Eunjoo Lee, Sungho Woo, Tsuyoshi Sasada Department of Environmental Engineering, Osaka University 2-1, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565, Japan Inhan Kim Department of Architectural Engineering, Kyung Hee University 1, Seocheonri, Kihungeup, Yonginsi, Kyungkido, 449-701, Korea
1. Introduction
The architectural design requires collaboration among various
participants, such as architects, clients, engineers in the
stages of the design process. The Sasada laboratory has been
involved in the various collaborative architectural design
projects. The authors found several important issues in the
process of those projects. Firstly, the presentation data is
composed of different kinds of data such as documents, computer
generated still images, movies and 3D objects. The participants
involved in those projects need to access these data as
necessary. Secondly, it is virtually impossible for all
participants to attend at the same time and place. Therefore,
computer networked collaborative design work is essential, in
particular, for an international project and for a complex
architectural design project.
CSCW (Computer Supported Collaborative Work) and the Internet
technologies enable remote participants to collaborate
seamlessly. As Internet and the World Wide Web have given a new
dimension for global communication recently, now it is possible
to easily use a hypermedia system that can be accessible from
anywhere by just point-and-click. The participants can access
design information of the hypermedia which links to texts,
images, movie, VRML, and review the design while communicating
with other participants using hyper-linked communication tools.
Computer networking allows convenient share and exchange of data
between distant machines.
The paper describes the recent research on hypermedia in
collaborative design. The research is conducted in the form of
inter-University collaboration, participating Osaka University in
Japan and Kyung-Hee University in Korea.
2. Project
Kyung-Hee University in Korea is in the process of establishing a
new graduate school of design for training the design
professionals. As the current education system is given too much
emphasis on the logical reasoning and theory, they are going to
build a new curriculum and new building for the graduate students
who want to have practical experience. The planned building
should be composed of CAD rooms, design critics rooms, lecture
room equipped with slide, audio and video facilities and so on.
To design the building, an Inter-University project between
Kyung-Hee University in Korea and Osaka University in Japan has
been initiated. In the early stage of the project, both of the
universities set up their project home pages andshared the
project data. Kyung-Hee University is in charge of providing the
topographical map of the University, pictures and the drawings of
the buildings around the planned site. The Osaka University is in
charge of providing various tools such as electronic calendar
system, bulletin board and web robots database. The project is
proceeded using various media that is hyper-linked between each
other, i.e. hypermedia on network.
Several different kinds of modelers, such as ArchiCAD, formZ and
AutoCAD are used; therefore model data is shared through the
neutral data exchange format, such as the DXF and VRML format. In
the early stage of project, Kyung-Hee University made the 3D
models and Osaka University made the 3D models into VRML:
Kyung-Hee University produced 3D models of the buildings around
the site, and presented those images and the DXF files to their
home page; Osaka University downloaded the DXF files from the
Kyung-Hee home page on the Internet and converted them into VRML
for the design review and presented them to the Osaka University
home page.
2.1 Internet and Network status of both sites
Almost all of the computers used for the project at both labs in
Japan and Korea have been connected to the Internet: the Sasada
Lab at Osaka University in Japan is networked through ODINS(Osaka
Daigaku Information Network System) with direct connection to the
Internet and CAD lab at Kyung-Hee University in Korea is
networked, although not all machines used for the project are
directly connected to the Internet. Therefore, some members of
Kyung-Hee University have experienced some difficulties in direct
and seamless data communication with the Osaka University.
From the view of machine environment, Osaka University has
various kinds of
machine including Macintosh, PC and Workstation. However,
Kyung-Hee University mainly used Window 95/NT on PC for the
project. Therefore, the project team experienced some
difficulties in constructing the seamless project modeling
environment when they need to run platform independent
applications to generate computer models.
2.2 Main Design Concepts
There were several main programming and design concepts as
follows:
1. The planned building should have the image of architecture and
design.
2. Future extensions of the building should be considered.
3. The planning building should not destroy the natural landscape
of the campus and should be in harmony with the other buildings
in the campus.
4. The height of the planned building should be lower than the
library building that is located in the opposite side.
5. The shape and color of the building must be in harmony with
the surrounding buildings, such as the library building, the
school of social science building and the school of natural
science building.
2.3 The Project Team
The project team, which consists of graduate students at both
universities, is divided into two design teams. The design team A
consists of two Kyung-Hee University graduate students and one
Osaka University graduate student, used a virtual space, and the
design team B consists of two Kyung-Hee University graduate
students and one Osaka University graduate student, used VRML
model in the stage of design review. The computer models which
surround the planned building site was constructed by the
under-graduate students at Kyung-Hee University
3. The process of the Project
3.1 Project schedule of each team
Fig.1 CalendarAs the computer systems used for
the project at both universities were different, platform
independent calendar should be constructed. The calendar server
which uses TCP/IP has been set up in Osaka University to share
the project scheduling information.
The members of each team proceeded the project according to the
schedule in the calendar server and posted a message on the
network, for example, suggesting a virtual meeting when they need
to communicate. If the time for a virtual meeting on the network
is agreed, the participants discuss about the design in a virtual
space or on BBS.
3.2 Communication
Communication necessary during the design process was performed
using BBS on the project homepages. BBS records the contents of
communication such as
problems, questions and answers in the form of multimedia data
including text, image,
movie and 3D object. The participants can post a message with a
attached data, such as
image, VRML and movie.
Fig. 2 BBS3.3 Data Sharing and Management
The Web Database is constructed to handle image
data and 3D object data during
the design process. The Web Database is composed of a search
engine and CGI(Common Gateway Interface), and enables the project
members to effectively search needed data. Figure 3 shows the
search page and Figure 4 shows the search result page.
Fig. 3 Search Page
Fig. 4 Search Results
3.4 Design tasks for Team A and B
The Design Team A focus on designing building plan concentrating
on effective space zoning. It consists of 3 zones including
lecture zone, research zone and administration zone.
Fig. 5 Design Alternative by TeamA
Team B focus on designing building plan concentrating on educational exchange among undergraduate students, graduate students and professors.
Fig. 6 Design Alternative by TeamB
3.5 Design Review
3.5.1 Design Review in Virtual Space
Fig. 7 Design Review in Virtual Space Team A reviewed the design in the virtual space after completion of design. The DXF or VRML formatted 3D model data produced by various modelers are finally converted to the RWX(Renderware) format. The RWX formatted data is stored in the project server, so that the participants can view it via their own browser. They could re-arrange, move, and transform the objects in the virtual space. Also, the participants could recognize avatar as a remote representation of human identity and existence, and express the emotion through avatar. It is possible to communicate precisely through the synchronous communication.
3.5.2 Design Review using VRML
Fig. 8 Design Review using VRML Team B reviewed
the design using VRML. The 3D model data was converted into VRML
model, which was presented on the project homepage. Team members
schedule a certain time to review the design on the group-ware
calendar. On the scheduled day, each member opens two browsers,
one for posting their opinions about the design on BBS, and the
other for browsing VRML formatted model.
It is virtually impossible to make a VRML model which includes
all detailed surrounding data such as topological data and 3D
model data around the planned site due to the limit of computer
power and software browsing speed. Therefore when the team B
reviews the design, they only used partial data within the small
range of the site. It takes much time for deciding the eye point
to each member. They communicated on BBS, the time lag resulted
in the problem of efficiency.
3.6 The Final Design Proposal
The final design proposal was selected within the virtual space.
Team A and B reviews the two alternative design proposals made by
each team in the virtual space. The environmental data, such as
topological data and 3D model data surrounding the site was all
located in the virtual space. The members of the each team enter
in the virtual space simultaneously, and discuss about the two
design alternatives. Finally, the design made by the team B,
which complies with design criteria and concepts, was accepted as
the final design proposal. When they review the final design
proposal, if necessary, the participants might discuss on BBS.
The Team B chose the virtual space as a proper reviewing tool
rather than utilizing VRML. Figure 9 shows the final design
proposal.
Fig. 9 Final Design
4. Analysis of Project
Both universities established their project homepage to share the
design information. BBS is used for uploading the project data
and FTP is used for direct transmission of data that does not
need to be stored on the project homepages. For the management of
design process, a group-ware calendar has been established. Also,
the web database enables remote participants to search and
retrieve data what they need.
4.1 Communication
The remote participants can navigate through the various type of
design information interactively which was hyper-linked on the
project homepage. In addition, the group-ware calendar and BBS
were hyper-linked from the each home page. Due to the nature of
the international project, it is very difficult to be present at
the same place and time. Therefore most of the problems occurred
during the design process must be solved on the network. Due to
this reason, the network facilities are critical factors in the
success of this project. In the daytime, team members use chat
communication program when they need to discuss about the design
while proceeding the design work individually. At night, team
members download the revised data from the opposite project
homepage and post the progress of the design during the daytime
on BBS. From the view point of speed, although communicating
using chat is faster then BBS, it has several disadvantages as
follows:
¥ Normally the contents of communication information are not
saved.
¥ It is difficult to exchange graphic data
4.2 Process Management
Because the data of the project is increased as the design
evolves, proper project management is required. For an effective
collaborative design work, it's important to formalize how to
proceed the work and to identify what kind of process is needed.
To perform an effective data management, a web database has been
built to store image data and 3D object data. Each member of the
team can upload the data on the homepage. The data was saved in
the database automatically. Physically, team A and team B
proceeded their work separately. However, when they need to
exchange their opinions about the schedule and details about
their design, all of members discuss in a virtual space for the
making of design, modeling and presentation.
4.3 Design Collaboration
If necessary, the participants can access to the design
information and communicate interactively. The members of each
team can exchange their new ideas and refine the design using
various design tools. They could represent their new idea easily
to the other members of the design team who are geographically
remotely located. In addition, they could use various digital
media to present their ideas. If required, they could attach
photos or images which could illustrate their concepts more
easily. In a virtual space, people take their partners to another
virtual space where they presented their idea.
5. Conclusion
The teamwork of the mullet-disciplinary groups is an integral
part of the architectural design. The design process includes the
exchange of information between individuals and organizations,
and requires discussions among professionals of the team. The
hyper-linked communication tools enable the participants to
communicate virtually beyond the barrier of time and space.
Several important finding by performing this experimental study
are as follows:
(1) In the stage of design review, using the virtual space is
better than the VRML model from the view of speed and manageable
amount of data. Moreover, avatar as a human embodification was
recognized as remote participants. The design reviewing process
in the virtual space had a reality like a real space.
(2) Design review using VRML model has some operational problems
as the environmental data such as topography data and surrounding
building data is too huge to easily manage under the currently
available computer power. However, VRML model is very effective
when there is just single building model to review. To sum up, it
is necessary to develop an effective software tool which is easy
to operate, can store huge 3D data and fast enough to deal with
complex 3D models.
(3) In the near future, various communication tools, which can
help to exchange design ideas in remote, are required.
References
Sungho Woo, Inhan Kim, Eunjoo Lee, Tsuyoshi Sasada, The
Multi-User Workspace as the Medium for Communication in
Collaborative Design, CAADRIA97, Taiwan, April,
1997, p.133 - 142
Atsuko Kaga, Claude Comair, Tsuyoshi Sasada, Collaborative Design
System With Network Technologies, CAADRIA97, Taiwan, April, 1997,
p.187 - 196
Tomohiro Fukuda, Ryuichiro Nagahama, Tsuyoshi Sasada, Networked
Interactive 3-D Design System for Collaboration, CAADRIA97,
Taiwan, April, 1997, p.429 - 437
Sungho Woo, Claude Comair, Tsuyoshi Sasada, Architectural Virtual
Space in Collaborative Design, Formal Aspects of Collaborative
CAD, IFIP97, Australia, Februrary, 1997, p.65 - 75
Mao-Lin Chiu, Representation and Communication Channels in
Collaborative Architectural Design, Formal Aspects of
Collaborative CAD, IFIP97, Australia, Februrary, 1997, p.77 - 96
Tsuyoshi Sasada, Computer Graphics as a Communication Medium in
the Design Process, The Global Design Studio, CAADFutures95,
Singapore, September, 1996, p.771 - 776
Author Profile
Eunjoo Lee
Address: Doctorate Course
Department of Environmental Engineering, Osaka University
2-1, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565, Japan
Tel:+81-6-877-5111(ext. 3543)
Fax:+81-6-877-8497
e-mail:ejlee@env.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
Sungho Woo
Address: Doctorate Course
Department of Environmental Engineering, Osaka University
2-1, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565, Japan
Tel:+81-6-877-5111(ext. 3543)
Fax:+81-6-877-8497
e-mail:woo@env.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
Tsuyoshi Sasada
Address: Professor
Department of Environmental Engineering, Osaka University
2-1, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565, Japan
Tel:+81-6-879-7660
Fax:+81-6-876-2397
e-mail:sasada@env.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
Inhan Kim
Address: Assistant Professor
Department of Architectural Engineering, Kyung Hee University
1, Seocheonri, Kihungeup, Yonginsi, Kyungkido, 449-701, Korea
Tel:+82-331-280-2926
Fax:+82-331-283-1354
e-mail:ihkim@nms.kyunghee.ac.kr