Affording Embodiment in Collaborative Virtual Environments: What is the Role of Presence in Collaborative Design?

Collaborative virtual environments have potential to change the ways in which designers communicate and work. Different virtual environments provide different affordances which have an impact on designer’s actions. We conduct a study to investigate designers’ interaction and behaviour in four collaborative environments, using protocol analysis. The results indicate that types of representation and kinds of interfaces and tools have an impact on designer’s engagement, perception of presence and interaction within the environments. Keywords--Presence, Collaborative Virtual Environments, Protocol Analysis, Collaborative Design