An overview of virtual reality within industrial design education

Purpose With the release of headsets such as HTC Vive and Oculus Rift in 2016, fully immersive virtual reality (VR) technology has become available for industrial designers to represent and communicate design ideas. However, how this development will affect industrial design education practice is not clear enough yet. The purpose of this study is to reveal and discuss the current status of using VR in industrial design education and potentials of it. Design/methodology/approach In the first part of the study, the use of computer technology in industrial design education and how VR can be positioned in the existing system is discussed by the acceptance of “design” as “representation”. In the second part, the literature review carried out to unveil and analyse the efforts for using VR in industrial design practice and education is presented. The results of the review are interpreted together with the design process in industrial design education. Findings VR has the potential for changing the operating ways of not only sketching, visualising, modelling, prototyping, presenting, demonstrating and evaluating design ideas, but also getting inspiration and collaborating in industrial design education. However, it is first necessary to solve the issue of how it will be integrated into industrial design education. Originality/value This paper presents the preliminary presumptions regarding the integration of VR into industrial design education that can contribute to future studies.