Abstract.There are numerous approaches and techniques for setting up an environment for collaborative design. The most common approach is to extend the desktop environment to include tools for meeting and sharing files. This approach takes the individual work environment and adds tools for communicating with others. An alternative approach is to create a virtual world environment in which the collaborators meet, work, and organise their projects. This approach differs conceptually because it creates a sense of place that is unique to the project, sort of a shared office space. A variation on this approach is to create a virtual world that is the model of the product being designed. This is a more obvious choice when the product is an architectural design, but it can be extended to other kinds of design. This approach is essentially collaborating within the design. We present the three approaches and comment on their strengths and weaknesses.

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This paper argues for a linguistic explanation of the nature of Virtual Communities. Virtual Communities develop and grow in electronic space, or 'cyberspace'. Authors such as Benedikt Meyrowitz and Mitchell have theorised about the nature of electronic space whilst Lefebvre, Popper, Hakim Bey (aka Lambom Wilson) and Kuhn have theorised more generally about the nature of space. Extending this tradition and the works of these authors, this paper presents a language based perspective on the nature of electronic spaces. Behaviour in cyberspace is based on and regulated by hardware, software tools and interfaces. A definition of electronic space cannot be given beyond its linguistic characteristics, which underlie and sustain it. The author believes that the more users and developers understand the relationship between language and cyberspace, the more they will be able to use specific metaphors for dwelling and inhabiting it. In particular, MUDs/MQQs and the Web are interesting places for testing and observing social behaviours and dynamics~

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