User Interfaces

We look at how the conference appears to the user on the screen. How much text output can a human easily assimilate, and in what way can the current speaker (typist) by best identified? Can the ease of use of the conference be aided by semantic hints in the display? We consider the use of Searle's illocutionary acts as a way of classifying the users' input. [Sea75][Wino88] We do not examine in detail how is a conference started, how are people invited to join, or ask to join, how they find out about a conference in the first place and how the conference is closed down. This is briefly discussed in the section on related work.