Enablers and barriers of the multi-user virtual environment for exploratory creativity in architectural design collaboration

Abstract

Pioneering psychology and co-design research has highlighted the potential that multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) may help architects’ exploratory creativity that is a recursive search to discover an optimal match of novel and appropriate solutions. However, it has been not reported hitherto in what ways MUVE helps or obstructs architects’ exploratory creativity in individual and collaborative modes of collaboration. To investigate this issue, we compared MUVE and sketching media in face-to-face and remote collaboration modes, involving 22 pairs of architecture major students. Based on interview and video-observation, we discovered that (1) in MUVE, anthropomorphic avatars, which other media do not have, enabled individual and collaborative explorations to discover unexpected affordances of new solutions, with evaluation on physical properties and layouts of solutions. In addition, (2) co-presence with collaborator’s avatars enabled inspiration on new ways of problem-solving and puzzle-making through shared design processes and events, with co-evaluation on social aspects of design solutions. (3) Co-presence in a shared environment also allowed mutual co-exploration that promotes emerging creative solutions, with co-modification on design errors. As barriers of MUVE, (4) avatar’s immersion caused inconvenient perception to explore large-scaled environments and track collaborators’ different experiences, but the barriers were not reported in remote collaboration.

Keywords:

• Exploratory creativity
• multi-user virtual environment (MUVE)
• architectural design collaboration
• anthropomorphic avatars
• co-presence
• a shared environment

Acknowledgement

This study is based on the data collected during the PhD study of the main author, at the Department of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley. The authors appreciate the sincere support and advices of professor Galen Cranz, M. Paz Gutierrez, and Kaiping Peng, and the enthusiastic participation of the 44 students at the University of California, Berkeley.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.