Virtual Collaborative Design Research Articles

The Effects of Distancing Design Collaboration Necessitated by COVID-19 on Brain Synchrony in Teams Compared to Co-Located Design Collaboration: A Preliminary Study.

Due to the widespread involvement of distributed collaboration triggered by COVID-19, it has become a new trend that has continued into the post-pandemic era. This study investigated collective performance within two collaborative environments (co-located and distancing settings) by assessing inter-brain synchrony patterns (IBS) among design collaborators using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. The preliminary study was conducted with three dyads who possessed 2-3 years of professional product design experience. Each dyad completed two designated design tasks in distinct settings. In the distributed condition, participants interacted through video conferencing in which they were allowed to communicate by verbalization and sketching using a shared digital whiteboard. To prevent the influences of different sketching tools on design outputs, we employed digital sketching for both environments. The interactions between collaborators were identified in three behaviors: verbal only, sketch only, and mixed communication (verbal and sketch). The consequences revealed a higher level of IBS when mixed communication took place in distributed conditions than in co-located conditions. Comparably, the occurrence of IBS increased when participants solely utilized sketching as the interaction approach within the co-located setting. A mixed communication method combining verbalization and sketching might lead to more coordinated cognitive processes when in physical isolation. Design collaborators are inclined to adjust their interaction behaviors in order to adapt to different design environments, strengthen the exchange of ideas, and construct design consensus. Overall, the present paper discussed the performance of virtual collaborative design based on a neurocognitive perspective, contributing valuable insights for the future intervention design that promotes effective virtual teamwork.

Collaborative Workshops at Scale: A Method for Non-Facilitated Virtual Collaborative Design Workshops

This article introduces a method for conducting a fully online collaborative design workshop requiring no facilitation which we refer to as a Self-guided Collaborative Online Workshop (SCOW). The article provides three main contributions. Firstly, we present a process for the conversion of a face-to-face facilitated design workshop into a SCOW using a method we call the “playboard” which draws on concepts from CSCL literature. Secondly, we evaluate the efficacy of SCOWs using an iterative evaluation with 75 participants, including measures for participant satisfaction, subjective and objective learning outcomes, quality of the online and self-guided experience, and comparison with face-to-face workshops. Results across all measures indicate that the self-guided workshop was as successful as the in-person facilitated original. Moreover, participants reported advantages of the more scalable format including improved access to those with non-visible disabilities and in the Global South. Finally, based on our findings, we present a set of recommendations for others interested in using SCOWs as an inclusive and scalable way to support collaborative experiences.

CO-llaborative VI-rtual D-esign: A Collaborative Autoethnography on Conducting Exclusively Online, Data-Led Collaborations in the Creative Industries

This collaborative autoethnographic story of #DataCreativities articulates data traces found within the rapid move online in education and creative sectors in Melbourne, Australia. As a result of the lockdowns imposed to combat the initial spread of COVID-19, this collaboratory began within the anxieties of 2020. #DataCreativities takes a data-related approach to understanding the fast-paced shift to making, learning, teaching, and living in a crisis through research and art. Twelve months on, we figure (out) our own data and practice. We ask: What does CO-llaborative VI-rtual D-esign look like, how can it be established, and how can it be sustained?

Virtual Collaborative Design Environment: Supporting Seamless Integration of Multitouch Table and Immersive VR

Throughout the design of a new building it is essential that all involved stakeholders understand, communicate, participate, and collaborate with each other to acquire a high-quality result. To support these shared and creative design processes, this paper presents the design and evaluation of virtual collaborative design environment (ViCoDE) - a new collaborative design system. ViCoDE features seamless integration of several immersive VR systems and a multitouch table that facilitates collaborative and interactive design work with immediate feedback. The evaluation of the system has been done during two real-life collaborative design workshops in a context of designing new healthcare environments. The results show that the VR system and multitouch table complement each other very well by facilitating both collaborative, and individual design spaces - and that it fosters better understanding, participation, communication, knowledge sharing, and collaboration among the different stakeholders. The contribution is two-fold: presentation of a new collaborative design system and the evaluation of its use in a real-life design context, which demonstrate how these new technology-based workshops may facilitate design management.

The management of virtual collaborative design

Design is a complex process in which information on and knowledge of diverse sources are processed simultaneously by a team of designers. The advent of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has upset this conventional design process; the project team has been dispersed all over the world. The old theories of management have been blown apart, the old practices, job definitions with the old sense, have been reoriented. Instead, technology is being woven into design projects' structures to fill the gaps. Each member of the project team contributes primarily what it regards as its core competencies. A new form of organisation and new project management styles are coming to life. The purpose of this paper is to examine these issues. It proposes a process that enables the establishment and management of virtual teams in design projects.

ADVICE: A virtual environment for Engineering Change Management

In this paper, we analyze Engineering Changes (EC), which are modifications in forms, fits, functions, materials, or dimensions in components constituting the design. We propose a new approach for processing these changes within a Virtual Collaborative Design Environment. This environment, named Active Distributed Virtual Change Environment (ADVICE) offers an Engineering Change Management solution by merging graphical and parametric data involved in the process into a virtual platform, which improves the comprehension of users and hence decreases the time required for review. ADVICE provides smart user support for predicting Engineering Changes to be triggered due to a specific change and for offering priorities to Engineering Change Requests. This is managed by employing Sequential Pattern Mining techniques to process captured Engineering Change history with Prioritization and Change Propagation mechanisms. For verifying these mechanisms, experiments involving synthetic data are conducted. The experiments present the capability of ADVICE to facilitate Engineering Change Management.

Digitally integrated practices: a new paradigm in the teaching of digital media in architecture

With the advent of the 21st century, the 25-year-old promise of multi-parametric modeling has re-emerged reincarnated as Building Information Modeling (BIM). Promoted by a trend toward Integrated Practices (IP), BIM can provide instrumentation for the design, representation, documentation of the projects, and the exchange of information among designers and other stakeholders. A growing number of disciplines in the design and construction industry are embracing the use of BIM and consequently the academia is addressing related training needs. This paper presents the accumulative experience of the authors over the last decade at Texas A&M University regarding digital media integration and our current plans for addressing future demands and opportunities. As a matter of introduction, the paper makes reference to early implementations of multi-parametric modeling in electronic design studios, early use of the Internet for the implementation of collaborative virtual design studios, and their evolution towards virtual multidisciplinary studios and fabrication studios that make use of BIM software. At the core, the paper explains how BIM can be a pedagogical tool for multidisciplinary integration and curricular articulation. The paper makes evident that BIM is more than a phenomena happening in the profession and something the academia must simply provide training for. The paper ends by drawing conclusions that outline how we can produce the design briefings of projects especially directed toward offering multidisciplinary learning opportunities in studios instrumented by means of BIM software. Key words: building information modeling, multiparametric modeling, integrated practices, digital media education.

The design and realization of CoViD: a system for collaborative virtual 3D design

Many important decisions in the design process are made during fairly early on, after designers have presented initial concepts. In many domains, these concepts are already realized as 3D digital m...

Differences and Dialogic Learning in a Collaborative Virtual Design Studio

With the ability of linking distant partners and diverse bodies of students and faculty, virtual design studios provide unique opportunities for examining cultural, contextual, and methodological differences in design and design collaboration. However, most evaluations of virtual design studio in the recent literature have focused primarily on technical and operational issues. In contrast, the social and cultural dimensions of virtual design studio and their pedagogical implications have not been adequately examined. To address this gap, this article examines the experience and outcomes of a recent virtual design studio involving international collaboration between faculty and student partners. Specifically, it looks at how presence of differences and process of dialogic learning create pedagogical opportunities in a collaborative 'virtual' environment. Based on the case study, this article argues that through dialogues, collaboration, and negotiation of cultural, contextual and methodological differences, collaborative virtual design studio offers an alternative to traditional design studio based on the primacy of individual practice and the master-apprentice model of learning. By creatively utilizing the collaborative environment involving diverse partners, virtual design studio can foster a critical understanding of cross-cultural design process and the significance of dialogues and negotiation in design.

STUDY AND REALIZATION ON VIRTUAL COLLABORATIVE DESIGN ENVIRONMENT FOR ASSEMBLY

By researching in collaboration design theory, collaborative design based on virtual model and virtual assembly, architecture of virtual collaborative design environment for assembly (VCDEFA) is presented. VCDEFA intends to aid the real time transmission of 3D virtual models and semantic about collaborative design action on geographic distributed net virtual design system, and to establish a virtual collaborative design environment which supports real-time response for collaboration operation and dynamic loading virtual models. The conception and character of VCDEFA are given. Six layers' architecture and function model of VCDEFA are addressed. In prototype system, virtual models are obtained from Pro/E system. Digital increased transmission and central management are adopted to assure the consistency of design data. Message length dynamic control technology is adopted. A prototype system instance manifess that the system has good practicability, and the architecture can satisfy requirement of virtual collaborative design.

Using a 3D virtual collaborative design environment for an advanced vehicle concept review: some test results

This paper briefly describes several first- and second-generation virtual environment (VE) systems, and the results of US Army empirical testing of one second-generation system - the CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). Compared in the test with the CAVE was the Army's traditional and proven method of reviewing advanced vehicle concepts - a PowerPoint™ briefing. Test results indicated several advantages for the VE that should be of interest to any organisation facing the need to shrink development life cycles, reduce costs, and improve product and system utility. A conclusion reached is that additional research and testing are needed to provide additional insights into the use of VE technologies to improve and support collaborative product and system development, design, and acquisition.

Collaborative Virtual Design Environments

Computer-generated animated and enhanced movies and training simulations are now commonplace because of an exponential increase in cost-effective computer power and software robustness. Today, pilots and astronauts routinely train and practice normal and emergency scenarios much as they would in a real vehicle in an operational environment. As entertainment-seeking consumers, we regularly find ourselves viewing movies, TV, and games containing imaginary dinosaurs, aircraft dogfights, monsters, and voyages to other planets and galaxies.

LEVEL OF DETAIL AND MULTI-RESOLUTION MODELING FOR VIRTUAL PROTOTYPING

Reconciling scene realism with interactivity has emerged as one of the most important areas in making virtual reality feasible for large-scale CAD data sets consisting of several millions of primitives. Level of detail (LoD) and multi-resolution modeling techniques in virtual reality can be used to speed up the process of virtual design and virtual prototyping. In this paper, we present an automatic LoD generation and rendering algorithm, which is suitable for CAD models and propose a new multi-resolution representation scheme called MRM (multi-resolution model), which can support efficient extraction of fixed resolution and variable resolution for multiple objects in the same scene. MRM scheme supports unified selective simplifications and selective refinements over the mesh. Furthermore, LoD and multi-resolution models may be used to support real-time geometric transmission in collaborative virtual design and prototyping.

Multi-Resolution Modeling for Virtual Design

The benefits of multi-resolution modeling techniques in virtual reality are vast, but one essential component of this model is how it can be used to speedup the process of virtual design and virtual prototyping. In this paper we propose a new multi-resolution representation scheme called MRM, which can support efficient extraction of both fixed and variable resolution modeling data for handling multiple objects in the same scene. One important feature of the MRM scheme is that it supports unified selective simplifications and selective refinements over the mesh representation of the object. In addition, multi-resolution models may be used to support real-time geometric transmission of data in collaborative virtual design and prototyping applications. These key features in MRM, may be applied to a variety of VR applications.