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Document Sample
DESC9097
Digital Communication
in Design
Use of CMC and CSCW
for Design Projects
Mary Lou Maher
23 March 2002
Overview
• CMC tools and issues
• Media types for collaborative design
• Network communication terminology
Computer-Mediated
Communication
• Asynchronous - send information
• Synchronous - conversation
Type of software Type of information Type of
comm un ication
Email text, data files asynchronous
List serves text, data files asynchronous
Bulletin boards text, data files asynchronous
Talk, chat Text synchronous
Broadcast Video, audio synchronous
Video Conference Video, audio, images, synchronous
text
Asynchronous Communication
• Email
– One to one or one to many
– Personal messages
– informal
• List server
– Broadcast to a list
• Bulletin Board
– Send message to a central location
• Web Pages
Email
Compose Reply Reply Forward Redirect Attach Address
a message to author to all to someone to someone file book
Indicates
attached file
Managing Communication in Email
• Subject of email is IMPORTANT
• Email address nicknames
• Filters and multiple mailboxes
• Attachments and file management
• Keep old email messages for reference
Email beyond sending text messages
• Broadcast information to mailing lists
• Attaching documents for file transfer
• Discussion threads and documentation
• File management
Listservers
• LISTSERV is an email distribution software, for electronic
mailing lists, that contains a list of users subscribed to that list.
Each time a message is sent to the list server, it is forwarded to
all the members of the list. Members have the capacity to
automatically subscribe and unsubscribe, by simply sending a
message to the automated administrator. Sometimes, the
messages sent to the list are first checked by a moderator and
then forwarded to all the other members.
Bulletin Boards
• The major difference between a bulletin board and a list server is that the
message sent to a list server is sent directly to each user’s emailbox whereas
a message sent to a bulletin board is viewed by the users when they go to a
specific place on the internet. Thus, a person does not need to have an email
account to be able to participate in the "life" on the bulletin board. The
advantage of the bulletin board is that messages do not get mixed up with all
the other email messages that a person receives and therefore the messages
can be seen as a coherent group representing an asynchronous discussion. At
a glance, readers can keep track of discussions and access old messages that
are kept on the bulletin board.
Asynchronous Communication Tools:
Advantages, Disadvantages
• Email: direct to person, hard to maintain a discussion
• Listservers: broadcast direct to person, hard to control
content
• Bulletin boards: threaded discussions, does not go to
person
• Web pages: accessible to all, changes do not go to
anyone
Synchronous Communication
• Chat
– Talking by typing in a text window
• Video Conference
– Talking by speaking with a video window
• Shared or Multi-user window
– viewing slides or web pages
– drawing board
– applications/authoring
• Virtual World
– 3D worlds with users as avatars
Chat
• Talking by typing
• Chat, IRC, ICQ, MSN Messenger
• Considerations
– Low bandwidth requirements
– Multi threaded conversation
– Typing skills are important
– New registers emerge
Video Conference
• Provides video and audio communication
• “Being there”
• Considerations:
– High bandwidth requirements
– Protocols
– Displacement
Video conference with shared whiteboard
Shared window
• Shared whiteboard
– Master-slave, only one person can make changes
– Multi-user
• Shared application
– Multi-user CAD
– Multi-user text editing
Virtual Worlds
• Example
– Active Worlds
• Can see the location
of other people
• Usually talk by typing
different kinds of communication
implies
different kinds of collaboration
Two metaphors for CMC tools:
• Desktop - providing desktop tools for
communication, such as email, video
conferences, transferring CAD files, web
browsers
• Place - providing a place for collaboration, such
as virtual worlds, virtual reality, etc.
Desktop Tools
• Web-based tools - use internet protocols for
communicating ideas and sharing design files
• “Design Office Automation” packages - use one
software vendor for all computing needs, such
as Microsoft
Web-based Tools
• Web browsers Advantages:
•Heterogeneous platforms
• Chat rooms supported
• Internet phone •Standards for transferring
data
• Internet video Disadvantages:
conference •Management is done
manually
• File transfer •Lowest standard is used
Office Automation
• Word Processing Advantages:
•Common format
• Document Management •Interchange between apps
• Email •More advanced features
Disadvantages:
• Calendars •Cannot introduce new
• Project Management features
•Everyone must use the
• Databases same apps
•Cannot use specialised
• Web browsing/editing design apps
Places for Collaboration
• 3D simulations
– Mimic the physical world and its functionality
– Navigation occurs by moving around the 3D model
• Object-oriented worlds
– Functionality can start with physical analogy
– Extend the use and interactivity beyond the physical
3D Simulations
Advantages:
• CAVE •Looks like the physical world
•Navigation is intuitive
• Active Worlds •Good for viewing models that will
• VRML be physical buildings
Disadvantages:
•Difficult to communicate
•Functions are limited to those of
physical world
•No inherent document
management
Object-oriented virtual worlds
Advantages:
• Active Worlds •Identity of people and
• VWorlds places and things
•Reactive objects in the
• VirTools world
• TappedIn •Invent new functions
Disadvantages:
•Less intuitive
•Requires expertise to use
all functions
•No inherent design
support
Collaborative Design
• Communicating
– Meetings
– Sharing files
– Discussing ideas
• Designing
– Drawing
– Modelling
– Analysing the brief
Approaches to CMCD
• Office automation supports document and
project management
• Virtual worlds support synchronous
communication
• Simulations support collaborative modelling
Media Types and Communication
Digital Design Media
Issues:
• CAD
•Size of files
• 3D Models
• Movies •Versions
• Images •Multiple authors
• Text documents •File management
• Databases •Naming conventions
Images
Format -
gif, jpeg, png, etc
Application -
Photoshop, ArchiCAD
Colour -
8 bit, 32 bit, etc
Resolution -
72 dpi, 600 dpi
CAD
Applications -
AutoCAD, ArchiCAD
Libraries -
shared, distributed
Layer conventions -
across organisations
Documentation standards -
dimensioning etc
File formats -
dxf, dwf, pln
Object/Product models -
IAI, STEP
Text Documents
Style guides
Fonts and formats
File types
Edit or browse
Naming conventions
Databases
Information is organised
Can manipulate data
Can be linked to CAD
Database standards
Media Types and Issues
• In order to share information, the project must
agree on:
– Standard applications
– Standard formats
– Viewing or browsing
Networks, the Internet, and the
WWW
archsci.arch.usyd.edu.au
129.78.66.1
gubim.bim.gantep.edu.tr
TCP/IP Internet
193.140.136.2
Terminology
• Internet
• Wide Area Network (WAN)
• Local Area Network (LAN)
• World Wide Web (WWW)
• Web Server
• Mail Server
• Client
Domain Names and Services
archsci.arch.usyd.edu.au
embraces the parts of the Internet that
are
located in Australia
identifies the academic (education) portions
identifies the academic institution (in this
case the University of Sydney)
identifies a division within the institution (in
this case the Faculty of Architecture)
the name of the particular
computer
Structure of the Internet
Nick@archsci.arch.usyd.edu.au archsci.arch.usyd.edu.au
129.78.66.1
Local Local
network network
Local
Local network
network
Regional
network
Backbone
Regional
Local network
network
gubim.bim.gantep.edu.tr Local
193.140.136.2 Regional network
network
Local Local
network network
John@gubim.bim.gantep.edu.tr
World Wide Web
• Publicly available files/services on web servers
• Uses TCP/IP for data transfer
• Uses HTTP and others for data format
• Files are accessed by URL
• Data is browsed using a Web Browser Client
WWW and URLs
http://www.arch.usyd.edu.au/kcdc/vds96/elective/index.html
The domain name of The name of
the Web server. the file to be
retrieved and
The protocol which
displayed.
specifies the method for
data transfer and the
The path on the Web
interpretation of the
server file system that
data on the client side.
leads to the file, starting
from the default directory
of the web server.
WWW Protocols and Applications
File types and applications
Markup Languages
www.arch.usyd.edu.au
index.html
table.gif
land.jpg
map.jpg
label.gif
body.txt
Internet and Standards
• Data transfer on networks
• Markup languages
• File formats and types
• Protocols and applications
• Special media types and client helpers
Future Issues for Network
Communications
• Very high speed networks
• Broadband communications
• Better compression
• Different types of network transmission, eg air
doc and bus
• New protocols for the WWW
