Recent events in the news have demonstrated the growing role of live streaming in sharing events with the world. We are interested in exploring opportunities for creating an interactive experience for remote viewers to participate in events through integrating live streams and other social media coming from the same event. We will discuss a series of studies, including a mixed methods study of the early use of Meerkat and Periscope apps for mobile live streaming. This study identified the occurrence of multiple live streams coming from the same event, which represent an opportunity for multiple perspectives on events of shared public interest. We have deployed prototypes at a jazz festival and a Comic Con to get some experience with events covered by multiple live streams. We are especially interested to explore with DUB the social implications of participating together in live events, as they unfold in real time.
John C. Tang and Gina Venolia are Senior Researchers in the neXus group at Microsoft Research where we design and study new tools to support connecting people over distance. We combine understanding users needs through qualitative methods with designing and prototyping new technologies and learning by deploying them in the real world.