Speak with the annotator: Promoting interaction in a knowledge-based CAD environment built on the extended annotation concept

The development of knowledge-based engineering systems and their integration with CAD environments require the use of efficient user interfaces, communication tools, and practical mechanisms to elicit knowledge in order to avoid information-acquisition bottlenecks. Therefore, it is critical to design systems that do not overload users with information and facilitate the representation of knowledge in a simple and friendly manner. The concept of “extended annotation” as a tool to communicate knowledge is a mechanism based on using 3D annotations directly within CAD models, so that stakeholders that participate in the design process can associate textual information to the various aspects of the model, facilitating design intent and design rationale communication. In this paper, we incorporate communication functionalities to the extended annotation concept by presenting an interactive mechanism based on video conferencing that enables users to quickly communicate with the model annotators in situations where the contents of the annotation need to be extended or clarified. This approach eliminates the need for separate communication tools and provides a collaborative space that is built directly into the CAD interface. The system architecture and the foundations for its implementation are described in the final section of the paper. An initial evaluation of a software prototype has shown positive reactions and acceptance among users.