Description: Double TWIXT is a game that tests communication and strategic skills applying to the 9 principles of war. The game involves two teams of two players that have a shared view of a playing board and a common goal, the goal of building an uninterrupted chain of linked pegs that connect the teams' parallel borders (Figure 1).

Figure 1. A Game Snapshot

In the case of Figure 1, the blue team has won the game by connecting their border with an uninterrupted chain of linked pegs.

The general approach to playing the game is as follows:

1. Partners are connected via a collaborative computing tool.
2. Play alternates between teams and players. For example, one order of play would be:
   • Red Team Player 1 followed by Blue Team Player 1 followed by Red Team Player 2 followed by Blue Team Player 2.
3. During each move, a player places a peg on the board.
4. As the game proceeds, if pegs of the same color are in a position to be linked together, then they may be linked within the same move. To be linked together, pegs must be separated by a 2-1 formation (See Figure 2).
5. As this figure shows, links can connect peg A with pegs B through I.
6. It is not necessary to place a peg in position to be linked each move. Players may sometimes opt to place pegs in strategic positions so that they can be linked in a later move. For example, if Red Team, Player 1 placed a peg at position H (See Figure 2), and in a subsequent play, Red Team Player 2 placed a peg at position C, then although these pegs could not be linked in that move, the Red Team would later be able to connect pegs C and H at position A or at the hole between positions B and I.
7. During the game, players would only be able to discuss strategies prior to taking five turns (five being arbitrary). By only allowing discussions between players during five turns, the possibility of a better player monopolizing the play of a team is minimized and at the same time the possibility to study collaborations still exists.
8. The game ends when one team has a continuous uninterrupted chain connecting each of their borders.

Figure 2. 2-1 Formation

This scenario would be useful, as it would allow us to gauge the utility of the collaborative computing tool by:

• Comparing a team's performance using the tool in comparison with playing a board version of the game with players co-located.
• Assessing the utility of the visualization medium by comparing a team's performance using the tool to that of providing individual players with only a local playing board and having team players announce the position of a placement using a grid scheme (such as in the game of battleship).
• Examining the utility of logging by recording snapshots of the screen after each move and allowing team players to tag snapshots so that they can be reviewed at a later time for the purpose of developing strategies.

IC&V Program Objectives Addressed

Enable access via diverse portals, from hand-held through room sized.

By varying the portals through which TWIXT is played, the team should be able to:

• Determine if the collaboration tool has an adequate amount of screen space.
• Determine if the collaboration tool has an adequate resolution.
• Determine if the collaboration tool communications infrastructure is adequate.

Enable interoperability across diverse encoding formats, coordination and consistency protocols, and real-time services.

By varying the platforms and applications through which TWIXT is played, the team should be able to:

• Determine if the same tool across multiple operating environments (e.g. operating systems, networking protocols) support users.
• Determine if different tools on the same operating environment support users.
• Determine if different tools on different operating environments support users.

Reduce by an order of magnitude the time to review collaborative sessions.

By varying collaborative session tagging and reviewing applications the team should be able to:

• Determine how different session recording and session review applications compare in terms of enabling users to quickly tag and review specific segments of a collaboration session.
• Determine how collaboration logging techniques provide users with the tools needed to quickly identify searchable tags for collaboration segments of interest.
• Determine if the searchable tags that have been applied to prior collaboration segments can be re-applied to a non tagged collaboration as an indexing utility.
• Determine if collaboration logging provides users with the tools needed to query a session or sessions for segment instances of an element of interest.
• Determine if interrelationships between collaboration segments can be determined through the use of the collaboration tool.
• Determine how different session review applications compare in terms of enabling users to catch-up on collaborations in progress.

Improve task-based performance of collaborators by two orders of magnitude.

By varying the tools and collaboration method (in person compared to CSCW tools) through which TWIXT is played, the team should be able to:

• Determine how collaboration tools compare to in person collaborations in terms of the amount of time required to perform a task.
• Determine how collaboration tools compare to in person collaborations in terms of how well a task is performed.

Domain Applicability

At first glance, it may seem that the game TWIXT does not have much relevance to either the DoD community or the evaluation of CSCW technology. Further examination of the TWIXT scenario, however, will show that it is not only relevant in both cases, but it also provides a mechanism to quickly assess CSCW technology with a minimal amount of evaluation overhead.

Military Relevance:

Upon consideration of the nine principles of war which are the backbone of current US military doctrine, one can begin to see similarities between the TWIXT scenario and a scenario which is concretely rooted in an explicit military situation. Following is a list of the principles of war (in italics) and an explanation of how each principle is relevant to the TWIXT scenario.

• The objective of a military operation must be clear, shared, understood and attainable. If this is not the case, it is likely that the desired outcome will not be achieved because the purpose of the actions was not understood; furthermore, it will not be known when the desired results have been achieved. For the TWIXT game, the objective is pretty clear -- to construct an unbroken fence connecting both of the player's borders.
• Closely related to objective is the principle of unity of command. This latter principle states that there must be cooperation between commanders in prioritizing individual objectives and in the sharing of frequently scarce resources. Without this teamwork, it is quite possible that the actions of one commander would have grave consequences for another commander and his objectives; on the other hand, a more unified approach could prove to be mutually beneficial to each. In the case of TWIXT, if two players on the same team do not agree on where to focus their collective efforts, then it is quite likely that the opposing team will succeed in defeating them.
• Only through offensive action is a commander able to further the progress towards ultimate victory, whereas the best a commander can hope for through a series of defensive actions is to prevent the enemy from reaching its objective. Much the same holds for the game of TWIXT -- one can only win when on the offensive.
• The ability to maneuver is key to most military operations. Commanders typically select routes of advance which provide the maximum flexibility for unencumbered movement; this affords the commander the ability to rapidly change course as the situation develops. Likewise in TWIXT, a player should plan to construct fences along a path which affords him the ability to join with his existing fences and minimizes the ability of his opponent to block his advance.
• The principle of mass (sometimes referred to as concentration of forces) refers to the fact that it is of paramount importance to have a sufficient amount of force to achieve the objective -- anything less would result in defeat. Similarly in TWIXT, a player must place their pegs in sufficient numbers to allow fences to be constructed -- both to connect their own boundaries and to block their opponent's efforts to do the same.
• Although it is frequently thought that the principle of mass conflicts with economy of force, the two are in fact closely linked. While the first is telling commanders to use enough force to achieve their objective, the second is urging commanders to use no more force than they reasonably require; by conserving resources, the forces in reserve will be available to pursue other objectives. In TWIXT, each redundant (or wasted) move provides the opponent an opportunity to achieve a superior position.
• Military commanders should keep the simplicity of their plans in mind as they are being developed -- the more convoluted the strategy, the more difficult it will be to effectively communicate and carry out the plan. This philosophy is equally applicable to TWIXT.
• Through surprise, military commanders can frequently attain objectives that otherwise would have been either unattainable or much more costly. In TWIXT, there are occasions where a strategy is effective only if the opponent does not comprehend the true implications of a given series of moves; if the other team understands the logic behind the placement of the pieces, then the strategy can be defeated.
• It goes without saying that for surprise to be realized, effective security measures must be employed. If the enemy becomes witting of a commander's plans in which surprise is of importance, the results can be especially devastating because there is frequently an elevated element of risk involved in these military actions. For the TWIXT scenario, security can mean either ensuring that the opposing team does not hear discussions of the team's strategy, or controlling facial expressions during the opponent's play.

Relevance to the Evaluation of CSCW Technology:

The advantages of using TWIXT as a tool for evaluating CSCW tools include:

• The amount of time needed to train individuals on the basics of playing TWIXT is minimal (less than 20 minutes).
• The amount of time to play TWIXT is minimal (usually less than 30 minutes). This is beneficial because the game can be played multiple times without spending a long period of time.
• The game is easily understood by individuals with non-military or intelligence backgrounds, yet it relates to military doctrine.
• Since the play of the game is always different, the game can be played multiple times. In addition, as strategies are developed over time, variance may be minimized with repeated plays of the game.

Characteristics Tested

This game is intended to exercise the ability to:

• Interactively manipulate objects in a shared environment.
• Communicate in a synchronous manner.
• Encode and review collaborative sessions.
• Interoperate across portals and operating environments.

Application Data and Format

Data needed to conduct this game using CSCW tools include:

• Hardcopy and/or softcopy training material.
• The TWIXT board game.

Scenario Data and Format

The TWIXT game coded for appropriate platform and operating system would be needed.

Tasks

In the context of the TWIXT playing approach, we see tasks as experiments to be played for the purpose of investigating different collaboration research objectives, to include:

• Determine the affects of varying portals on user performance and user satisfaction.
• Determine the affects of diverse encoding formats, coordination and consistency protocols, and real-time services on user performance and user satisfaction.
• Determine the affects of limiting the amount of communications permitted on user performance and user satisfaction.
• Determine the affects of different collaboration recording and reviewing techniques as an aid for increasing performance on similar tasks.
• Determine the affects of different collaboration reviewing techniques as an aid for understanding the task environment.