Vol. 17 / 2022 – International Conference on Virtual Learning
Experiment My Shape. E-learning in 3D Virtual Environments for Design and Architecture
Livia STEFAN, Mihaela MOTAIANU, Dragos GHEORGHIU
The period of the Covid pandemic has posed a significant challenge to education in visual arts, such as interior design or architecture, where subjects such as "spatial organisation" and the shape of objects are not well suited for online discussions. The solution that the present multidisciplinary team found during its research work was to immerse teachers and students under the form of digital avatars in a 3D virtual environment, designed according to a research theme, e.g. Early Modernism Design. Within the virtual space a lesson can be taught about the 3D real shape of the historical objects, like the Bauhaus furniture. The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) was implemented on the Mozilla Hubs 3D online platform and was named "Experiment my shape!". The 3D models of the pieces of furniture were imported from Sketchfab, one of the most used online libraries of 3D models. After experimenting with this virtual environment for online teaching at the Interior Design MA level of the National University of Arts Bucharest, teachers and students recognized its pedagogical efficiency and recommended it as an effective e-learning tool for students in Design and Architecture.
Keywords:
Virtual Learning Environment (VLE),
interior design,
Mozilla Hubs,
3D models,
visual perception
CITE THIS PAPER AS:
Livia STEFAN,
Mihaela MOTAIANU,
Dragos GHEORGHIU,
"Experiment My Shape. E-learning in 3D Virtual Environments for Design and Architecture",
International Conference on Virtual Learning,
ISSN 2971-9291, ISSN-L 1844-8933,
vol. 17,
pp. 145-154,
2022.
https://doi.org/10.58503/icvl-v17y202212