), utilization of avatars (mitigating pressure of constantly being on camera), and the ability for anonymity. We look forward to seeing how Teooh evolves and hopefully becomes an industry standard.
References
Calka, M. (2020). Avatars. In D. Merskin (Ed.), The SAGE international encyclopedia of mass media and society (Vol. 1, pp. 135–136).
SAGE Publications, Inc., https://www-doi org.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/10.4135/9781483375519.n59
MD.,J.,L. (2020, November 17). A Neuropsychological Exploration of Zoom Fatigue.
https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/psychological-exploration-zoom-fatigue
https://news.stanford.edu/2021/02/23/four-causes-zoom-fatigue-solutions/
Michael D. Hanus & Jesse Fox (2017) Source Customization Reduces
Psychological Reactance to a Persuasive Message via User Control and Identity Perceptions,
Journal of Interactive Advertising, 17:1, 1–12, DOI: 10.1080/15252019.2017.1287023
