Theory and Design of Digital Communication Systems by Tri t. Ha
DESC9097 Digital Communication in Design
description
Transcript of DESC9097 Digital Communication in Design
DESC9097 Digital Communicationin Design
Use of CMC and CSCW
for Design Projects
Mary Lou Maher
23 March 2002
Overview
• CMC tools and issues
• Media types for collaborative design
• Network communication terminology
Computer-Mediated Communication
• Asynchronous - send information
• Synchronous - conversation
Type of software Type of information Type ofcommunication
Email text, data files asynchronousList serves text, data files asynchronousBulletin boards text, data files asynchronousTalk, chat Text synchronousBroadcast Video, audio synchronousVideo Conference Video, audio, images,
textsynchronous
Asynchronous Communication• Email
– One to one or one to many
– Personal messages
– informal
• List server– Broadcast to a list
• Bulletin Board– Send message to a central location
• Web Pages
Indicatesattached file
Compose a message
Reply to author
Reply to all
Forward to someone
Redirect to someone
Attach file
Addressbook
Managing Communication in Email
• Subject of email is IMPORTANT• Email address nicknames• Filters and multiple mailboxes• Attachments and file management• Keep old email messages for reference
Email beyond sending text messages
• Broadcast information to mailing lists
• Attaching documents for file transfer
• Discussion threads and documentation
• File management
Listservers
• LISTSERV is an email distribution software, for electronic mailing lists, that contains a list of users subscribed to that list. Each time a message is sent to the list server, it is forwarded to all the members of the list. Members have the capacity to automatically subscribe and unsubscribe, by simply sending a message to the automated administrator. Sometimes, the messages sent to the list are first checked by a moderator and then forwarded to all the other members.
Bulletin Boards
• The major difference between a bulletin board and a list server is that the message sent to a list server is sent directly to each user’s emailbox whereas a message sent to a bulletin board is viewed by the users when they go to a specific place on the internet. Thus, a person does not need to have an email account to be able to participate in the "life" on the bulletin board. The advantage of the bulletin board is that messages do not get mixed up with all the other email messages that a person receives and therefore the messages can be seen as a coherent group representing an asynchronous discussion. At a glance, readers can keep track of discussions and access old messages that
are kept on the bulletin board.
Asynchronous Communication Tools:Advantages, Disadvantages
• Email: direct to person, hard to maintain a discussion• Listservers: broadcast direct to person, hard to control
content• Bulletin boards: threaded discussions, does not go to
person• Web pages: accessible to all, changes do not go to
anyone
Synchronous Communication
• Chat – Talking by typing in a text window
• Video Conference – Talking by speaking with a video window
• Shared or Multi-user window– viewing slides or web pages– drawing board– applications/authoring
• Virtual World – 3D worlds with users as avatars
Chat
• Talking by typing
• Chat, IRC, ICQ, MSN Messenger
• Considerations– Low bandwidth requirements– Multi threaded conversation– Typing skills are important– New registers emerge
Video Conference
• Provides video and audio communication
• “Being there”
• Considerations:– High bandwidth requirements– Protocols– Displacement
Video conference with shared whiteboard
Shared window
• Shared whiteboard– Master-slave, only one person can make changes– Multi-user
• Shared application– Multi-user CAD– Multi-user text editing
Virtual Worlds
• Example– Active Worlds
• Can see the location of other people
• Usually talk by typing
different kinds of communication implies
different kinds of collaboration
Two metaphors for CMC tools:
• Desktop - providing desktop tools for communication, such as email, video conferences, transferring CAD files, web browsers
• Place - providing a place for collaboration, such as virtual worlds, virtual reality, etc.
Desktop Tools
• Web-based tools - use internet protocols for communicating ideas and sharing design files
• “Design Office Automation” packages - use one software vendor for all computing needs, such as Microsoft
Web-based Tools
• Web browsers
• Chat rooms
• Internet phone
• Internet video conference
• File transfer
Advantages:•Heterogeneous platforms supported•Standards for transferring data
Disadvantages:•Management is done manually•Lowest standard is used
Office Automation
• Word Processing
• Document Management
• Calendars
• Project Management
• Databases
• Web browsing/editing
Advantages:•Common format•Interchange between apps•More advanced features
Disadvantages:•Cannot introduce new features•Everyone must use the same apps•Cannot use specialised design apps
Places for Collaboration
• 3D simulations– Mimic the physical world and its functionality– Navigation occurs by moving around the 3D model
• Object-oriented worlds– Functionality can start with physical analogy– Extend the use and interactivity beyond the physical
3D Simulations
• CAVE
• Active Worlds
• VRML
Advantages:•Looks like the physical world•Navigation is intuitive•Good for viewing models that will be physical buildings
Disadvantages:•Difficult to communicate•Functions are limited to those of physical world•No inherent document management
Object-oriented virtual worlds
• Active Worlds
• VWorlds
• VirTools
• TappedIn
Advantages:•Identity of people and places and things•Reactive objects in the world•Invent new functions
Disadvantages:•Less intuitive•Requires expertise to use all functions•No inherent design support
Collaborative Design
• Communicating– Meetings– Sharing files– Discussing ideas
• Designing– Drawing– Modelling– Analysing the brief
Approaches to CMCD
• Office automation supports document and project management
• Virtual worlds support synchronous communication
• Simulations support collaborative modelling
Media Types and Communication
Digital Design Media
• CAD
• 3D Models
• Movies
• Images
• Text documents
• Databases
Issues:
•Size of files
•Versions
•Multiple authors
•File management
•Naming conventions
Images
Format - gif, jpeg, png, etc
Application - Photoshop, ArchiCAD
Colour - 8 bit, 32 bit, etc
Resolution - 72 dpi, 600 dpi
CAD
Applications -AutoCAD, ArchiCAD
Libraries -shared, distributed
Layer conventions -across organisations
Documentation standards -dimensioning etc
File formats -dxf, dwf, pln
Object/Product models -IAI, STEP
Text Documents
Style guides
Fonts and formats
File types
Edit or browse
Naming conventions
Databases
Information is organisedCan manipulate dataCan be linked to CADDatabase standards
Media Types and Issues
• In order to share information, the project must agree on:– Standard applications– Standard formats– Viewing or browsing
Networks, the Internet, and the WWW
TCP/IP Internet129.78.66.1
193.140.136.2
gubim.bim.gantep.edu.tr
archsci.arch.usyd.edu.au
Terminology
• Internet
• Wide Area Network (WAN)
• Local Area Network (LAN)
• World Wide Web (WWW)
• Web Server
• Mail Server
• Client
Domain Names and Servicesarchsci.arch.usyd.edu.au
embraces the parts of the Internet thatarelocated in Australia
identifies the academic (education) portions
identifies the academic institution (in thiscase the University of Sydney)
identifies a division within the institution (inthis case the Faculty of Architecture)
the name of the particularcomputer
Structure of the Internet
Localnetwork
RegionalnetworkBackboneLocalnetwork
Localnetwork Localnetwork
Localnetwork
LocalnetworkLocalnetwork
Regionalnetwork
RegionalnetworkLocalnetwork
129.78.66.1archsci.arch.usyd.edu.au
193.140.136.2gubim.bim.gantep.edu.tr
World Wide Web
• Publicly available files/services on web servers
• Uses TCP/IP for data transfer
• Uses HTTP and others for data format
• Files are accessed by URL
• Data is browsed using a Web Browser Client
WWW and URLs
http://www.arch.usyd.edu.au/kcdc/vds96/elective/index.html
The domain name ofthe Web server. The name ofthe file to beretrieved anddisplayed.The path on the Webserver file system thatleads to the file, startingfrom the default directoryof the web server.
The protocol whichspecifies the method fordata transfer and theinterpretation of thedata on the client side.
WWW Protocols and Applications
File types and applications
Markup Languages
index.html
www.arch.usyd.edu.au
body.txt
land.jpgtable.gif
map.jpglabel.gif
Internet and Standards
• Data transfer on networks
• Markup languages
• File formats and types
• Protocols and applications
• Special media types and client helpers
Future Issues for Network Communications
• Very high speed networks
• Broadband communications
• Better compression
• Different types of network transmission, eg air doc and bus
• New protocols for the WWW