On the value of Virtual Worlds for collaborative design

Abstract

Virtual Worlds have not been deployed widely in collaborative design, and their respective value is largely unknown. In this paper we make a combined use of established principles in design and computer-mediated communication studies to provide an account of their value for collaborative design by presenting three case studies concerned with: (a) review sessions of the architectural design of a cottage; (b) collaborative design of the interior space of an academic laboratory; (c) collaboration of design teams for the user interface design of a multimedia kiosk. We have found that collaborative design in VWs is a very engaging experience for remote participants and can add value to the activities of conceptual design and/or design review in the domains of design examined. Keywords: Virtual worlds; computer-supported collaborative design; case study;Virtual Worlds (VWs) are computer-generated, persistent 3D environments in which users co-exist as avatars exploring, building, interacting and communicating. The increase in processing power, graphics capabilities and network bandwidth of home computers have resulted to the emergence of a significant number of novel VW platforms and technologies during the last decade, like Second Life (SL) and World of Warcraft (WoW), drawing the attention of researchers from various disciplines. Maher (2011) presents VWs as the latest descendants of CVEs (Collaborative VirtualEnvironments) following (a) the first generation of CVEs (Benford et al, 2001) that were largely based on either Virtual Reality (VR) technologies or a mix of 2D and 3D user interfaces (e.g. VRML and the Web); and (b) Augmented Reality (AR) environments that offer virtual artifacts as replacements of tangible objects to the desktop computer screen. Indeed, VWs are the offspring of VR and networked 2 desktop technologies, having left behind several shortcomings of VR -like the excessive cost of hardware interfaces, and allowing for social interaction in 3D spaces from the desktop computer.It is not surprising that the design community is showing increasing interest in VWs for collaborative design. VWs have a number of affordances that are exploited to foster collaborative activities in various stages of design: communication, embodiment, presence and co-presence, 3D visualization and interaction, and increased user engagement as a result of all of the above. VWs have been employed to support some collaborative design activities including, among others: architecture and organizational or interior space design (Mobach, 2008;Vosinakis et al, 2008); virtual design studios (Bessière et al, 2009;Schmeil & Eppler 2008); and collaborative learning in design education (D' Souza et al, 2011;Vosinakis et al, 2011).Despite the increasing interest in exploring the affordances of VWs as a platform or 'tool' for mediating collaborative design activities, design studies in VWs are still scarce. This is reasonable not only because VWs are a new medium, but also because the design community would be interested in pragmatic use...

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