Seeing things virtually – The Hindu

In India, design education has kept its distance from using and applying technology. However, with the pandemic forcing education institutions to move online, they have had to create an environment that fosters its growth. This is where Virtual Reality comes into play. It offers a a robust, future-ready plug in for design education and enables a skill-intensive curriculum.

Design education has followed a learning system that is backed by physical modelling, in-person design discussions and presentations sheets mounted onto walls. Students are often taken to real sites to absorb and learn from their surroundings to reinforce classroom learning. Due to the current pandemic, all these elements have been replaced with virtual communication platforms that offer very little more than disrupted and tedious design discussions.

Bridge a gap

Immersive technology offers great potential to bridge this gap. Immersive technology enhances design understanding by allowing students to experience their creations virtually. By allowing for real-time and true-to-scale modifications and iterations, immersive technology also offers relief from tedious design processes.

This allows students to explore the realm of design freely. Various collaborative solutions also allow students to be guided by faculty through these explorations or even collaborate among themselves for group assignments.

Technological tools have become a dominant part of design due to their enhanced efficiency and ease they of use.

However, design education trains students to be profound thinkers but without the knowledge of using technology. As a result, they are often unable to put across their ideas effectively. The adoption of technologies like Virtual Reality into the curriculum is a step creates a better understanding of immersive technology and encourages students to analyse its significance in professional practice. Given the lack of access to construction sites or practising experts, the use of tools like digital twins will help students understand trends in the industry.

Obsolete systems and curriculums have led to loss of relevance, low employability and an under-skilled workforce. The use of immersive and collaborative technology in the classroom will not only help redefine both the pedagogy and the teaching methodology but also help in making the students digitally skilled and ready to revolutionise the industry.

The writer is co-creator, Trezi

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Seeing things virtually - The Hindu