Natural VR modeling: a viable alternative to freehand sketching for preliminary design?

The ideating phase of product design is critical, as decisions made here influence the rest of the product’s lifecycle. Usually, early preliminary designs in engineering are created with pen and paper, which are incompatible with the subsequent digital design process. In an effort to find a modeling...

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Main Authors: Jakob Harlan, Stefan Goetz, Sandro Wartzack
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2025-01-01
Series:Design Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2053470125000010/type/journal_article
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author Jakob Harlan
Stefan Goetz
Sandro Wartzack
author_facet Jakob Harlan
Stefan Goetz
Sandro Wartzack
author_sort Jakob Harlan
collection DOAJ
description The ideating phase of product design is critical, as decisions made here influence the rest of the product’s lifecycle. Usually, early preliminary designs in engineering are created with pen and paper, which are incompatible with the subsequent digital design process. In an effort to find a modeling tool for early designs that provides the creative flexibility of freehand sketching but also the further processability of digital models, this research investigates natural modeling in virtual reality (VR). To do so, a VR modeling method allowing the intuitive creation of preliminary designs as simplified computer-aided design (CAD) models is presented. The main contribution is the evaluation of this natural VR modeling method against freehand sketching in an extensive user study.
format Article
id doaj-art-cd40d051d4d74e41bfa81ac0f003dbe2
institution DOAJ
issn 2053-4701
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publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Cambridge University Press
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series Design Science
spelling doaj-art-cd40d051d4d74e41bfa81ac0f003dbe22025-08-20T02:54:29ZengCambridge University PressDesign Science2053-47012025-01-011110.1017/dsj.2025.1Natural VR modeling: a viable alternative to freehand sketching for preliminary design?Jakob Harlan0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4566-3460Stefan Goetz1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0326-9158Sandro Wartzack2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0244-5033Engineering Design, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, GermanyEngineering Design, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, GermanyEngineering Design, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, GermanyThe ideating phase of product design is critical, as decisions made here influence the rest of the product’s lifecycle. Usually, early preliminary designs in engineering are created with pen and paper, which are incompatible with the subsequent digital design process. In an effort to find a modeling tool for early designs that provides the creative flexibility of freehand sketching but also the further processability of digital models, this research investigates natural modeling in virtual reality (VR). To do so, a VR modeling method allowing the intuitive creation of preliminary designs as simplified computer-aided design (CAD) models is presented. The main contribution is the evaluation of this natural VR modeling method against freehand sketching in an extensive user study.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2053470125000010/type/journal_articleVirtual Reality (VR)Computer-Aided Design (CAD)Preliminary DesignEngineering DesignNatural User Interfaces
spellingShingle Jakob Harlan
Stefan Goetz
Sandro Wartzack
Natural VR modeling: a viable alternative to freehand sketching for preliminary design?
Design Science
Virtual Reality (VR)
Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
Preliminary Design
Engineering Design
Natural User Interfaces
title Natural VR modeling: a viable alternative to freehand sketching for preliminary design?
title_full Natural VR modeling: a viable alternative to freehand sketching for preliminary design?
title_fullStr Natural VR modeling: a viable alternative to freehand sketching for preliminary design?
title_full_unstemmed Natural VR modeling: a viable alternative to freehand sketching for preliminary design?
title_short Natural VR modeling: a viable alternative to freehand sketching for preliminary design?
title_sort natural vr modeling a viable alternative to freehand sketching for preliminary design
topic Virtual Reality (VR)
Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
Preliminary Design
Engineering Design
Natural User Interfaces
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2053470125000010/type/journal_article
work_keys_str_mv AT jakobharlan naturalvrmodelingaviablealternativetofreehandsketchingforpreliminarydesign
AT stefangoetz naturalvrmodelingaviablealternativetofreehandsketchingforpreliminarydesign
AT sandrowartzack naturalvrmodelingaviablealternativetofreehandsketchingforpreliminarydesign