Supervisors at the G-SCOP laboratory, Grenoble :
J.F. Boujut, Professor
C. Masclet, Associate Professor
2011-2014 - Funding MESR
Start : 2011, october
This work is situated within the framework of computer supported collaborative work in design. The objective is to define the key factors of an efficient information sharing environment that supports interactions in various situations (remote vs. co located) and design an environment that supports synchronous cooperation in design meetings. In design technical information is mainly conveyed through graphical representations, sketches diagrams or symbols and have therefore a rich variety of forms that convey rich semantic contents. Most of this semantic content is also related to rich technical knowledge. During collaborative sessions, the stakeholders simultaneously share and build new knowledge, make decisions on various topics and manage their activity. The need is therefore threefold : information sharing, decision making and task management. Few studies actually address these three aspects of the activity and even fewer tend to propose supporting environments. This environment will rely on the latest advanced technologies including tactile surfaces or 3D visualisation.
Information tool is an essential component of the engineering environment nowadays : it supports numerous activities (planning, knowledge transfer, decision making, learning, etc.) including communication and collaborative work. Often limited to a standalone use, only the result of the design work is usually shared (CAD models or digital mock-ups). Our aim is to consider the collaborative aspects of the information tools and therefore we stress on the mediating role of these tools. This mediating role will be considered at three level : the information level, the decision making level and the activity management level. Moreover there is a clear lack of fluidity in the tools and a big part of the information shared during design meetings is lost or only partially shared. There is few attention paid to knowledge sharing and collective decision making environments, that include the possibility to seamlessly support argumentation, capture the design rational and eventually allow the reuse of information in asynchronous design phases.
The core of the thesis will be to study the relevance of the latest interaction devices and propose a design meeting environment that supports design review meetings. The cognitive aspects will be of prime importance in the design of the environment and HCI should support the relevant design interactions and activities. Therefore a theoretical work will be necessary in order to frame the priorities and an experimental approach will be used in order to validate the approach.
The experimental setting of our MEXICO platform will be used as a testbed for the thesis.
