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 "aboutThisFile": {
  "whatThisIs": "A research brief: a structured summary of one paper, prepared for seanrintel.com from the paper's full text.",
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   "For a quick answer, use 'takeaway' and 'questions'. For evidence, use 'findings' (each has a verbatim quote, its location in the paper and a 'url' anchored to that finding on the paper's page).",
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  ],
  "authorship": "Sean Rintel's role on each paper: lead author when he is first author, sole author when he is the only author, and otherwise senior author. Senior author here means the senior researcher on the team, whatever his position in the author list.",
  "howToCite": "Cite the paper, not this file: use 'citation' or the ready-made 'bibtex' (DOI where given) and name every author. Attribute paraphrase to the paper's findings, and use quotation marks only for 'quote' text."
 },
 "name": "Ad hoc adaptability in video-calling",
 "author": [
  {
   "@type": "Person",
   "@id": "https://seanrintel.com/#sean-rintel",
   "name": "Sean Rintel",
   "url": "https://seanrintel.com/",
   "sameAs": [
    "https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0840-0546",
    "https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xc25GRgAAAAJ",
    "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q102369654",
    "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/people/serintel/",
    "https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanrintel"
   ]
  },
  {
   "@type": "Person",
   "name": "Kenton O'Hara"
  },
  {
   "@type": "Person",
   "name": "Behnaz Rostami Yeganeh"
  },
  {
   "@type": "Person",
   "name": "Roman Rädle"
  }
 ],
 "datePublished": "2015-11",
 "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling.html",
 "citation": "Sean Rintel, Kenton O'Hara, Behnaz Rostami Yeganeh, and Roman Rädle. 2015. Ad hoc adaptability in video-calling. ITS'2015 - Workshop on Interacting with Multi-Device Ecologies in the Wild.",
 "bibtex": "@misc{rintel2015ad,\nauthor = {Rintel, Sean and O'Hara, Kenton and Rostami Yeganeh, Behnaz and Rädle, Roman},\ntitle = {Ad hoc adaptability in video-calling},\nyear = {2015},\nmonth = {November},\nurl = {https://seanrintel.com/publications/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling.html},\nnote = {ITS'2015 - Workshop on Interacting with Multi-Device Ecologies in the Wild},\n}",
 "abstract": "In this position paper we explore ad hoc adaptability across devices in video-calling. We note the current difficulty of even simple combinations, discuss design issues, briefly report on a study of ad hoc screen mirroring, and note future directions.",
 "fullTextSources": [
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 "fullTextAvailable": true,
 "takeaway": "Cross-device interaction (bringing whatever devices are at hand into a call) can expand what people do in remote and hybrid meetings, because many sharing needs cannot be planned. But it needs 'seamful' connections that everyone, including remote participants, can see.",
 "whyItMatters": {
  "stateOfTheArt": {
   "summary": "Despite decades of research on ad hoc sharing of resources in video-mediated communication, mainstream video-calling systems still tie one user to one device per call, so combining devices is cumbersome.",
   "quote": "the dominant free and commercial systems on the market are still largely funneled and siloed",
   "location": "§Introduction, pp. 1–2"
  },
  "contribution": {
   "summary": "The authors argue for seamfulness in multi-device video calls, against the 'it just works' ideal of invisible connection. Connections should be accountable and intelligible to everyone. A small study of screen mirroring illustrates the argument.",
   "quote": "accountability and intelligibility are the paramount drivers of designing for ad hoc adaptability",
   "location": "§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3"
  },
  "whoCares": {
   "summary": "Designers and builders of cross-device video-calling systems, as web and device-connection standards open the way beyond host-centric architectures.",
   "quote": "The design of such complex systems will need to need to foreground accountability and intelligibility to balance simplicity with seamfulness.",
   "location": "§Conclusions, p. 4"
  }
 },
 "researchQuestions": [
  "How can video-calling support ad hoc adaptability across devices? What makes even simple device combinations difficult, which design issues matter, and what does a study of ad hoc screen mirroring suggest?"
 ],
 "concepts": [
  {
   "term": "Ad hoc adaptability",
   "definition": "What a video call should be able to take in as a task unfolds:",
   "quote": "Many tasks are achieved through a combination of prepared resources which are brought to bear as situationally appropriate, discovering the need for unexpected resources, and developing resources within the task itself.",
   "location": "§Introduction, pp. 1–2"
  },
  {
   "term": "Accountability",
   "definition": "In the ethnomethodological sense, social order achieved in the moment by making reasoning observable and reportable. For systems:",
   "quote": "System accountability should operate in the same way, manifested through intelligibility, which is an ongoing awareness of the state of the system.",
   "location": "§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3"
  },
  {
   "term": "Seamfulness",
   "definition": "Against the 'it just works' trend toward invisible connection, the authors argue for visible seams:",
   "quote": "there is value, too, in visible 'seamfulness', such that users are not confused or surprised by any given connection",
   "location": "§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3"
  },
  {
   "term": "'One username per device per call' model",
   "definition": "The root of the limits on combining devices in a call:",
   "quote": "These limitations are the result of the 'one username per device per call' model that pervades most videocalling architectures.",
   "location": "§Introduction, pp. 1–2"
  }
 ],
 "method": {
  "design": "Position paper drawing on prior research and a small-scale study of ad hoc screen mirroring in video calls (reported in a separate paper).",
  "prototype": "A screen-mirroring add-on for video calls on a shared display. Alongside the call, a secondary window shows a QR code. Any participant, in the room or remote, can point their phone at the code to mirror the phone's screen to the shared display, showing either material on the phone or its live camera. Only one device mirrors at a time. Previously, mirroring was usually restricted to the person driving the host computer.",
  "prototypeFigure": 4,
  "setting": "Video calls with a shared display, with some participants in the room and some remote.",
  "analysis": "The study's analysis is not described here. Its observations are reported briefly and interpreted through accountability and intelligibility."
 },
 "findings": [
  {
   "headline": "Contributing from anywhere.",
   "summary": "When anyone in a video call could mirror their phone to the shared display, people contributed from wherever they sat, rather than crowding around the host computer. They could even move around the room and beyond it.",
   "quote": "we found that mobility allowed users to contribute to the video call from their place in the room but also they were able to move around the room and even beyond",
   "location": "§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3",
   "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling.html#at-sdesigning-for-ad-hoc-adaptability-p-3",
   "cite": "Sean Rintel, Kenton O'Hara, Behnaz Rostami Yeganeh, and Roman Rädle. 2015. Ad hoc adaptability in video-calling. ITS'2015 - Workshop on Interacting with Multi-Device Ecologies in the Wild. (§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3)"
  },
  {
   "headline": "Preparing in parallel.",
   "summary": "While the group talked around the shared display, individuals got material ready on their own phones without holding up the discussion.",
   "quote": "This enabled a more fluid interleaving of individual, subgroup, and full group sharing activities.",
   "location": "§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3",
   "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling.html#at-sdesigning-for-ad-hoc-adaptability-p-3-2",
   "cite": "Sean Rintel, Kenton O'Hara, Behnaz Rostami Yeganeh, and Roman Rädle. 2015. Ad hoc adaptability in video-calling. ITS'2015 - Workshop on Interacting with Multi-Device Ecologies in the Wild. (§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3)"
  },
  {
   "headline": "Taking turns to share.",
   "summary": "Because only one phone could mirror at a time, participants sometimes negotiated who would share next, either on the spot or by agreeing an order in advance.",
   "quote": "bidding for a place such as 'you go first and then I'll go'",
   "location": "§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3",
   "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling.html#at-sdesigning-for-ad-hoc-adaptability-p-3-3",
   "cite": "Sean Rintel, Kenton O'Hara, Behnaz Rostami Yeganeh, and Roman Rädle. 2015. Ad hoc adaptability in video-calling. ITS'2015 - Workshop on Interacting with Multi-Device Ecologies in the Wild. (§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3)"
  },
  {
   "headline": "Visible cues helped the room, not remote people.",
   "summary": "Pointing a phone at the QR code was a visible act that told others someone was about to share. This worked for people in the room, but a remote participant's move to share could go unnoticed unless someone local happened to be watching the screen.",
   "quote": "Seamfulness, then, must be carefully designed take advantage of local conditions while also recognizing the asymmetry of remote access.",
   "location": "§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3",
   "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling.html#at-sdesigning-for-ad-hoc-adaptability-p-3-4",
   "cite": "Sean Rintel, Kenton O'Hara, Behnaz Rostami Yeganeh, and Roman Rädle. 2015. Ad hoc adaptability in video-calling. ITS'2015 - Workshop on Interacting with Multi-Device Ecologies in the Wild. (§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3)"
  }
 ],
 "questions": [
  {
   "question": "Why is it so awkward to combine several devices in one video call?",
   "answer": "Because most video-calling systems assume one username per device per call. A group in a room therefore clusters around one computer and shares one display at a time. Even one person's own devices cannot easily work together, so combining them often costs more effort than it is worth.",
   "source": "Sean Rintel, Kenton O'Hara, Behnaz Rostami Yeganeh, and Roman Rädle. 2015. Ad hoc adaptability in video-calling. ITS'2015 - Workshop on Interacting with Multi-Device Ecologies in the Wild.",
   "basedOn": [
    {
     "location": "§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3",
     "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling.html#at-sdesigning-for-ad-hoc-adaptability-p-3"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "question": "What changes when anyone in a meeting can share to the main screen from their own phone?",
   "answer": "When everyone on a call, in the room or remote, could mirror a phone to the shared display, sharing grew more fluid across individuals, subgroups and the whole group. People contributed from where they were, prepared material in parallel, and negotiated turns. This worked best for people in the room.",
   "source": "Sean Rintel, Kenton O'Hara, Behnaz Rostami Yeganeh, and Roman Rädle. 2015. Ad hoc adaptability in video-calling. ITS'2015 - Workshop on Interacting with Multi-Device Ecologies in the Wild.",
   "basedOn": [
    {
     "location": "§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3",
     "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling.html#at-sdesigning-for-ad-hoc-adaptability-p-3"
    },
    {
     "location": "§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3",
     "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling.html#at-sdesigning-for-ad-hoc-adaptability-p-3-2"
    },
    {
     "location": "§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3",
     "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling.html#at-sdesigning-for-ad-hoc-adaptability-p-3-3"
    },
    {
     "location": "§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3",
     "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling.html#at-sdesigning-for-ad-hoc-adaptability-p-3-4"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "question": "Should connecting devices in a meeting be seamless and invisible?",
   "answer": "Not entirely. The authors argue for visible 'seamfulness' (connecting should be easy, but visible, so nobody is surprised). When people connected a phone to a shared screen, the visible act told others in the room that someone was about to share. Remote participants' attempts were easier to miss.",
   "source": "Sean Rintel, Kenton O'Hara, Behnaz Rostami Yeganeh, and Roman Rädle. 2015. Ad hoc adaptability in video-calling. ITS'2015 - Workshop on Interacting with Multi-Device Ecologies in the Wild.",
   "basedOn": [
    {
     "location": "§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3",
     "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling.html#at-sdesigning-for-ad-hoc-adaptability-p-3-4"
    }
   ]
  }
 ],
 "cites": [],
 "quantitative": [],
 "implications": [
  {
   "summary": "Designs for ad hoc multi-device calling should give users both simple and detailed depictions of current connections and policies."
  },
  {
   "summary": "Seamfulness must be designed to use local conditions while recognising the asymmetry of remote access.",
   "quote": "Seamfulness, then, must be carefully designed take advantage of local conditions while also recognizing the asymmetry of remote access.",
   "location": "§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3"
  },
  {
   "summary": "Web applications, web media stream standards and IoT connection standards hold promise for ending host-centric architectures."
  }
 ],
 "limitations": [
  {
   "summary": "The screen-mirroring study was small-scale and is only briefly reported here.",
   "quote": "We have explored some of these issues in a small-scale study of screen mirroring",
   "location": "§Designing for ad hoc adaptability, p. 3"
  }
 ],
 "figures": [
  {
   "src": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/figures/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling/fig-1.webp",
   "caption": "Figure 1: Personal combinations: Using a smartphone for audio and laptop for video in a noisy environment.",
   "alt": "Illustration of a woman in a busy cafe on a video call, holding a smartphone to her ear for audio while her laptop camera provides the video.",
   "location": "Fig. 1, p. 2",
   "credit": "Figure 1 from Sean Rintel, Kenton O'Hara, Behnaz Rostami Yeganeh, and Roman Rädle. 2015. Ad hoc adaptability in video-calling. ITS'2015 - Workshop on Interacting with Multi-Device Ecologies in the Wild."
  },
  {
   "src": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/figures/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling/fig-2.webp",
   "caption": "Figure 2: Domestic combinations: Using additional personal or shared devices to allow children to play in their own space while parents converse with grandparents from a laptop.",
   "alt": "Illustration of a living room: parents talk to grandparents on a laptop while two children play nearby, with extra devices and the TV linked into the call.",
   "location": "Fig. 2, p. 2",
   "credit": "Figure 2 from Sean Rintel, Kenton O'Hara, Behnaz Rostami Yeganeh, and Roman Rädle. 2015. Ad hoc adaptability in video-calling. ITS'2015 - Workshop on Interacting with Multi-Device Ecologies in the Wild."
  },
  {
   "src": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/figures/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling/fig-4.webp",
   "caption": "Figure 4: Pointing a smartphone at the QR code provided a seamful way for participants to understand that one participant would soon be mirroring.",
   "alt": "Meeting room with a video call on a wall display showing a QR code. One person points a smartphone at the QR code to mirror the shared screen while another sits at the table.",
   "location": "Figure 4, p. 3",
   "credit": "Figure 4 from Sean Rintel, Kenton O'Hara, Behnaz Rostami Yeganeh, and Roman Rädle. 2015. Ad hoc adaptability in video-calling. ITS'2015 - Workshop on Interacting with Multi-Device Ecologies in the Wild."
  }
 ],
 "pageNumbersReferTo": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/ad-hoc-adaptability-in-video-calling.pdf",
 "verified": "2026-10-25",
 "studyFigure": {
  "about": "The opening figure on this paper's page, made for the site with AI assistance from this verified brief. It is not the paper's own figure. Evidence entries index this file's quantitative, findings and limitations arrays.",
  "study": {
   "kind": "single",
   "heading": "The paper",
   "summary": "Position paper on bringing whatever devices are at hand into video calls. It draws on prior research and briefly reports a small study of ad hoc screen mirroring.",
   "steps": [
    {
     "label": "Prior research",
     "detail": "Decades of research on sharing resources in video calls, set against systems that still tie one user to one device."
    },
    {
     "label": "A mirroring study",
     "detail": "A small study, reported in full elsewhere, of calls where anyone could mirror a phone to the shared display."
    },
    {
     "label": "Design argument",
     "detail": "Observations from the study are read through accountability and intelligibility, meaning everyone can see and make sense of what the system is doing."
    }
   ]
  },
  "tool": {
   "heading": "The prototype",
   "steps": [
    {
     "title": "Show a code",
     "text": "Alongside the call on a shared display, a second window shows a QR code."
    },
    {
     "title": "Point a phone",
     "text": "Any participant, in the room or remote, points a phone at the code.",
     "part": true
    },
    {
     "title": "Mirror the phone",
     "text": "The phone's screen appears on the shared display, showing material on the phone or its live camera.",
     "fields": [
      "phone material",
      "live camera"
     ],
     "part": true
    },
    {
     "title": "One at a time",
     "text": "Only one device mirrors at a time."
    }
   ],
   "note": "Before this, mirroring was usually limited to the person driving the host computer."
  },
  "findings": {
   "heading": "What the paper argues",
   "legend": null,
   "stages": [
    {
     "title": "Observations from a small study",
     "sub": "ad hoc screen mirroring, reported briefly",
     "items": [
      {
       "dir": "none",
       "text": "In the mirroring study, people contributed to the call from where they sat in the room.",
       "detail": "People could also move around the room and beyond it while sharing from a phone.",
       "evidence": [
        "findings[0]",
        "limitations[0]"
       ]
      },
      {
       "dir": "none",
       "text": "In the mirroring study, individuals prepared material on phones while the group talked.",
       "detail": "Preparing in parallel let individual, subgroup and full group sharing interleave more fluidly.",
       "evidence": [
        "findings[1]"
       ]
      },
      {
       "dir": "none",
       "text": "In the mirroring study, participants sometimes negotiated who would share next.",
       "detail": "Only one phone could mirror at a time. Participants agreed turns on the spot or set an order in advance.",
       "evidence": [
        "findings[2]"
       ]
      },
      {
       "dir": "none",
       "text": "In the mirroring study, pointing a phone at the code showed the room someone would share.",
       "detail": "A remote participant's move to share could go unnoticed unless someone in the room was watching the screen.",
       "evidence": [
        "findings[3]"
       ]
      }
     ]
    },
    {
     "title": "The design argument",
     "sub": "what calls across devices need",
     "items": [
      {
       "dir": "none",
       "text": "The paper argues most video calls make even simple device combinations difficult.",
       "detail": "Most video calling systems allow one username per device per call, so combining devices is cumbersome.",
       "evidence": [
        "method",
        "abstract"
       ]
      },
      {
       "dir": "none",
       "text": "The paper argues device connections should be visible and intelligible to everyone in the call.",
       "detail": "Visible seams keep people from being confused or surprised by a connection. Design must also allow for remote participants seeing less.",
       "evidence": [
        "takeaway",
        "findings[3]"
       ]
      }
     ]
    }
   ]
  },
  "keyTerm": "seamfulness",
  "takeaway": "Video calls can meet unplanned sharing needs by letting people bring in any device at hand. Visible seamfulness, showing every connection to everyone, remote participants included, may keep sharing understandable."
 }
}