Virtual reality environment-based collaborative exploration of fashion design

ABSTRACT

Driven by rapid advances in digital technology, virtual reality environments (VREs) have emerged as a new collaborative design tool. In this study, we present an experimental investigation of cognitive characteristics of VRE-based collaborative conceptual exploration in fashion design. Eight graduate students participated in two empirical experiments in which they collaboratively developed design concepts using a VRE and an online teleconferencing environment (OTE). The collected data were analysed according to a coding scheme to investigate the cognitive patterns involved in the process of collaborative exploration. The results indicate that collaborative exploration via VRE elicited more external representation-related cognitive activity linked to conceptual evaluation and enhanced interaction with a given design tool. They also show that OTE-based collaborative exploration was associated with a conceptual cognitive process model with a sequential flow of steps, which did not produce specific joint environment-related changes. In contrast, the VRE-based approach induced a flexible mental flow of various cognitive behaviours. This research contributes to the theoretical and empirical understanding of VRE needed to develop a methodological framework for VRE-based fashion design collaboration and related education.

KEYWORDS:

• Collaborative exploration
• conceptual cognitive process
• design collaboration
• fashion design
• virtual reality environment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2020S1A5B5A16082911).