How Can High-Frequency Sensors Capture Collaboration? A Review of the Empirical Links between Multimodal Metrics and Collaborative Constructs

This paper reviews 74 empirical publications that used high-frequency data collection tools to capture facets of small collaborative groups—i.e., papers that conduct Multimodal Collaboration Analytics (MMCA) research. We selected papers published from 2010 to 2020 and extracted their key contributions. For the scope of this paper, we focus on: (1) the sensor-based metrics computed from multimodal data sources (e.g., speech, gaze, face, body, physiological, log data); (2) outcome measures, or operationalizations of collaborative constructs (e.g., group performance, conditions for effective collaboration); (3) the connections found by researchers between sensor-based metrics and outcomes; and (4) how theory was used to inform these connections. An added contribution is an interactive online visualization where researchers can explore collaborative sensor-based metrics, collaborative constructs, and how the two are connected. Based on our review, we highlight gaps in the literature and discuss opportunities for the field of MMCA, concluding with future work for this project.