Reimagine Design Education: Generative Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality in a Lighting Design Classroom

Generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) and virtual reality (VR) bring new possibilities to design classrooms. However, whether such possibilities yield positive impacts depends on how and when the two technologies are integrated to design pedagogies. Unfortunately, existing literature lacks a clear roadmap and offers mostly self-reported data, limiting its practical implications. This study examined the learning experience of 17 students in a Gen AI-VR-integrated lighting design classroom in terms of creativity and interest, featuring a customized sequence of Gen AI for ideation and VR for revision to promote lateral and vertical thinking, as defined by Goel’s design problem space. Via the Creative Product Semantic Scale (CPSS) and the Student Course Engagement Questionnaire (SCEQ) with personal interest items, the author assessed the custom luminaires students created through the design process of using Midjourney, a Gen AI text-to-image generator, and Gravity Sketch, a VR modeling platform run on Meta Quest 2 headsets. Paired t -tests of CPSS results compared Gen AI and VR stages indicated significantly higher resolution and style of Midjourney concepts, with a marginal difference in novelty. Students also reported high engagement with the AI-VR learning experience via SCEQ and interest items. The author further discussed empirical insights from this study that benefit architecture and interior design educators interested in integrating Gen AI and VR into their curriculum.