Blended Spaces for Collaborative Creativity

In this paper, we reflect on our experiences of designing, developing, implementing and using real world, functional multitouch enabled interactive collaborative environments (ICEs). Combining aspects of immersive collaborative environments with interactive collaborative surfaces, the design, implementation and use of these rooms raises some interesting issues of design. ICEs typically are intended to be flexible physical spaces that can be used for creative work including collaborative design work. The technologies and software provide a novel digital space that is intended to blend with the physical space to afford new, creative ways of working. In ICEs there are personal spaces, shared spaces and public spaces to consider. There is the ownership of objects and many social issues that surround control of interactional resources. There are issues concerning appropriation of the technologies and spaces, territoriality, and articulation of activities across cooperating groups of people. Perhaps most importantly are the changes to working practices that an appropriate blend of physical and digital spaces can bring about. We present the principles underlying our design approach to ICEs and how these have been applied in the design of three ICEs. We conclude with guidelines for the interaction design of the next generation of interactive blended spaces.