Short Paper: Using natural user interfaces for collaborative process modelling in virtual environments

Just had a short paper accepted for Models and their Role in Collaboration (MoRoCo 2013), 22 September 2013, Paphos, Cyprus.  Submitted version of paper available here. 

Abstract: Modelling business processes for analysis or redesign usually requires the collaboration of many stakeholders. These stakeholders may be spread across locations or even companies, making co-located collaboration costly and difficult to organize. Modern process modelling technologies support remote collaboration but lack support for visual cues used in co-located collaboration. Previously we presented a prototype 3D virtual world process modelling tool that supports a number of visual cues to facilitate remote collaborative process model creation and validation. However, the added complexity of having to navigate a virtual environment and using an avatar for communication made the tool difficult to use for novice users. We now present an evolved version of the technology that addresses these issues by providing natural user interfaces for non-verbal communication, navigation and model manipulation.

Well done Erik!

Ross

Journal Paper: Using virtual worlds for collaborative business process modeling

Have uploaded a new journal paper I have written with Jan Recker and Stephen West, published at the Journal of Business Process Management, "Using virtual worlds for collaborative business process modeling."

Ross

Video: Augmented Reality Process Modelling Tool

In this video we show a prototype BPMN process modelling tool which uses Augmented Reality techniques to increase the sense of immersion.

The avatar represents a remotely logged in user, and facilitates greater insight into the editing actions of the collaborator than present 2D web-based approaches in collaborative process modelling.

We modified the Second Life client to integrate the ARToolkit in order to support pattern-based AR.

Open Source version of this project will be available soon.

Ross

Video: BPM on an MS Surface

Video of a BPM package running on an MS Surface. While interesting, the interface here is a rule-based system (at first glance) and does not use a graphical language such as BPMN for process modelling, unlike our video shown previously.

Still, would be good to explore such hardware in detail for collaborative modelling.

Just need to find $20K.

Ross

Video: Collaborative 3D BPMN Modelling Two

New improved collaborative Open Simulator, 3D BPMN editor video, showing a new interface and collaboration capabilities via remote login of another avatar.

This video is being presented at AMCIS 2010 in Peru, along with our paper.

Ross

Paper: AMCIS 2010 Collaborative business process modeling using 3D virtual environments

I have just uploaded our new paper accepted for AMCIS 2010 to the QUT Eprints Site. This paper details a collaborative BPMN modeling environment that my Masters student Stephen West has built for Open Simulator and Second Life. The main outcome is the creation of a useful 3D space to collaborate around a process model. A video of the work is posted here.

Jan Recker will be presenting the paper at AMCIS 2010. This work is part of our ongoing projects in the area of collaborative process modelling. Contact me if you need a copy of the paper before AMCIS.

Well done Stephen.

Ross

Video: Collaborative Second Life BPMN Editor

Stephen West, a Masters student I am supervising, has created a BPMN editor in Second Life as an assignment for one of our BPM units at QUT. Full size video here.

His idea is to create a BPMN pool on the ground, upon which tiles are laid to create a process model. This form of representation is very amenable to collaborative modelling, due to its use of a flat shared space in the Virtual Environment. We are writing this work up as a conference paper, that will appear on this site shortly. We will follow up with a teamwork example in this space, to explicate the collaborative capabilities of such an editor.

Ross

Paper: APCCM 2010 Modelling in 3D Virtual Worlds

I have uploaded to QUT eprints the paper I presented at APCCM 2010 this week - Conceptual Modelling in 3D Virtual Worlds for Process Communication.

In this paper, I go into a little more detail about the 3D BPMN Editor I am developing in Open Simulator. I also discuss how to annotate a Virtual World with a Business Process Model (BPMN) in order to provide a place for a business analyst and a domain expert to combine their information to develop the conceptual process model for the business.

One comment from the audience was quite profound. In my approach, the Business Analyst brings the conceptual process model, and the domain expert brings the model of reality - buildings, layout and other artifacts representing the business. Together, these can be used to validate the correctness of the presented process model. Indeed this is done every time a consultant talks to a domain specialist and builds a model. However, when using the virtual world as a modelling space, the domain specialist provides (virtually) tangible information about the Enterprise.

Ross

Airport Processes Video

This movie is a demonstration of the use of 3D Virtual Environments to visualise 3D BPMN Process Models, and in particular, to highlight any issues with the process model that are spatial in nature. The example is of check in processes at the Brisbane Airport.

This work is part of a paper accepted for the Asia-Pacific Conference on Conceptual Modelling (APCCM 2010) to be held in Brisbane -http://2010.apccm.org/

Ross