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architectural design reviews a collaborative system between Liverpool and XJTLU

Mike Knight, Andre Brown and Martin Winchester School of Architecture

Funded by the eLearning Steering Group

Mike Knight : School of Architecture

background

teaching of architecture



professionally validated degree

Royal Institute of British Architects qualification stages...

Part 1 BA (Hons) Architecture 3 years

Year in practice

Part 2 MA - Master of Architecture 2 years

Year in practice

Part 3 Professional Practice exam

Advanced Diploma in Professional Practice



Liverpool School of Architecture is the oldest RIBA course in the world with the pattern of education established here ...

• 50% taught modules

• 50% studio based

• studio design teaching is based around small group teaching and the design review or ‘critique’



design is a collaborative process


add

Enric Miralles – conceptual drawing for Santa Caterina market, Barcelona




design review (or ‘crit’)

• students present their work to tutors and their peers

• mimics what happens in practice when presenting clients and internal design processes

• a ‘crit’ is a dialogue between student, critic and peers

• Cultural differences evident in performance at a crit

• length varies according to year of study

First year : 15mins final year : 45mins - 1 hour+

• work presented verbal presentation plus analogue and digital drawings / sketchbooks / physical models / digital animations etc

First year crit


First year crit


final year crit


XJTLU


XJTLU

• common foundation first year

• subject specific second year - mirrors Liverpool BA1 modules

current numbers first year : 128 second year : 101


XJTLU

• common foundation first year

• subject specific second year - mirrors Liverpool BA1 modules

current numbers first year : 128 second year : 101

September 2102 : 160 XJTLU students join BA2

current research is allow XJTLU students to experience design reviews in Liverpool before they arrive



low cost eCrit solution?


problem definition

mobile solution to give student experience of Liverpool teaching before they arrive

video feed

3 cameras required ...

camera 1 : student (tripod) camera 2 : critics (tripod) camera 3 : work (mobile)

audio feed

2 microphones required ...

microphone 1: student

microphone 2: critics


• System diagram


Liverpool Suzhou


solutions

‘standard’ video conferencing

+ high quality and proven

- expensive fixed location

does not give the atmosphere of a studio based review


known problems

• design reviews are noisy and busy

• students unfamiliar with being filmed

• time difference to Suzhou is 8 hours

• Skype bandwidth can be unpredictable

• Chinese government control of internet

• small amount of money available


system

Software (all streaming to Skype)

• Vidblaster (vidblaster.com)

podcasting software and digital stream mixer

• Xsplit (xsplit.com)

record and stream video streams

hardware

• 3 high quality Logitech webcams

• 2 hand held microphones (later wireless)

• audio mixing desk

requires a powerful laptop to stream and record simultaneously


initial results


testing process

step 1 : local recording

step 2 : test with known quality source

step 3 : initial tests with XJTLU


step 1 : local recording

test of hardware, software and logistics

test recording of crit and tutorial recording of MA group

current MA is 97% Chinese

testing of hardware and software

looking for unforeseen logistical problems

assessment of student feedback



overall view of students plus ‘picture in picture’ of handheld detail


full screen of handheld detail



overall view of detail plus ‘picture in picture of overall view


view of critics


overall view of detail plus ‘picture in picture’ of students



spit view of students and critics


tutorial recording




stage 1 : results

• overall, better than expected

• noise : Chinese students are noisier in crits than UK students

• setup and moving of equipment needs to be quicker and simpler

• students need to learn a slightly different process

• minor changes to hardware and software configurations

unexpected feedback from students : students found recording process useful to assess their own performance


step 2 : test with known quality source

Technical University of Graz

crit of undergraduate architecture students who were designing a scheme in Liverpool

known excellent network link quality




deteriorating video quality


Skype shared desktop


Skype shared desktop





screenshot from Graz


step 2 : results

• some good, some problems

good

• hardware and software largely worked well apart from connection problems to old projector

• use of Skype shared desktop for digital presentations

problems

• intermittent and unpredictable Skype line quality

• dropped connections


stage 3 : testing with XJTLU

original plan was to test with the final crit in XJTLU

but ...

logistical problems (crits at incompatible times/dates) and other staff commitments resulted in a full crit test not happening

measurements have been taken during regular Skype meetings

line quality is mainly average and frequently poor.


overall conclusions

• hardware / software worked more smoothly than anticipated

• software has a fairly steep familiarisation period

• student feedback has been largely positive, but some prior education/familiarisation is necessary

• Skype maybe not the best solution so other networks are being tested

oovoo oovoo.com

vsee vsee.com


future work

hardware consolidate and rationalise hardware to make more portable build into laptop and mixer in to system case


future work

departmental plan is to have a full working system in 2012-13

• full testing with XJTLU

• recording and streaming of lectures in Liverpool

• back-to-back comparison of different networks
