Using virtual reality to improve visual recognition skills of first year architecture students: A comparative study

The use of virtual reality (VR) technologies is getting widespread throughout the world in the last years. Architecture as a prominent discipline in using digital technologies has a lot to promise about the use of VR in different areas of the profession. It can be used as a design or a representation instrument, as well as a tool in the construction processes. Accordingly, as architectural education needs to keep itself up-to-date about new technologies, the implementation of VR technologies into the architecture curriculum is supposed to be a subject to be studied by researchers working in the educational domain of architecture. This paper presents a comparative study on the use of VR technologies in the first year of architectural education to improve the visual and spatial recognition skills of students. The findings of the study indicate that VR technologies can be beneficial in various aspects like the perception of certain physical characteristics of a model, and students’ enthusiasm to participate in the design studio courses.