# Tangible document sharing: handing over paper documents across a videoconferencing display

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a system for sharing paper documents during video calls that preserves the physical and spatial experience for better collaboration.

## Contribution

A novel system that eliminates media and space inconsistencies in sharing paper documents during videoconferencing.

## Key findings

- Reproducing real paper documents increases the sense of information sharing.
- Handing over documents enhances a sense of shared space regardless of document format.
- The system improves collaboration by preserving physical and spatial consistency.

## Abstract

Conventional techniques for sharing paper documents in teleconferencing tend to introduce two inconsistencies: 1) media inconsistency: a paper document is converted into a digital image on the remote site; 2) space inconsistency: a workspace deliberately inverts the partner’s handwriting to make a document easy to read. In this paper, we present a novel system that eliminates these inconsistencies. The media and space inconsistencies are resolved by reproducing a real paper document on a remote site and allowing a user to handover the paper document to a remote partner across a videoconferencing display. From a series of experiments, we found that reproducing a real paper document contributes to a higher sense of information sharing. We also found that handing over a document enhances a sense of space sharing, regardless of whether the document is digital or paper-based. These findings provide insights into designing systems for sharing paper documents across distances.