A socio-cognitive analysis of evaluation and idea generation activities during co-creative design sessions supported by spatial augmented reality

ABSTRACT

Co-creation with end-users is gaining an increasing interest in the design industry today. This study investigates the mechanisms by which spatial augmented reality (SAR) technology can affect socio-cognitive processes in groups involved in co-creative design sessions. More precisely, when used in real co-creative design sessions, does a SAR system facilitate the collective creative process, compared to sessions occurring in standard settings? A protocol analysis has been conducted to investigate three different design sessions involving experienced designers and end-users on a product design task: a design session supported by conventional design representations (usual design practices), a design session supported by non-spatial augmented reality (AR), and a session supported by SAR technology. While results do not clearly show that SAR or AR technologies increase end-user’s commitmen t, they illustrate the ability for these technologies to allow browsing through more ideas during a co-creative design session. Furthermore, it tends to reduce time spent on ideas, compared to a traditional session. We also noted that the introduction of this technology does not modify the profiles of the sessions in terms of cognitive activities. This tends to demonstrate that the technology itself does not impair the design activity.

KEYWORDS:

• Co-creative design
• co-design
• spatial augmented reality
• design cognition
• design interaction

Acknowledgments

The work reported in this paper is part of the SPARK project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No.688417. This paper reflects only the authors’ views and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. The authors would like to thank all the partners of the SPARK Consortium and especially Céline Gros for her extensive support and valuable contribution to the development of this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. https://stimulo.com/about/

2. In the AR condition, we coded the interaction with the tablets as ‘Digital’. The consequence is that ‘Digital’ is considered as the principle artifact of the session.

Additional information

Funding

This work is part of the SPARK project, supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement [688417]..