Högskolan i Skövde

This study examines how specific collaborative features for independent viewpoint control, collaborative pointing, sketching, and manikin representations support design reviews in a virtual environment. Participants conducted design reviews using the collaborative design tool Gravity Sketch while engaging with these features. Results show that friction situations were minimal, with viewpoint control eliminating the need for perspective adjustments. Collaborative pointing and sketching effectively clarified design modifications, while manikin representations aided discussions on ergonomics. The findings highlight how the evaluated features facilitate communication in remote design reviews.

Aims: Recent world events have resulted in companies using remote meeting tools more often in design processes. The shift to remote meeting tools has had a notable impact on collaborative design activities, such as design reviews (DRs). When DRs depend on computer-aided design (CAD) software, the lack of direct support for CAD functionalities in videoconferencing applications introduces novel communication challenges, i.e. friction. This study investigates friction encountered in real world remote DRs when using a combination of standard CAD and videoconferencing applications. The objective was to understand the main sources of friction when carrying out DRs using a combination of CAD and videoconferencing applications.

Methods: At a single Swedish automobile manufacturer, 15 DRs of a fixture component were passively observed. These observations were subjected to a qualitative thematic analysis to identify categories and sources of friction during these DRs. The DRs were carried out using a combination of CATIA CAD software and Microsoft Teams for videoconferencing.

Results: The analysis of the 15 remote DRs identified four recurring friction categories: requesting specific viewpoints, indicating specific elements, expressing design change ideas, and evaluating ergonomics. Each category highlights specific challenges that were observed during the DRs and emerged due to constraints imposed by existing methods and technologies for remote meetings.

Conclusion: This study provides a framework for understanding the current sources of friction in remote DRs using videoconferencing tools. These insights can support the future development of DR software tools, guiding the integration of features that address these friction points. Additionally, the results serve as a guideline for organizations to implement methods that reduce friction in remote DRs and improve DR quality and efficacy.

Industry 5.0 revolution is prioritizing human-centricity and adapting technologies to augment shopfloor workers’ cognitive ergonomics. To provide a user-friendly, efficient virtual planning tool, virtual reality (VR) is adopted by the industry to provide a virtual work environment for layout planning, design reviews, and training use cases. However, the user interface (UI) of VR programs is not yet standardized for universal design, and thus causes issues such as difficult scalable technology adoption due to high mental workload. Creating intuitive and accessible interfaces is a key challenge in VR. As the complexity of VR platforms grows, it is vital that users can effectively explore and engage with them. Improved UI design may improve the whole user experience, making VR more accessible, scalable, and attractive to a larger audience. Navigation in a VR environment can impose a significant mental workload on users, affecting their cognitive capacities, including layout perception, navigation, attention for collaboration, and response/completion time. This study aims to identify and assess the UI design features of a virtual work environment for manufacturing regarding mental workload, spatial navigation, and performance-based evaluation for human centricity. Three design features of typical mini maps examples, which are extracted from the literature and the gamification industry, are portability, tangibility, and dimensionality. By identifying the association between design features and user navigation experience, we may observe patterns for broader VR user interface standardization that address human factors. This study employed a qualitative approach to assess five different prototypes of interactive map designs, categorized into three design features, involving both students and industry practitioners, and resulting in 114 valid data collection sessions in the prototype-based experiment. Reducing mental workloads in VR interfaces can increase efficiency and user satisfaction in Industry 5.0 through intentional use of specific design features—portability proved to have the most significant impact, consistently reducing mental, physical and temporal demands, and frustration, while simultaneously improving performance, layout perception, navigation, and collaborative efficacy. The study provides effective design feature identification, highlighting the importance of user-centric approaches in VR development for cognitive ergonomics.

Effective communication and stakeholder collaboration are vital for successful design reviews. Traditionally reliant on physical mediums, design reviews now predominantly use digital 3D models for their flexibility and cost-effectiveness. Recent advancements in extended reality (XR) technology allow for immersive interactions with 3D models, enhancing spatial understanding. However, research often limits the choice to XR or flat screens, overlooking task-specific needs. This paper proposes a methodology using functional modeling and activity theory to assess XR’s suitability for various design review tasks. By categorizing tasks and analyzing functionalities, it guides the optimal use of XR and flat screens, enhancing design review effectiveness. Future research will empirically validate and refine this framework to support hybrid design review protocols, improving collaborative design processes. 

Remote design reviews are often carried out using video conferencing apps and are limited by the lack of immersive interaction, which is believed to be addressable by using extended reality (XR). It is argued that giving design review participants control over their viewpoint through XR might enhance the design review process. This study investigates whether enhancing camera control can improve collaborative problem-solving without XR. We propose that the ability to create one’s own cognitive map of a space through self-navigation is the basis for improvement, not XR technology specifically.

The experimental setup involves a collaborative puzzle-solving task with two distinct conditions: one with fixed camera perspectives and another allowing personal camera control. Teams of three engage in a task requiring the assembly of a 3D puzzle, where two of them have half of the solution and work to guide a third individual in a puzzle assembly task.

We aim to measure outcomes in terms of completion time, the number of errors, and user satisfaction. Preliminary results indicate a complex interaction between camera control and collaborative dynamics. I intend to discuss our methodology, share initial observations, and explore the implications of these findings.

This study studies the challenges of effective communication and collaboration in remote design review meetings (DRMs) and explores the potential of Extended Reality (XR) technologies to address these challenges. The research focuses on identifying recurring communication issues and the preferences of companies within the context of remote DRMs. The study involves qualitative content analysis and industry workshops to uncover the current problems with conventional approaches and the aspirations of companies regarding improved collaboration in the DRM process. Drawing upon the insights gathered from both the workshop and design review observations, this paper highlights the features that are critical for collaborative software to handle online design reviews. XR technologies offer immersive and interactive experiences that can transform communication and collaboration in the context of DRMs. By identifying the specific challenges faced in remote DRMs and understanding the desires of companies, this study sets the stage for a more efficient and effective collaborative process. It emphasizes the adaptability of XR technologies to meet industry needs and integrate seamlessly into existing workflows. The study concludes by highlighting the potential for XR technologies to enhance collaboration in DRMs, making them a valuable tool for various industries. 

Over the past decade, the value and potential of VR applications in manufacturing have gained significant attention in accordance with the rise of Industry 4.0 and beyond. Its efficacy in layout planning, virtual design reviews, and operator training has been well-established in previous studies. However, many functional requirements and interaction parameters of VR for manufacturing remain ambiguously defined. One area awaiting exploration is spatial recognition and learning, crucial for understanding navigation within the virtual manufacturing system and processing spatial data. This is particularly vital in multi-user VR applications where participants' spatial awareness in the virtual realm significantly influences the efficiency of meetings and design reviews. This paper investigates the interaction parameters of multi-user VR, focusing on interactive positioning maps for virtual factory layout planning and exploring the user interaction design of digital maps as navigation aid. A literature study was conducted in order to establish frequently used technics and interactive maps from the VR gaming industry. Multiple demonstrators of different interactive maps provide a comprehensive A/B test which were implemented into a VR multi-user platform using the Unity game engine. Five different prototypes of interactive maps were tested, evaluated and graded by the 20 participants and 40 validated data streams collected. The most efficient interaction design of interactive maps is thus analyzed and discussed in the study. 

Correct classification of fractures according to their patterns is critical for developing a treatment plan in orthopaedic surgery. Unfortunately, for proximal humeral fractures (PHF), methods for proper classification have remained a jigsaw puzzle that has not yet been fully solved despite numerous proposed classifications and diagnostic methods. Recently, many studies have suggested that three-dimensional printed models (3DPM) can improve the interobserver agreement on PHF classifications. Moreover, Virtual Reality (VR) has not been properly studied for classification of shoulder injuries. The current study investigates the PHF classification accuracy relative to an expert committee when using either 3DPM or equivalent models displayed in VR among 36 orthopaedic surgery residents from different hospitals. We designed a multicentric randomised controlled trial in which we created two groups: a group exposed to a total of 34 3DPM and another exposed to VR equivalents. Association between classification accuracy and group assignment (VR/3DPM) was assessed using mixed effects logistic regression models. The results showed VR can be considered a non-inferior technology for classifying PHF when compared to 3DPM. Moreover, VR may be preferable when considering possible time and resource savings along with potential uses of VR for presurgical planning in orthopaedics. 

Recently, exoskeletons have been gaining popularity in many industries, primarily for supporting manual assembly tasks. Due to the relative novelty of exoskeleton technologies, knowledge about the consequences of using these devices at workstations is still developing. Digital human modelling (DHM) and ergonomic evaluation tools may be of particular use in this context. However, there are no standard integrations of DHM and ergonomic assessment tools for assessing exoskeletons. This paper proposes a general method for evaluating the ergonomic effects of introducing an exoskeleton in a production context using DHM simulation tools combined with a modified existing ergonomic assessment framework. More specifically, we propose adapting the Assembly Specific Force Atlas tool to evaluate exoskeletons by increasing the risk level threshold proportionally to the amount of torque that the exoskeleton reduces in the glenohumeral joint. We illustrate this adaptation in a DHM tool. We believe the proposed methodology and the corresponding workflow can be helpful for decision-makers and stakeholders when considering implementing exoskeletons in a production environment.

Often new digital tools are introduced alongside existing tools and workflows to augment and fill gaps in current processes. Virtual and augmented reality (XR) tools are currently being deployed in this way within design processes, allowing for interactive visualization in virtual environments including the use of DHM tools. Currently, the focus is on how to implement XR as a stand-alone tool for single-user scenarios. However, in collaborative design contexts, screen-based and XR tools can be used together to leverage the benefits of each technology maximizing the potential of multi-user design processes. XR allows for an immersive exploration of designed objects in 3D space, while screen-based tools allow for easier notetaking and integration of additional non-3D software and meeting tools. Ensuring that these technologies are integrated in a mutually beneficial manner requires a framework for determining the best combination of technologies and interfaces for diverse design teams. This paper presents a framework for performing collaborative design reviews in a digital environment that can be accessed using both XR and 2D screen devices simultaneously. It enables asymmetric collaboration to provide each design team member with the technology that best fits their workflow and requirements.