Proximity as an Interface for Video Communication

This paper is about MirrorSpace, an interactive video communication system. When you're far away, your own image reflects in it like in a distorting mirror, blurred and imprecise. As you move toward it, however, it becomes clearer and more accurate. By the time you reach it, the reflection is almost perfect, as in a conventional mirror. What you see is not a simple optical reflection but a video image captured, processed, and displayed in real time. MirrorSpace was originally conceived as a prototype for the interLiving project (http:// interliving.kth.se/) of the European Disappearing Computer initiative (2001-2003). This project focused on the design of technologies to support communication among family members located in different households.