The Envisionment and Discovery Collaboratory

The EDC environment supports problem solving tasks by unifying diverse systems into two tightly integrated spaces, an action and a reflection space shown in Figure 1 below. These spaces are indeed synomorphically related as stakeholders are immersed in the use of the EDC Environment. This immersion is also an outcome of the complementary role the environment plays within the context of the human interactions between the members of the user group.

The EDC Framework shows the current realization of the EDC Environment. Participants using the EDC convene around a computationally enhanced table shown in the center of Figure 2, which serves as the Action Space. Currently implemented using as a touch sensitive surface, the Action Space allows users to manipulate the computational simulation projected on the surface by interacting with the physical objects placed on the table. In this example, participants construct and modify a model of a neighborhood by placing and moving physical objects that represent objects such as houses, parks, schools, and bus stops. The table is flanked by a second computer driving another touch sensitive surface shown behind the participants. This computational whiteboard serves as the Reflection Space. In the figure, participants fill out a Web-based transportation survey that is associated with the model being constructed. The Reflection and Action spaces are connected by communication between the two computers using the Web as a medium. The entire physical space, through the immersion of people within the representations of the problem-solving task, creates an integrated human/computer system grounded in the physical world.