Invisible computer for collaborative design: evaluation of a multimodal sketch-based environment.
In the areas of design, especially in architectural design, collaboration has become an important challenge. The specialization of skills increase, work teams are more and more extensive and the geographic distance between them increases too. The economic and ecological stakes related to remote collaboration are an evidence. This context involves the need to support most efficiently possible remote working meetings. We present the Distributed Collaborative Digital Studio (DSDC), a tool designed to recreate, in distant situations, the context of copresence meetings. This shared environment is created in the "invisible computer" approach [11]. The idea is that the tool should disappear from user's consciousness. Indeed, creative design activities require some fluidity in their process. Therefore, any involuntary interruption created by the system can potentially brake creativity. In this perspective, we investigate specifically the "invisibility" of our environment. To do this, we propose a framework for the operationalization of the concept and a methodology to test the system invisibility. This methodology was applied through a case study consisting of a corpus of 12 hours of remote collaborative design sessions with the DSDC. We highlight the learning effects while using our system, conclude on its effectiveness and discuss our methodology.
Laboratoire d'Ergonomie Cognitive et d'Intervention au Travail, University of Liège, Belgium.
Aurore
A
Defays
Stéphane
S
Safin
Françoise
F
Darses
Anaïs
A
Mayeur
Samia Ben
SB
Rajeb
Caroline
C
Lecourtois
François
F
Guéna
Pierre
P
Leclercq
D016288:Computer Terminals; D017076:Computer-Aided Design / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003405:Creativity; D006801:Humans; D059032:Learning Curve; D019114:Remote Consultation; D049269:Videoconferencing