Sharing the Unshareable – Distributed Product Review using Tangibles

Abstract:
Due to the ongoing globalization of businesses and the collaboration occurring between geographically dispersed organizations, distributed collaborative work using computer based support tools becomes increasingly important. When trying to perform design work while relying heavily on the use of physical artefacts such as early mock-ups, a need to share the unshareable, i.e. physical objects, will inevitably occur in a distributed setting. In an attempt to realize this, the authors studied a design team during their design reviews where a physical mock-up was used. A wearable conferencing unit (the Boblebee computer) was then developed to give remote collaborators a first person view of the mock-up using a head mounted video camera. With the Boblebee computer, remote collaboration with large tangible objects can successfully be realized. This paper relates experiences from the design of the system, and reports on early observations of its use.