Convivo communicator: An interface‐adaptive VoIP system for poor quality networks
| Pages | 167-180 |
| Published date | 01 August 2003 |
| Date | 01 August 2003 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14779960380000234 |
| Author | Marco A Escobar,Michael L Best |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Convivo Communicator: An Interface-Adaptive
VoIP System for Poor Quality Networks
1. INTRODUCTION
Convivo1is a Voice over Internet Protocol
(VOIP) computer application designed to
support effective voice communication
over the Internet even in the presence of
poor quality networks, especially like those
found in rural areas of the developing
world.
1.1. Ethical status of
communication
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights declares that, “[e]veryone has
the right to freedom of opinion and expres-
sion; this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek,
receive and impart information and ideas
through any media and regardless of fron-
tiers” [1]. Indeed, this obligation has been fur-
ther articulated internationally, expressing
the right of all people to communicate freely
and effectively, in instruments such as the
European Convention for the Protection of
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
[2], the UN ACC Statement on Universal
Access to Basic Communication and
Information Services [3], and the African
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights [4]. If
free and effective communication is a human
right then it is true, ex hypothesi, that infor-
mation tools, and indeed the Internet, go to
human rights concerns. Thus, as the Internet
is today’s most powerful communication tool,
provisioning of the Internet has become an
ethical concern.
The deployment of the Internet has been
shown to be a tool for such critical human
Info, Comm & Ethics in Society (2003) 1: 167–180
©2003 Troubador Publishing Ltd.
KKEEYYWWOORRDDSS
Rural Telephony
ICT
Development
Multi-literate
System
VoIP
Design for
Developing
Worlds
Marco A Escobar and Michael L Best
Madia Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA, USA
Email: mikeb@media.mit.edu
CCOOVVEERRAAGGEE
Convivo is a VoIP system designed to provide reliable voice communication for poor quality networks,
especially those found in rural areas of the developing world. Convivo introduces an original approach
to maintain voice communication interaction in the presence of poor network performance: an Interface-
Adaptation mechanism that adjusts the user interface to reduce the impact of high latency and low band-
width networks. Interface modes facilitate turn taking for high latency connections, and help to sustain
voice communication even with extremely low bandwidth or high error rates. An evaluation of the sys-
tem, conducted in a rural community in the Dominican Republic, found that Interface-Adaptation helped
users to maintain voice communication interaction as network performance degrades. Transitions from
full duplex to voice messaging were found particularly valuable. Initial results suggest that as users get
more experience with the application they would like to manually control transitions based on feedback
provided by the application and their own perceived voice quality.
ABSTRACT
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