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Preserving Communication Context            229

                                        Figure 2
                                  First draft of MAJIC





























                 The second factor deemed essential for “achieving a feeling of to-
             getherness during videoconferencing” (390) is the continuity of back-
             ground images. In this interpretation of “seamlessness” if images
             run into each other, it is difficult to tell where one ends and the next
             begins; “if users are surrounded by other participants with a seam-
             less background, they can feel as though they are together.” (386) In
             actual fact, the backgrounds must be “matched” at the seam. But
             this is only a prototype; MAJIC proposes doing away with the actual
             background altogether and replacing it with an artificial one that
             can be chosen to create a desired mood, to relax or to inspire (386
             and personal communication). This would be done using a chro-
             makey blue background.
                 Laboratory evaluations of MAJIC I and observations of use at a
             trade fair led to several improvements or additions in MAJIC II. For
             example, in a questionnaire administered to forty students, three-
             quarter size images were rated more convincing than life-sized ones.
             This led to experiments to determine the ideal relationship between
             distance from the image and image size and an adjustment in
             MAJIC II. There have also been a number of strictly technical im-
             provements: improvement of image quality, reduced size of the pro-
             totype, etc.
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