Mobile and Pervasive Computing: The Future for Design Collaboration - Mobile and Pervasive Computing in Construction - page 185

pervasive computing. It has also traced some research prototypes as well as
commercial developments using two frameworks: a CSCW framework that char-
acterizes the technologies in a time-place matrix, and a collaborative design
framework that characterizes the technologies according to representation, com-
munication, and HCI. It is seen that the CSCW framework provided a clear
distinction for the early collaborative technologies, but that time and place are
becoming less obvious as ways of characterizing technologies when they become
mobile and pervasive. While it is still relevant if the designers are co-located or
remote, and if they are communicating synchronously or asynchronously, mobile
and pervasive technologies are supporting the different scenarios with the same
tools and applications.
As we move towards a future in which mobile and pervasive technologies are an
available platform for all design activities, a critical framework for characterizing
the effective use and selection of available technologies should focus on how
technology supports and enhances both representation and communication
during design collaboration. Mobile and pervasive computing provides affor-
dances that are significantly different to the standard keyboard and mouse on a
desktop computer. The changes can be seen in how immersive interaction with
the design representation and how communication scales to larger and larger
groups affects the way we think when we design. Future research on the
integration of mobile and pervasive technologies into collaborative design will
need to consider the designers' requirements with respect to the representation of
the shared design information, their needs for communication, and the possi-
bilities provided by interaction technologies that better support designers any-
where and anytime.

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