The Virtual Design Studio might enable multiple-location live collaborative events in which there are up to three classes of participants:
- “facilitators” (leading the process or session);
- “creators” (a larger group of participants who can generate design material in the context of the event);
- “reactors” (a group of participants who experience and provide feedback).
The general task is to create , try out, and modify designs in any one of a variety of fields, from stage and exhibit design to costumes, fashion and architecture. Requirements might include:
- The facilitator assigns roles and moves participants in and out of the center stage, perhaps with a wand or motion capture system;
- Designs are displayed in multiple views to all participants, either on multiple screens or in some kind of immersive viewing arrangement;
- Creators can create in real-time at workstations or (better) with wand, virtual stylus, motion capture, etc.;
- In some cases, tactile, pressure, smell, or other sensors might convey the unique quality of a design or creation;
- Reactors can react both as a group and individually using feedback devices or through wide-angle motion sensing; in some cases, reactors may become creators, or shift their individual viewpoints of the designs separately from other reactors; reactions can be aggregated;
- “Co-creation” with large groups of creators/reactors is an interesting possibility.