Mediating Cognitive Transformation with VR 3D Sketching during Conceptual Architectural Design Process

Communications for information synchronization during the conceptual design phase require designers to employ more intuitive digital design tools. This paper presents findings of a feasibility study for using VR 3D sketching interface in order to replace current non-intuitive CAD tools. We used a sequential mixed method research methodology including a qualitative case study and a cognitive-based quantitative protocol analysis experiment. Foremost, the case study research was conducted in order to understand how novice designers make intuitive decisions. The case study documented the failure of conventional sketching methods in articulating complicated design ideas and shortcomings of current CAD tools in intuitive ideation. The case study’s findings then became the theoretical foundations for testing the feasibility of using VR 3D sketching interface during design. The latter phase of study evaluated the designers’ spatial cognition and collaboration at six different levels: “physical-actions”, “perceptualac ons”, “functional-actions”, “conceptual-actions”, “cognitive synchronizations”, and “gestures”. The results and confirmed hypotheses showed that the utilized tangible 3D sketching interface improved novice designers’ cognitive and collaborative design activities. In summary this paper presents the influences of current external representation tools on designers’ cognition and collaboration as well as providing the necessary theoretical foundations for implementing VR 3D sketching interface. It contributes towards transforming conceptual architectural design phase from analogue to digital by proposing a new VR design interface. The paper proposes this transformation to fill in the existing gap between analogue conceptual architectural design process and remaining digital engineering parts of building design process hence expediting digital design process

Application of a conceptual stages design protocol for early collaborative design through computer based mediation.

Effective conceptual and collaborative design process in architecture is a prerequisite for efficient overall project development. This can be facilitated by computer mediation methods, including emerging augmented reality technologies and tactile and tangible interfaces. With the current paradigm of conceptual design process being disorganised and quite often overpowered by communication gaps between the different design professionals, collaborative conceptual design is essential to be understood and most importantly effectively managed. Bridging the conceptual design stage with the later detailed design ones by using digital technologies can effectively assist transferring the information and initial ideas between the different design stages and bridge the communication gap between the different stakeholders, like the design professionals i.e. architects, engineers, design managers, etc., as early as possible. This paper is focused on reviewing different design processes and on presenting a predefined Conceptual Design Protocol (CDP) as a descriptive model that illustrates the steps of the design process as sequences of actions that occur during design and eventually manages the conceptual design process. Two studies illustrate the evolution from the current paradigm to the proposed design process and are both briefly presented in the paper. The preliminary study showcases a multidisciplinary conceptual design approach. During the second study, the design process is managed to follow the CPD and the participants utilise a design application developed specifically for the particular study and installed on a tangible user interface (TUI). The nature of design progression and collaboration is recorded and analysed, allowing for a number of conclusions to be drawn regarding the conceptual design process, the role of digital technologies and the application of the CPD

Cognitive Transformation Mediated By Digital 3D Sketching During Conceptual Architectural Design Process

To optimize the level of cognition and collaboration during conceptual architectural design phase, novice designers need to employ more flexible and intuitive digital media. This thesis studied the feasibility of using VR 3D sketching interface in order to replace current non-intuitive Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools. For this purpose a sequential mixed method research methodology including a qualitative case study research and a cognitive-based quantitative protocol analysis experiment was conducted. Foremost, it was pertinent to understand how novice designers make intuitive decisions. Hence, a case study research comprising of ethnography for data collection and artifact and protocol analysis for data analysis was employed. The purpose was to understand knowledge flow characteristics among mentors and apprentices in real-life architectural conception in studio projects. The ethnography study documented the failure of conventional sketching methods in articulating complicated design ideas. Whereas, it found that current conventional CAD tools do hinder novice designers’ creativity due to their limitation in intuitive ideation. Moreover, the subsequent artifact analysis affirmed established constructs about advantages and disadvantages of each medium in providing “solution quality” and also “certainty about correctness of solution”. The case study’s findings then became the theoretical foundations for the development of a VR 3D sketching interface for enhancing novice designers’ cognition and collaboration during the conceptual design process. This phase of study evaluated the designers’ spatial cognition at four different cognitive levels: “physical-actions”, “perceptual-actions”, “functional-actions”, and “conceptual-actions”. It also evaluated the designers’ spatial cognition in two different collaborative levels: “cognitive synchronizations” and “gestures”. The results and confirmed hypotheses showed that compared to traditional design interfaces, the utilized VR-based simple and tangible 3D sketching interface improved novice designers’ cognitive and collaborative design activities during conceptual architectural phase. In summary the thesis has evaluated inherent characteristics of the conceptual architectural design process and documented influences of current external representation tools on designers’ cognition and collaboration. It has developed the necessary theoretical foundations for cognitive and collaborative aspects of implementing VR 3D sketching interface for future implementation. Results of this thesis are limited to implementation of VR 3D sketching interface to improve cognition and collaboration during conceptual architectural design process at the novice level.In conclusion, this thesis contributes towards transforming conceptual architectural design phase from analogue to digital by proposing a new VR design interface. The author claims that this transformation can fill in the existing gap between analogue conceptual architectural design process and the remaining digital engineering parts of building design process hence enhancing the streamlining of digital design process. Finally, the author claims that the identification and documentation data on designers’ cognitive and collaborative conceptual design behaviors in the Malaysian context can be used as reference in future design studies. It is envisioned that the findings of this study can help the development of cutting-edge information technologies for design or education in the architectural field. Moreover, they will guide in the creation of future professional training programs to enhance capacity and capability of multidisciplinary professionals in using digital interfaces due to increasing global practice

Digital creativity - an investigation into architectural design in the electronic age

A dissertation submitted to the University of Bedfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy.This study explores approaches to architectural creativity and collaborative design in the contemporary digital design context. The thesis identifies key trends and developments in the historical and present-day evolution of the creative use of computers by architects in education and practice. It examines the current manifestations of digitally supported architectural design, and investigates the ways in which computers and electronic communication technologies are being utilised in the design process. In the context of, and informed by, this investigative survey the author evolves three key models or analogues for the application of computer based techniques in the creative design process. Each design analogue has been tested with the collaboration of undergraduate architecture students and their academic teaching staff through experimental pedagogic design projects, which have been used to evaluate their validity and effectiveness. The working principles developed through these projects have also been applied in a realworld context, through a live professional case study architectural project undertaken by the author in commercial architectural practice. The concluding section examines the current state of play in the relationship between theoretical ideas and the practice of architectural design using digital techniques, to assess the methodological validity of the design analogues in the educational and practice spheres, and to make recommendations for future areas of research

A feasibility study for developing 3D sketching concept in virtual reality (VR) environment

There is limited digital media available to encompass conceptual design which requires spontaneous and flexible design tools. The constraint is causing less digital integration during the architectural conceptual and engineering design stages. This paper presents the results of an ethnography research on understanding how design collaboration, design transactions and knowledge flow characteristics between studio masters and their students are supported by available technologies in a studio project in Malaysia. The study found three types of external representation modes used by designers: Full Manual, Mixed and Full Digital. The study revealed the inflexibility of traditional geometric modeling tools within intuitive ideations. On the other hand, it also observed the shortcomings of conventional manual sketching tools for articulating design ideas and translating tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge in complex design problems. Results from this study support further studies towards implementing 3D sketching in Virtual Reality (VR) environment to digitally integrate the conceptual architectural-engineering design process

Proceedings of the ECCS 2005 satellite workshop: embracing complexity in design - Paris 17 November 2005

Embracing complexity in design is one of the critical issues and challenges of the 21st century. As the realization grows that design activities and artefacts display properties associated with complex adaptive systems, so grows the need to use complexity concepts and methods to understand these properties and inform the design of better artifacts. It is a great challenge because complexity science represents an epistemological and methodological swift that promises a holistic approach in the understanding and operational support of design. But design is also a major contributor in complexity research. Design science is concerned with problems that are fundamental in the sciences in general and complexity sciences in particular. For instance, design has been perceived and studied as a ubiquitous activity inherent in every human activity, as the art of generating hypotheses, as a type of experiment, or as a creative co-evolutionary process. Design science and its established approaches and practices can be a great source for advancement and innovation in complexity science. These proceedings are the result of a workshop organized as part of the activities of a UK government AHRB/EPSRC funded research cluster called Embracing Complexity in Design (www.complexityanddesign.net) and the European Conference in Complex Systems (complexsystems.lri.fr). Embracing complexity in design is one of the critical issues and challenges of the 21st century. As the realization grows that design activities and artefacts display properties associated with complex adaptive systems, so grows the need to use complexity concepts and methods to understand these properties and inform the design of better artifacts. It is a great challenge because complexity science represents an epistemological and methodological swift that promises a holistic approach in the understanding and operational support of design. But design is also a major contributor in complexity research. Design science is concerned with problems that are fundamental in the sciences in general and complexity sciences in particular. For instance, design has been perceived and studied as a ubiquitous activity inherent in every human activity, as the art of generating hypotheses, as a type of experiment, or as a creative co-evolutionary process. Design science and its established approaches and practices can be a great source for advancement and innovation in complexity science. These proceedings are the result of a workshop organized as part of the activities of a UK government AHRB/EPSRC funded research cluster called Embracing Complexity in Design (www.complexityanddesign.net) and the European Conference in Complex Systems (complexsystems.lri.fr)

Application of human computer interaction in developing an it-supported design collaboration process

Increasing globalisation and international collaboration have led to an increaseddemand for improvedcommunication within design collaboration processes. To address this issue, IT-supported design collaboration processes have been utilised, enablingprofessional design team members to work in a distributed design environment. However, IT-supported systems often lack human understanding, making such systems frustrating for professionals to use.The objective of this theoretical paper is to propose Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) integrated approaches that improve the interaction among professional design team members and collaborative technologies in a distributed design environment. This is particularly examined in the context of the building industry. For this purpose,this paper analysesthe related literature in design collaboration processes. This analysis is used toassess how earlier systems affect design team members’ capabilitiesto accept and use collaborative technologies.It is found that in addition to impacting the ergonomic and cognitive capabilities of professionals, a system should also motivate professionals intrinsically and extrinsically. The findings of this study are essential forpromoting the utility of IT-supported design collaboration projects.In addition, this study supports further research to increase the level of engagement in collaborative team work and mitigate knowledge loss in a complex project lifecycle

Past, present and future of information and knowledge sharing in the construction industry: Towards semantic service-based e-construction

The paper reviews product data technology initiatives in the construction sector and provides a synthesis of related ICT industry needs. A comparison between (a) the data centric characteristics of Product Data Technology (PDT) and (b) ontology with a focus on semantics, is given, highlighting the pros and cons of each approach. The paper advocates the migration from data-centric application integration to ontology-based business process support, and proposes inter-enterprise collaboration architectures and frameworks based on semantic services, underpinned by ontology-based knowledge structures. The paper discusses the main reasons behind the low industry take up of product data technology, and proposes a preliminary roadmap for the wide industry diffusion of the proposed approach. In this respect, the paper stresses the value of adopting alliance-based modes of operation

Towards computational dialogue types for BIM collaborative design: an initial study.

Collaborative design is an iterative process of selecting and evaluating solutions under potentially conflicting requirements, a concept central to Building Information Modelling (BIM) implementation. Previous research has shown that design can be better understood via computational argumentation-based dialogue. We suggest that in BIM context different types of dialogue should be considered and we propose an approach that translates collaborative, conceptual and perceptual activities undertaken by design and construction professionals to dialogue types

Collaborative design : managing task interdependencies and multiple perspectives

This paper focuses on two characteristics of collaborative design with respect to cooperative work: the importance of work interdependencies linked to the nature of design problems; and the fundamental function of design cooperative work arrangement which is the confrontation and combination of perspectives. These two intrinsic characteristics of the design work stress specific cooperative processes: coordination processes in order to manage task interdependencies, establishment of common ground and negotiation mechanisms in order to manage the integration of multiple perspectives in design