"Solving" ambiguity in the virtual space: communication strategies in a collaborative virtual environment

Collaborative virtual environments (CVE) face the challenge of succeeding in incorporating critical dimensions of cooperation and communication in everyday working situations. One of these dimensions, situation ambiguity, is scarcely considered in studies on CVE although it can prove a key factor in future use of CVE in real work situations. Many computer-supported cooperative environments and telecommunication systems, like those currently used in telemedicine, would benefit from the incorporation of some degree of situation ambiguity allowing users to deploy their diagnostic and interpretive abilities. In the perspective adopted in this study, ambiguity is the contingent outcome of the ongoing interaction taking place between the environment and the interests of social actors. The research focuses on cooperation within couples of participants facing situation ambiguity in a virtual environment: a simulated city named Babylon. Participants moved in the city through an avatar and could communicate in one of the following conditions: face-to-face, phone or chat. Their goal was that of meeting somewhere in the city, in a place that they did not know previously. Babylon contained elements designed to allow both production and detection of ambiguity. Ambiguity emerged when participants realized the presence of inconsistencies in the way they perceived the situations they had to face. The moments in which ambiguity was perceived – called “critical events” – were measured and described through qualitative (ethnographically oriented) methods. The different strategies that participants used to “solve” ambiguity were characterized as: looking for environmental cues, narrowing the focus of attention and investing on cooperation. Both critical events and strategies were analyzed with respect to the three communication conditions: face-to-face, phone and chat. All the communication conditions allowed the emergence of ambiguity and the negotiation of strategies to solve ambiguity between partners: according to literature, chat is very costly in terms of time spent on writing but this disadvantage did not block completely the emergence of ambiguity and the development of adequate strategies of solution. All navigations but three (on a total of 18 couples) succeeded: the partners did meet in a short time (less than 15 minutes) relying on their pragmatic resources in a new virtual place. Further research is required to clarify the possible factors influencing the choice of one strategy over the others, the order in which strategies follow each other and the role of leadership in ambiguity detection and solution.