Comparing physical and virtual reality product models in industrial design education

Virtual reality (VR) based product evaluation is a growing area of research, but has not yet been studied in the context of design education. In this study, participants evaluated four pairs of product design student models in physical and VR form using a custom VR application. The models included a variety of product types and a variety of prototyping materials. Participants rated the physical and VR models using a rubric adapted from a study of design student prototyping. Significant differences were found in VR versus physical ratings of some model evaluation categories, but only for certain products. The majority of participants preferred the physical model evaluation over the VR evaluation. Our findings suggest that VR product evaluation may be suitable for use in design education contexts, especially when budget or time for physical prototyping is limited.