Title: Real-time immersive design collaboration: conceptualising, prototyping and experiencing design ideas

Authors: Ralph Johns, James Shaw

Addresses: School of Design, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand. ' School of Design, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract: This paper discusses a collaborative trans-disciplinary virtual design studio project in which students designed while immersed within a real-time gaming environment. The ability to control and interact with a wide range of objects in-game allowed students to visually create, prototype and experience spatial and formal scenarios in real-time. Multi-player technology enabled the design team to be virtually present at the site of construction and to design while actively building and critiquing. It was found that the virtual environment enabled rapid testing of design iterations and extended the range of creative conceptual design responses.

Keywords: collaborative design; virtual teams; real-time gaming engine; immersive design; virtual design; design teams; conceptual design; testing; design iterations; creative design; design education.

DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2006.011361

Journal of Design Research, 2006 Vol.5 No.2, pp.172 - 187

Published online: 23 Nov 2006 *

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