An examination of social presence in video conferencing vs. an augmented reality conferencing application

This study focused on the implications of augmented reality videochat when used in an educational context. Traditional web conferencing systems are impaired by limitations that inhibit their use for education, primarily due to their difficulty in creating social presence. An augmented video chat system was created that allowed two users to interact with a three dimensional models displayed on top of paper markers called fiducials. This chat system was tested to ascertain if it was able to create more social presence than a traditional web conferencing system. The two systems were found to create similar amounts of social presence during use. Implications for educational use and future web conferencing systems are discussed.