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.
Journal of Design Research, 2006 Vol.5 No.2, pp.172 - 187
Published online: 23 Nov 2006 *
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