Information communication and perception in distance collaborative design between the two sides of Taiwan Strait

The scale of Taiwan manufacture is largely small and medium, which limits its degree of information technology (IT) implementation. This low IT-readiness situation is compounded by the fact that the operational environment for distant collaboration in R&D has not been successfully implemented as planned. As a result, collaborative product development between Taiwan and China remains to be carried out by staffs traveling in person between the two sides of Taiwan Strait. The extensive travels add to the cost of the development and greatly hinder the timeliness of product launch. To overcome the obstacles similar to information representation and communication, we first obtained the appearance of the 3D digital models arisen from the designing stage treated to have appearance images, which were then edited into three kinds of information, including series of static images, QTVR, and VRML interactive objects, for further transmission. Finally, the planning personnel, designers, and production engineers evaluated the results of the distant communication with regard to the design information through a distant interface. The aim is, through the vivid images of virtual products transmitted on the Internet, to understand the difference of information cognition between various forms of media. The results indicate that, although the more advanced interactive medium is favored, the series of still images of products appearances, which are easier and cheaper to produce and require less bandwidth, is also effective. For this reason, SMEs, which are relatively resource-restrictive, can employ the model and results of the present research to handle the issues of information communication arisen from conducting distance collaboration for products development.