FaceValue: Exploring Real-Time Self-View Overlays to Prompt Meaning-Oriented Self-Awareness in Remote Meetings

TL;DR

FaceValue is a real-time self-view overlay system designed to enhance self-awareness of non-verbal cues during remote meetings, aiming to improve communication clarity.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, subtle overlay approach to promote meaning-oriented self-awareness without behavioral labeling, supported by empirical deployment insights.

Findings

Participants reported increased awareness of their cues.

Participants felt motivated to adjust their behavior during meetings.

Design insights inform future remote meeting systems.

Abstract

In remote video meetings, visual non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions or head movements, are seen continuously but often only partially. This increases ambiguity compared to in-person settings and can cause misinterpretation or misalignment between intended and perceived meaning. Motivated by communication theories, we designed FaceValue, a technology probe that augments the self-view with private, real-time overlays. These overlays are subtle, suggestive prompts intended to help attendees reflect on how their cues might be interpreted by others. To invite personal interpretation, FaceValue avoids behavioral labeling and instead aims to support meaning-oriented self-awareness: recognizing when visible cues may unintentionally (mis)communicate intent. We deployed FaceValue in the wild with thirteen knowledge workers over multiple weeks, capturing perceived changes in self-awareness and behavior, and impressions on the design concepts, as self-reported by participants through diary entries and exit interviews. Participants felt FaceValue increased their awareness of potentially misaligned cues and motivated in-meeting adjustments, which they believe resulted in improved communication with other attendees. We contribute a conceptual framing that positions visual non-verbal cues as a manipulable communication resource, a technology probe that aims to foster meaning-oriented self-awareness, and empirically-grounded design insights for future meeting systems.