Virtual reality (VR) technologies in education of industrial design

Abstract

Design is an art and art is a design. Today, all industrial products are the result of a design process. Industrial design is a multi-disciplinary field of study, which has a goal to create and produce new objects and it focuses on designing of products by using knowledge related with applied science as well as applied arts and various engineering disciplines. Academic programs related to industrial design focus on achieving the proper balance between practicality and aesthetic pleasure. Courses may include graphic and industrial design basics, manufacturing, modelling and visualization, environmental and human interaction in design. Computer aided design software are strongly emphasized. Students constantly observe, model and test their creations. They investigate the optimal ways to design virtually any type of products, including computer interfaces, appliances, furniture, transportation and recreational items. The developments of new interactive technologies have inevitably affected to education of design and art in recent years. VR is an interdisciplinary emerging high technology. VR interfaces, interaction techniques, and devices have been improved greatly in order to provide more natural and obvious modes of interaction and motivational elements and it is an integrated technology combining; 3D graphics, human-computer interaction, sensor, simulation, display, artificial intelligence and network parallel processing. This study presents notable VR systems have been developed for education and the methods of design, such as modelling and visualization.Keywords: industrial design, interactive technologies, modelling and visualization, environmental and human interaction, virtual reality