GCVRT - Merging the Collaborative Virtual Reality and Round Table Concepts

Uhrenholt, Jacob Koch ; Vester, Jens Peter ; Jønsson, Flemming

4. term

Computer Science, Master

2002

2012-02-14

Collaborative work can be performed in many ways. One way is to have a meeting with the people involved. However, this way of collaborating requires people to be physically present at the same time in the same place. This report proposes a scheme for transcending this constraint by introducing a way of performing and enhancing types of collaborative work, which take place at a meeting table and can be described by manipulating objects in a 3D world. It also enables people who are not present to participate in the collaborative work on the same basic premises as those who are. The problem is analyzed using CSCW frameworks based on coordination mechanisms and activity theory. The result of the analysis is that a system, which provides a persistent but passive environment describing the field of work and is mainly state oriented, can support collaboration on a co-constructive level. On the basis of the analysis, a design based on the GCVR system is made, which supports a combined short and long distance approach towards collaboration. Also, the design allows users to interact using common physical objects as input devices by the means of a vision tracking system. The current state of the implementation indicates that such a system can be constructed in practice and that it will be possible to improve the collaborative work in both a local as well as a remote setting.

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