Collaborative Design Environment Research Articles

Contactless Multi-User Virtual Hair Design Synthesis

This study introduces a virtual reality (VR)-based remote hair design training system that addresses the limitations of physical presence. By leveraging virtual environments and eliminating the need for tangible tools, this system allows hairstylists and learners to collaborate and master hair-design techniques from a distance. In this approach, a section of a user’s hair was derived from their photograph, and during the training, the most compatible 3D hair model was integrated with the user’s 3D avatar using the recommended matching procedure. This aligned hairstyle was subsequently incorporated into a 3D model for hair simulation. Further, VR HMD interaction mapping was used for hair cutting and styling. A collaborative environment for hair design has been crafted, enabling multiple participants to partake in remote hairstyle education. This system offers cost-effective training, enhances cooperative learning, and aligns with the requirements of contact-free education. In essence, this research has transformed remote hair design training with immersive VR technology. To verify the system’s accuracy, tests were conducted, and the results showcased enhancements in the matching procedure.

Utilization evolving prototype technologies in industrial design in the light of industry 4.0

Utilization evolving prototype technologies in industrial design in the light of industry 4.0

Exploring Students’ Continuance Intention Toward Digital Visual Collaborative Learning Technology in Design Thinking

Visualization influences the collaborative design process and design thinking (DT) education outcomes. Accordingly, digital visual collaborative learning (DVCL) technology has great potential to facilitate students’ remote collaborative design experiences. This study investigates the fitness of DVCL for DT learning activities and the factors influencing students’ continued use of the technology with a model integrating technology acceptance model (TAM) and design task-technology fit (DTTF). The research findings demonstrate that the perceived usefulness of the technology is the primary direct factor influencing the continuance intention toward the technology. In addition, the DTTF mediated by perceived usefulness and ease of use significantly affected the intention to continue using the technology. The visual characteristics of the technology influenced the DTTF in the collaborative design environment. This study highlights visualization as a critical feature of collaborative learning in DT education and provides implications from both theoretical and practical perspectives.

BIM-based immersive collaborative environment for furniture, fixture and equipment design

One of the most critical issues related to the current application of virtual reality during design appraisal is the inability to have a collaborative virtual environment where a group of geographically remote stakeholders can interact and communicate effectively in real-time. This paper addresses this shortcoming by proposing a collaborative furniture, fixture and equipment virtual environment (COFFEE) that allows concurrent multi-users to interact, communicate and collaborate virtually during the design appraisal of interior furnishings of a facility The testing of the proposed system among various construction stakeholders (n = 26) to demonstrate the usability and functionality showed high degree of acceptance by stakeholders as a result of improved visualisation, multi-user communication, and collaboration in the virtual environment. In practice COFFEE is expected to assist interior design stakeholders to make informed decisions and create shared understanding before commencement of construction activity.

Pedagogical features of creating collaborative projects in training philological disciplines

The article examines the pedagogical features of creating a collaborative project in the educational process of the university in the course of organizing and conducting a seminar with bachelor students in the discipline "History of Russian Literature". Features of the module “Artistic features of the novel in verse“ Eugene Onegin ”A.S. Pushkin ". Methodical recommendations for conducting classes in pedagogical universities. Creation of collaborative design and collaborative environment in conducting classes.

Toward an integrated theory of computer-mediated social interaction

PurposeThis paper aims to describe an integration of the media naturalness theory, the continuum model of impression formation and the social identity model of deindividuation effects. The goal is to determine the compatibility of the central tenets and propositions of the two theories and reconcile their effects under a unified model that can be used to explain and predict changes in perceptions, attitudes and behaviors arising in computer-mediated interaction.Design/methodology/approachA review of the literature was used to determine whether the two theories were compatible. The reconciliation comes by way of a third theory, the motivated tactician theory, which focuses on the effects of cognitive effort on schema use, particularly on those schemas used in social categorization processes.FindingsIt was determined that the two models of focus could be combined via the tenets of the third. The combined model is expected to provide explanatory and predictive capabilities that exceed those of the individual theories and should prove to be relevant in the study of computed-supported collaboration, in the design of collaborative environments and in the analysis of individual and group behaviors in computer-mediated communication.Research limitations/implicationsThe current effort describes the main effects derived from the integration and offers four propositions that describe moderating factors that are derived from each of the three theories. The main effects must be tested and validated and, given support, must be extended to determine the validity of the moderating effects predicted by the propositions. Additionally, media naturalness theory is a relatively recent addition to theories of technology and so needs further empirical support for its propositions. As to the behavioral implications, the social identity model of deindividuation effects has yet to be tested with the specific intention of discovering how media characteristics affect self-concept.Practical implicationsThe model can be used to inform information system designs that favor desirable behavioral outcomes or to prevent undesirable effects from occurring. For example, emphasis can place on media attributes and system features that individuate decision-makers within group decision support environments when consensus is a primary goal as a means to avoid group thinks and polarization. Conversely, attributes and features that are supportive of social categorization processes and deindividuation effects might be used to emphasize group membership, shared effort and to minimize social loafing or the frequency and intensity of inappropriate disparagement of ideas and contributions.Social implicationsThe combined model is principally useful in explaining and predicting human behavior in relation to computer-supported collaborative work such as distributed workgroups and online learning environments. For example, the explanatory elements of the combined theory can be used by managers as a diagnostic tool in problem situations within virtual teams. A specific instance would be to determine why a change to existing systems created a change in work habits. In a more proactive move, managers might use the predicted social categorization effects and subsequent depersonalization, to instill a group identity in an otherwise diverse workgroup.Originality/valueThe combined model is expected to provide explanatory and predictive capabilities that exceed those of the individual theories and should prove to be relevant in the study of computed-supported collaboration, in the design of collaborative environments and in the analysis of individual and group behaviors in computer-mediated communication.

Constructing assembly design model capable of capturing and sharing semantic dynamic motion information in heterogeneous CAD systems

Over the last decades, collaborative assembly design has received much attention, which has provided fruitful results in terms of data models, knowledge-based, and top-down geometric modeling approaches, to name a few. Particularly, researchers have focused their efforts towards assembly relationships within product models, but have limited the scope to static assembly geometric description as currently stated in computer-aided design (CAD) systems. A disruptive vision is assumed in this research work, arguing that the assembly design itself presents a dynamic nature via, especially, dynamic motion. Such a paradigm shift requires an appropriate logical and semantic foundation to augment current CAD systems and data models’ capabilities with the capture of dynamic phenomena such as assembly motions and kinematic behaviors. Traditional CAD systems nowadays can handle the kinematics-related motion-related information; however, the interoperation of this motion-related information from one CAD system to the other is still a limitation of the interoperability standards. To tackle this research challenge, this paper aims at defining an original framework built upon a formal ontology to capture and share dynamic assembly motion among heterogeneous CAD systems. The formal ontology uses spatiotemporal mereotopology, which serves as a theoretical backbone to qualitatively describe the dynamic behavior of a product. This theory addresses the qualitative description of the temporal dimension over the spatial dimension of 3D objects. The proposed ontology is then enhanced to maintain semantic continuity of the spatial and temporal aspects embedded in assembly design ontology models. Built with a Web Ontology Language (OWL) data structure to interact with a CAD system and a motion visualization application, the ontology ensures the dynamic motion information capturing and sharing. SWRL (Semantic Web Rule Language) is utilized to show the semantic reasoning among the moving and non-moving parts of the product assembly. As a result, a semantic articulation ensuring flexibility and interoperability as a competitive industrial edge is demonstrated with proof of concept to be effective in a collaborative assembly design environment.

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.

Decentralized determination of design variables among cooperative designers for product platform design in a product family

Establishing a product family enables companies leverage mass customization to meet demand from different market segments. Product family design environment can be inherently decentralized and requires a number of entities to achieve a common goal. Issues related to product platform design can be modeled as multi-objective optimization with respect to design variables, production cost and other factors. A common drawback in decentralized environments is information sharing which can reduce the quality of the decision especially under partial information or information privacy restrictions. In this paper, we present an agent-based collaborative design model and propose a decentralized coordination mechanism to facilitate decision-making. This is achieved by modeling a collaborative design environment and applying a two-phase augmented Lagrangian-based algorithm such that the decision makers achieve a common goal without having a global view of the entire design space. We demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed mechanism using a General Aviation Aircraft and a Universal Electric Motor product family design problem. The product designers and the platform designer act independently and each has no knowledge of the decision functions of other designers. The computational results showed that quality solutions can be obtained in decentralized environments.

Design in context of use: An experiment with a multi-view and multi-representation system for collaborative design

The current trend of product design leads to a change in the collaborative working style. To find the most efficient way to exchange information on the digital mock-up of a product, a synchronous co-located collaborative design environment with recent technologies is in needed. A new groupware of multi-view system allows multiple users to have individual visual information of a domain-specific representation of digital mock-up. In this paper, we propose a case study for the development and testing of a co-located multi-view system in collaborative virtual reality, aiming at enhancing the multidisciplinary early collaborative design. An ergonomic method of Personas is introduced to the evaluation of the tool, considering various user performance. With a multidisciplinary mug design scenario, experiments are presented, validating the benefits of the proposed system.

A systems engineering–based approach for framing reliability, availability, and maintainability: A case study for subsea design

AbstractFraming reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM) aspects are critical for an engineering design, as RAM is concerned with the sustained capability of a system throughout its useful life. RAM analysts are responsible to consider both functional and dysfunctional behavior of a given system beyond the perspective of system designer. However, the system concept baseline developed by RAM toolset is often a partial view, which is either too abstract when preparing RAM analysis or too overloaded when integrating RAM analysis with design process. Such practice may not give systemic insights of the design concept, considering specific subsea design challenges such as limited accessibility and requirement for automate control. For this reason, it is of great importance to ensure an effective and sufficient communication between the domain of design and domain of RAM. Integrating with a well‐known engineering discipline, such as systems engineering (SE), may help analysts to create the collaborative design environment necessary to control the design risks for a system with high complexity. This article proposes a new framework that links SE with RAM engineering by connecting relevant concepts and models used. A novel subsea design concept is offered as a case study to demonstrate the key changes in subsea design activities for addressing RAM with the proposed framework.

Aerodynamic wing shape optimization based on the computational design framework CEASIOM

PurposeA collaborative design environment is needed for multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) process, based on all the modules those for different design/analysis disciplines, and a systematic coupling should be made to carry out aerodynamic shape optimization (ASO), which is an important part of MDO.Design/methodology/approachComputerized environment for aircraft synthesis and integrated optimization methods (CEASIOM)-ASO is developed based on loosely coupling all the existing modules of CEASIOM by MATLAB scripts. The optimization problem is broken down into small sub-problems, which is called “sequential design approach”, allowing the engineer in the loop.FindingsCEASIOM-ASO shows excellent design abilities on the test case of designing a blended wing body flying in transonic speed, with around 45 per cent drag reduction and all the constraints fulfilled.Practical implicationsAuthors built a complete and systematic technique for aerodynamic wing shape optimization based on the existing computational design framework CEASIOM, from geometry parametrization, meshing to optimization.Originality/valueCEASIOM-ASO provides an optimization technique with loosely coupled modules in CEASIOM design framework, allowing engineer in the loop to follow the “sequential approach” of the design, which is less “myopic” than sticking to gradient-based optimization for the whole process. Meanwhile, it is easily to be parallelized.

VR-based operating modes and metaphors for collaborative ergonomic design of industrial workstations

The aim of this paper is to evaluate two new operating design modes and their collaborative metaphors enabling two actors, a design engineer and an end-user, to work jointly in a collabora-tive virtual environment for workstation design. The two operating design modes that correspond to two different design paradigms include : direct design mode (the design engineer manipulates objects while the end-user specifies their activity constraints) and supervised design mode (the end-user manipulates objects while the design engineer specifies their process constraints). The corresponding collaborative metaphors enable the two actors to manipulate objects while one (the design engineer) can express process constraints and the other (the end-user) can express activity constraints. The usability evaluation of the modes and metaphors consisted in placing a workstation design element on a digital workstation mock-up where a trade-off was to be found between process constraints and activity constraints. The results show that if we consider the completion time as the most important criterion to achieve, the direct design mode must be favoured. Otherwise , if the activity constraints are predominant, the supervised design mode must be favoured. In any case, the addition of an ergonomist's point of view is supported and warranted in order to enhance the effectiveness of the system.

USING THE FRAMEWORK OF DISTRIBUTED COGNITION IN THE EVALUATION OF A COLLABORATIVE TOOL

This paper reports on the preliminary findings of an on-going research on the usability of an interactive tabletop, DiamondTouch in a computer-supported collaborative design environment. It summarizes the analysis of the collaborative design activities around the table. Modelled after a household coffee table, DiamondTouch provides users with an informal environment where users can sit on comfortable chairs while interacting with the table concurrently. The framework of distributed cognition was used as an analytic tool which demonstrated how the communicative events around the tabletop were used to bring the design representations into coordination with one another and how information processing activity was performed. Researcher examined the relationship between actors, artifacts, and the settings in which interactions occur. Within a single conceptual framework, the representations flowing through functional systems as objects of analysis could be identified and allowed researcher to reason about design artifacts and cognitive artifacts. These helped in identifying characteristics which could enhance the usability of DiamondTouch, and potential weaknesses of the tabletop.

A Model Identity Card to Support Simulation Model Development Process in a Collaborative Multidisciplinary Design Environment

Today, one of the major challenges in full-vehicle model creation is to get domain models from different experts while detecting any potential inconsistency problem before the Integration, Verification, Validation, and Qualification phase. To overcome such challenges, the conceptual design phase has been adapted to the current model development process. For that, the system engineers start to define the most relevant system architecture by respecting quality and time constraints. Next, the simulation model architects design the delivered system architecture in a more formal way with a modeling and simulation point of view to support the integration of domain-level simulation models in a consistent fashion. Finally, the model architects negotiate with different simulation model providers with the aim of specifying vehicle- and domain-level simulation models and their interface connections. To improve knowledge sharing between the mentioned actors, we propose a model identity card (MIC) for classifying simulation model knowledge, including input/output parameters, method, and usage specifications. The fundamental concepts that form the basis of all simulation models are identified and typed for implementation into a computational environment. An industrial case study of the engine–after-treatment model is used to show how MICs and the integrated model design phase might be used in a given scenario. A validation protocol is conducted through a heuristic observation to estimate the rate of model rework and ambiguity reduction.

Aircraft Design Markup Language for Multidisciplinary Aircraft Design and Analysis

The process of conceptual aircraft design has advanced tremendously in the past few decades due to rapidly developing computer technology. Today’s modern aerospace systems exhibit strong interdisciplinary coupling and require a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach. Efficient transfer, sharing, and manipulation of aircraft design and analysis data in such a collaborative environment demand a formal, structured representation of data. Extensible markup language, which is a World Wide Web Consortium recommendation, is one such standard concomitant with a number of powerful capabilities that alleviate interoperability issues in a collaborative environment. A compact, generic, and comprehensive extensible markup language schema for an aircraft design markup language is proposed here to represent aircraft conceptual design and analysis data. The purpose of this unified data format is to provide a common language for data communication and to improve efficiency and productivity within a multidisciplinary, collaborative aircraft design environment. An important feature of the proposed schema is the very expressive and efficient low-level schemata (raw data, mathematical objects, and basic geometry). As a proof of concept, the schema is used to encode an entire Convair B58. The reduction in effort (gain in value) to exchange data models and analysis results in the aircraft design markup language increases with the complexity of models and the number of disciplines.

A hierarchical method for coupling analysis of design services in distributed collaborative design environment

Design is a kind of highly complex activities with a large number of coupling relationships existing among essential design factors and design resources. This paper investigates the approach and mechanism of distributed design resources integration and binding in collaborative design process based on service-oriented architecture. A SORCER-based collaborative design environment is presented. An essential design factors matrix is designed as the binding mechanism to drive distributed design resources integration process during the design tasks execution time. Then, a coupling analysis method for design service modelling and execution is proposed. In order to build a multi-resolution coupling model in the local and global size, an essential design factors binding matrix and an essential design factors matrix group are adopted to express the internal relationships between design services. A hybrid approach, based on the partitioning operation, clustering operation and the genetic algorithm, are used to solve the coupling sets for global essential design factors.

An Ontology-based Method for Process Modeling in MultiDisciplinary Collaborative Design

Process modeling is an important task for collaborative design of a multi-disciplinary nature. This paper proposes an ontology-based method to model the collaborative design process. The aim is to effectively coordinate, allocate and share design resources. Concepts of task, sub-task, and local ontology in the collaborative design environment are defined. The tasks of achieving optimal resource allocations of design resources are divided into sub-tasks that are stored in the form of local ontology. Genetic algorithm is employed in matchresearching among local ontology and different disciplines. Tasks and their discipline views are described in the ontology-enabled semantics-sharing of design resources in multidisciplinary collaborative design. Process modeling of a missile is used as an example to demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed method and framework.

Collaborative design environment between ECAD and MCAD engineers in high-tech products development

In order to make more competitive electronic products, major electronics companies struggle to design products with a thin shape and complex convergence functionalities without any lead-time and cost increase. Also, the development mission of a project is changed continuously to catch up with the competitor’s products in a short time and the importance of aesthetic design is getting bigger and bigger in these days. In many cases, shape changes bring the electrical layout changes of a notebook computer main board and vise versa. Those development environmental changes make the engineers harder and harder and require more collaboration between electrical and mechanical engineers to reduce development time and design errors occur from early design stage. In this paper, a collaborative design environment consists of a web-based project management system and automated printed circuit board (PCB) generation and validation system is proposed. The web system is used for project management and design data exchange including electrical CAD (ECAD) data and related technical documents between ECAD and mechanical CAD (MCAD) engineers. By using this project management web portal, engineers can share the design information with design change history. ECAD data in Intermediate Data Format can be automatically validated in 2D domain while sending the ECAD data via web system. To generate a full 3D quality product model with PBA in MCAD side, an automated 3D PCB generation and assembly clearance checking module is developed.

Collaborative management of a repository of KDD processes

Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) is a complex and computationally intensive process that requires a repeated interaction between tools and users, often in a distributed environment. Given the complexity of the process, both naive and expert users need some support to effectively perform knowledge discovery. In this paper, we present a user-and knowledge-centric approach to support the design of KDD projects. Semantic technologies are exploited to support sharing and (re)use of KDD computational resources and processes in a distributed collaborative environment. In particular, functionalities for tool publishing, service and process discovery, and versioning of processes greatly enhance process management, and provide a learn-by-example and trial-and-test environment for collaborative KDD design. The systematic use of semantic information, a loosely coupled and layered service-oriented architecture and a cooperative and flexible approach results in a platform natively conceived for an open, distributed and collaborative environment.