Figure 1. HDTV Camera (circled) mounted on the roof of the university building (left). Brin at work in her office with the plasma display window (right).
We installed large plasma displays on the walls of seven inside offices of faculty and staff at a university, and displayed, as the default image, real-time HDTV views of the immediate outside scene. Then, utilizing a field-study methodology, data were collected over a 16-week period to explore the user experience with these large display windows. Through the triangulation of data—652 pages of interview transcripts, journal entries, and responses to email inquiries—results showed that users deeply appreciated many aspects of their experience. Benefits included a reported increase in users’ connection to the wider social community, connection to the natural world, psychological wellbeing, and cognitive functioning. Users also integrated the large display window into their workplace practice. However, users expressed concerns particularly about the impacts on the privacy of people whose images were captured in the public place by the HDTV camera. Discussion focuses on design challenges for future investigations into related uses of large displays.