Multilayered Installation Design: A framework for analysis and design of complex social events, illustrated by an analysis of virtual conferencing

Humans are social animals living in societies with most of their activities occurring in social settings, characterized by multiple actors, the crossing of individual behavioral paths, interactions between participants themselves and between participants and material (or immaterial) setting components. We theorize that virtual conferences, like physical ones, have a dual-space structure where the two types of activities (content transfer and social intercourse) intertwine. Understanding what happens in such complex social events requires minutely analyzing this complex intertwined structure of components and events.