Bringing back the human dimension : sketching in virtual space

Computer graphics technology has made powerful new tools available to designers. Designers are able to create, manipulate and control form and shape with unprecedented ease and speed. This process however, imposes a high level of coding and decoding on the designer. Virtual reality (VR) can reduce this mental load by going beyond the modeling of space to actually simulating its experience. Unfortunately, VR is mainly thought of as being exclusively immersive and as such requiring the power of high speed computers and sophisticated peripherals that put it out of reach for most designers. Researchers at the École de design industriel (EDIN) of the Université de Montréal are exploring non-immersive VR and its potential in design practice and education. The experimental inclusion of non-immersive VR in an entry level computer graphics course given to first year industrial design students suggests that this technology can be effectively used in both practice and education as a concept modeling tool. With the help and collaboration of the Virtus Corporation, two three hour non-immersive VR components were added to the course to help students develop spatial perception skills. Following each component, they were given an exercise to confirm their understanding of the subject. The first exercise aimed at understanding VR space and acquiring navigation skills. By exploring a "forest" of cubes arranged in a regular 3D grid pattern, three hidden « treasures » were to be discovered and tagged. The second involved modeling the computer laboratory. A virtual mannequin was provided as the starting point around which the student modeled a chair, table and computer. The scene was progressively built up from the size of the human figure much the same way an artist intuitively sketches a scene by proportionally scaling objects in relation to a given reference. The initial results were judged very positive by both investigators and students. Further experiments are under way to scientifically measure the comparative effectiveness of non-immersive VR as a modeling tool in the initial stages of concept development. Designers can call on a wide range of traditional digital and physical tools for the representation of 3D objects. The traditional digital tools are CAD (Computer Aided Design) programs. Among these are 2D drawing, image processing, rendering and animation packages. An important aspect of these tools is their interface which has evolved greatly over the years, becoming gradually more and more friendly. Among the non-computer tools traditionally used by designers are plans, perspectives, physical models and freehand sketching. This last item constitutes the most popular and easiest to use. It has the potential to form a direct link between the designer’s intentions and their graphic representation without the encumbrance of the abstract commands of a software interface and requiring minimally a pencil and paper. Through a series of almost instantaneous movements and traces, the designer positions objects, removes walls, extrudes or extends forms just by moving and erasing lines. As quoted by Lebahar (LEBAHAR, J. C.; 1983) « this practice of graphic simulation gives the designers the power to transform the environment in his mind before it reaches physical reality ». The problems with traditional modeling tools The problem with most CAD applications stems from the way they have been adapted to the digital realm by simply imitating the same tasks done previously by hand and reproducing them by computer. Initially, CAD applications were referred to as Computer Aided Drawing or Drafting, leaving aside the treatment of 3D