Working with an Invisible Active User: Understanding Trust in Technology and Co-User from the Perspective of a Passive User

Distance collaboration technologies affect the way active and passive users interact in technology-mediated systems. Decreases in social and contextual cues in distance collaboration may have a large impact on passive users' perception of active users and the technology. The purpose of this study was to investigate passive users' trust in active users and trust in technology under varied technological conditions and active user performance. A laboratory experiment was conducted using simulated psychomotor tasks distance collaboration scenarios. Participants observed an active user, who performed tasks without being physically present. Their subjective report on trust in the active user, trust in technology and perceived active user's workload, as well as physiological responses, including eye movement, electrodermal activity and cardiovascular activity, were gathered. The results showed that technology conditions affected passive users' subjective reports, specifically; the participants exhibited higher arousal in the affect arousal system during the observation. Furthermore, the passive users seemed to evaluate their trust in the active user according to their trust in technology. This implies that in a distance collaboration context, technology use could affect interpersonal relationships between active and passive users.