AR/VR TECHNOLOGICAL INTERVENTION IN DESIGN EDUCATION FOR PRODUCT VISUALIZATION

Abstract [English]

It is essential to study the inevitable impact of technology on teaching in design education, specifically the methods of concept visualization. The new AR/VR technologies may have the potential to revolutionize the way product visualization is taught in Design Schools. In Industrial designing, Sketching and manual color renderings have been considered the standard practice for initial concept generation for developing tangible three-dimensional products. For three-dimensional visualization, the CAD model of a selected few ideas are generated at later stages of product development. That may give a very close-to-real view of the product on a computer screen but with constraints that can be overcome only with an actual physical prototype. Incorporating AR and VR techniques with traditional sketching methods and prevailing CAD tools may leverage an individual’s learning experience of realizing ideas for products. The immersive experience of AR/VR tools may bring better engagement and a higher attention span to students. With a three-dimensional workspace, students can overcome the limitations of two-dimensional concept visualization. Interactive aspects of such technological tools bring better control benefits of color, orientation, size, and fast iteration in representing ideas. Live product experience will give students a closer view of their ideas with the final product at the early development stage. This paper investigates the benefits and challenges of adopting an AR/VR tool along with teaching conventional sketching methods for building the visualization skills of students. This study is an outcome of an elective course on Product visualization conducted as part of the Master of Design program at Avantika University.