iRoundTable A COLLABORATION PLATFORM FOR VIRTUAL AEC ORGANSIZATIONS

Abstract

In this paper we give a short overview of ongoing research and development of iRoundTable, a collaboration platform for efficient execution of large complex AEC projects with geographically dispersed interdisciplinary teams. iRoundTable will allow for convenient and task related access to the distributed heterogeneous information of the virtual organization. A suite of tools will support the multi-media communication between the project stake holders. The system will be realized using a grid of loosely coupled software services which can be combined freely at request. User will connect to the platform either via sophisticated multimedia conference systems or via simpler mobile devices. The development of a task-oriented intuitive user interface will be of central importance to allow getting access to decision related information efficiently. A new wireless 3D tracing system will be integrated in the conferencing systems and will provide new methods to browse through the project information spaces and histories to combine relevant information for decision making processes. The development is organized as follows