Real-time Task Mediation between Hybrid Workers based on Focus Monitoring

A hybrid virtual work model which combines on-site and remote work will contribute for increasing productivity during and after the pandemic. Many workers are interested in collaboration tools among on-site and remote workers for well-being. A significant problem that lies in a hybrid model is that uninterrupted work hours shrank during the work from home period. There have been many worker assistance systems based on focus monitoring technologies. However, existing schemes did not consider groups of workers in hybrid environments. To address this problem, in this paper we propose a real-time interruptive task mediation system among hybrid workers. The goal of the proposed scheme is to improve the total productivity of workers by optimally allocating interruptive tasks based on focus monitoring. The focus state of a worker is considered as a two-state stationary Markov process. The optimum monitoring interval to ensure the target error tolerance is determined using the Age of Information. The feasibility of the proposed scheme was demonstrated via computer simulations and preliminary experimental results.