Get a Room: Natural Backchannel Communication in Hybrid Meetings

In face-to-face interactions in groups, individuals often utilize an audio(visual) backchannel to engage in parallel discussions with a subset of the group, like whispering during a meeting or having side conversations at social gatherings. This natural aspect of human communication is harder to replicate in remote and hybrid settings, where it is often replaced by text. While this is sometimes sufficient, a richer and more fluent and natural usage of backchannel communication is oftentimes preferred. In this paper, we explore the design space of technology-mediated backchannel communication. We present findings of an empirical study with 47 participants interacting in hybrid meetings. Based on our observations, we discuss solution approaches and present speculative interaction mechanisms, offering visions of flexible, natural, and effective backchannel experiences. These speculations also set the stage for a design fiction, an immersive narrative to further explore and discuss the possibilities of future backchannel communication in hybrid contexts.