Feasibility Study of Multi-User Collaboration Awareness Concepts in Computer-Aided Design Applications

New, experimental, synchronous, multi-user CAD systems, such as BYU’s NXConnect, allow users to work together simultaneously in the same CAD model. Although multi-user CAD comes close to approximating the old collaborative drafting table experience, NXConnect still falls short in a few key areas, most notably of which is in collaboration awareness. This results in redundant work and lost time. Investigation was done with other multi-user software to see what features help each user to be aware of what is being worked on. This resulted in a proposed plugin for NXConnect consisting of two elements: a preview-based real-time feature update and a temporary plane indicating where a user is creating a sketch. Teams using NXConnect with and without the plugin were studied. Teams using the plugin found a small improvement in working collaboratively.