Georgian College

With access to this technology at Georgian, graduates will be equipped to use VR for innovative design and presentations, setting them apart in their professional field. 29 GEORGIANVIEW 2024 PRINT EDITION NEW TECHNOLOGY Virtual reality amplifies creative thinking in Interior Design program Virtual reality (VR) is transforming the field of interior design, offering new ways for designers to conceive and interact with spaces. For the past year at Georgian, VR has been integrated into the design curriculum of the Honours Bachelor of Interior Design program, allowing future alumni to immerse themselves in virtual environments. This hands-on experience extends beyond traditional methods, fostering innovative ways of thinking and creating, says Tara O'Neil, a professor in the program. Incorporating this technology equips graduates of the program with a competitive edge in the workforce as it enables them to enter professional environments with a unique ability to visualize and modify spaces interactively and collaboratively. The advanced skill set prepares them to meet the industry's evolving demands where virtual tools are increasingly essential for efficient and innovative design execution. "Students can build a world," says Rob Theriault, Immersive Technology Manager, Centre for Teaching and Learning. "There's a blurred line between architectural technology and interior design in a sense that interior design degree students can build spaces, they can design the interiors of spaces. Obviously, their focus is on interior design, but they can redesign existing buildings from a three-dimensional (3D) perspective and allow a client to see what a rebuilt kitchen, for example, can look like in 3D. It's very different from 2D." Rob reached out to Andrea Vorstermans-Zado, Program Coordinator, about a year ago, after finding a design application that offered new possibilities he thought she would be interested in trying with interior design students. She asked him to attend a class and provide an experience for them. They were so impressed they decided to use the application in their fall 2023 curriculum. Currently, VR is used in classes to enhance collaboration, which emphasizes real-time interaction and design modification, promoting teamwork and shared creativity. Starting in fall 2024, VR will become integral to the core communications courses in the program in several ways. Students will learn about art and architecture, and virtually inhabit these spaces, gaining a deeper experiential understanding of historical contexts and design principles. This immersive approach will also enable students to prototype and refine their designs in real time, allowing for interactive walkthroughs that offer diverse perspectives and enhance understanding. "Looking ahead, VR will serve dual roles in interior design education as it can be used as an end and a means to an end," explains Tara. "As an end, it will allow students to create tangible artifacts – virtual models of buildings or spaces that others can explore, enhancing how designs are perceived and understood. As a means to an end, VR will revolutionize our conceptualization of space and place, broadening our cognitive frameworks and fostering creativity. This technology will not only facilitate the creation of innovative designs but will also unearth implicit knowledge, potentially leading to more profound educational impacts and a new frontier in design thinking."

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