Computer Supported Collaborative Design using Augmented Reality Augmenting the furniture design process using FurnitAR Tor Gj��saeter / University of Bergen Department of Information and media science University of Bergen Bergen, Norway Tor.Gjosater@infomedia.uib.no Abstract���While doing a usability evaluation of an augmented reality application (FurnitAR), interesting aspects of the application in regards to collaborative design were uncovered. FurnitAR can perhaps make one step in the furniture design process ��� the creation of a mock-up model in for instance cardboard ��� more efficient. FurnitAR was proposed as a solution to make the creation of mock-ups more in line with the CAD process. An evaluation of FurnitAR revealed that it could enhance the prototyping process of furniture design and provides new ways to support collaboration during the design process. Keywords-component augmented reality CSCW CSCD furniture design I. INTRODUCTION Furniture designers are increasingly using computer aided- drawing (CAD) software in their design process. Some designers rely solely on CAD throughout the design process. However, during the process it is common to create a mock-up prototype to visualize the design in relation to the real world in for instance cardboard. Different actors use this mock-up prototype for collaborative evaluation of the design. In this research an augmented reality application called FurnitAR is proposed to either eliminate or complement the cumbersome cardboard-step by allowing collaboration surrounding the design in a new manner. II. AUGMENTED REALITY Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that allows realistic superimposing of 3D models into any surroundings. Azuma [1] defines AR with three characteristics: It combines real and virtual world, it is interactive in real time and it is registered in 3D. AR in its most basic form operates by using a camera to capture the orientation of markers in the real world, augmenting these markers with information (in this case furniture prototypes) and projecting the augmented reality to a head mounted display (HMD) (Figure 1). By manipulating the position and orientation of markers either by direct manipulation of the markers or by moving around them, the augmentations can be viewed from different angles. AR has many applications ranging from games [7], industry [10], education [6] and geographic visualization [5] to mention a few. Figure 1. A designer interacting with his 3D-modells using a camera- mounted HMD III. FURNITURE DESIGN Furniture design is most commonly associated with the creative process of creating furniture. A piece of furniture can a table, chair and so forth. To create a piece of furniture the designer utilizes a range of tools and an iterative process to end up with a final product. Since the advent of personal computers this process has been increasingly facilitated by the use of computer-aided design (CAD) software like AutoCad, SolidWorks or LightWave. A rough overview of the design process experienced by the furniture designers interviewed in this study describes it like this: Firstly they have a rough idea (Figure 2), this idea is outlined by pen and paper, then the designer creates a 3D model of the idea in CAD software, some test renderings of the furniture are examined, a mock-up cardboard (Figure 3) (or some other inexpensive material) model of the design is created to ������look at the model in relation to the room and the collection.��� as one of the evaluators framed it. As furniture designer often create additions to furniture collections, for 2009 International Workshop on Social Informatics 978-0-7695-3706-1/09 $25.00 �� 2009 IEEE DOI 10.1109/SocInfo.2009.21 35