ABSTRACT
A fundamental assumption of the work is that telephonic interactions augmented by the addition of an interactive drawing facility would allow geographically separated persons to work together in real–time on tasks that would be difficult or impossible to complete using only the telephone. In a world in which international dealings have become so widespread and commonplace, the requirement for effective and efficient means of communication between one country and another is paramount. The information needing to be exchanged on a given occasion may take the form of text, speech and images. In the synchronous situation, those involved in the communicative activity are either present together, face-to-face, or simultaneously connected via a telecommunications link of some kind, such as a telephone. The findings suggested that real-time person-to-person interaction between designers engaged in the initial stages of design could be effectively mediated via a computer-based communications system comprising a shared drawing surface and an audio-link.
