Abstract
In design education, immersive virtual reality (VR) has grown as a visualization and interaction tool. Nonetheless, little research has been done on how individuals self-perception within VR affects their performance. This self-awareness is carried out using avatars that depict the virtual body through multiple points of view. This article assessed three different conditions of virtual body within a design exercise to better understand how these affected idea generations and spatial skills. To do so, an embodiment-cognition framework to evaluate the influence of the virtual body in immersive VR environments was developed. The designed theoretical framework relies on the concept of embodiment and its relevance to situated cognition. Research has supported how cognition connects the mind and body and the relevance of the individual's interaction with its surroundings to make it meaningful. Likewise, more immersive environments can increase the sensation of presence in VR, allowing individuals to behave more naturally. Also, through the connection with the surroundings, individuals liberate cognitive load, allowing them to relocate cognitive efforts in developing knowledge. General findings support how the use of a more embodied virtual body can elicit higher levels of presence but also increase cognitive load which can ultimately hinder cognition. However, VR interactions aided participants to develop spatial skills and allowed idea generation. Furthermore, the framework proposed can be applied to assess students' cognitive processes beyond the discipline’s boundaries.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahn, S. J. G., Bailenson, J. N., & Park, D. (2014). Short-and long-term effects of embodied experiences in immersive virtual environments on environmental locus of control and behavior. Computers in Human Behavior, 39, 235–245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.07.025
Allen, A. D. (2010). Complex spatial skills: The link between visualization and creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 22(3), 241–249. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2010.503530
Anderson, M. L. (2003). Embodied cognition: A field guide. Artificial Intelligence, 149(1), 91–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0004-3702(03)00054-7
Antonenko, P. D. (2015). The instrumental value of conceptual frameworks in educational technology research. Educational Technology Research and Development, 63(1), 53–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-014-9363-4
Baer, J. (2010). Is creativity domain specific? In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 321–341). Cambridge University Press.
Banakou, D., Hanumanthu, P. D., & Slater, M. (2016). Virtual embodiment of white people in a black virtual body leads to a sustained reduction in their implicit racial bias. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00601
Baren, J. V., & IJsselsteijn, W. (2004). Measuring presence: A guide to current measurement approaches. OmniPres Project IST-2001–39237.
Bilda, Z., & Demirkan, H. J. D. (2003). An insight on designers’ sketching activities in traditional versus digital media. Design Studies, 24(1), 27–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0142-694X(02)00032-7
Brown, A., & Green, T. (2016). Virtual reality: Low-cost tools and resources for the classroom. TechTrends, 60(5), 517–519. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-016-0102-z
Carruthers, G. (2008). Types of body representation and the sense of embodiment. Consciousness and Cognition, 17(4), 1302–1316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2008.02.001
Carruthers, G. (2013). Toward a cognitive model of the sense of embodiment in a (rubber) hand. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 20(3–4), 33–60.
Chandrasekera, T., Fernando, K., & Puig, L. (2019). Effect of degrees of freedom on the sense of presence generated by virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display systems: a case study on the use of VR in early design studios. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 47(4), 513–522. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047239518824862
Chandrasekera, T., & Yoon, S.-Y. (2015). Adopting augmented reality in design communication. The International Journal of Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design, 9(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.18848/2325-1662/CGP/v09i01/38384
Cheung, K. L., Tunik, E., Adamovich, S. V., & Boyd, L. A. (2014). Neuroplasticity and virtual reality. In Virtual Reality for Physical and Motor Rehabilitation (pp. 5–24). Springer.
Cho, J. Y. (2017). An investigation of design studio performance in relation to creativity, spatial ability, and visual cognitive style. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 23, 67–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2016.11.006
Christiaans, H. H. (2002). Creativity as a design criterion. Communication Research Journal, 14(1), 41–54. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326934CRJ1401_4
Clark, A. (1998). Being there: Putting brain, body, and world together again. MIT Press.
Coco-Martin, M. B., Piñero, D. P., Leal-Vega, L., Hernández-Rodríguez, C. J., Adiego, J., Molina-Martín, A., de Fez, D., & Arenillas, J. F. (2020). The potential of virtual reality for inducing neuroplasticity in children with amblyopia. Journal of Ophthalmology. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/7067846
Cohen, J. (2013). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Routledge.
Cross, N. (1990). The nature and nurture of design ability. Design Studies, 11(3), 127–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/0142-694X(90)90002-T
Csikszentmihalyi, M., Abuhamdeh, S., & Nakamura, J. (2014). Flow. In Flow and the foundations of positive psychology (pp. 227–238). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9088-8_15
Dayan, E., & Cohen, L. G. (2011). Neuroplasticity subserving motor skill learning. Neuron, 72(3), 443–454. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2011.10.008
Demirkan, H., & Afacan, Y. (2012). Assessing creativity in design education: Analysis of creativity factors in the first-year design studio. Design Studies, 33(3), 262–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2011.11.005
DeSutter, D., & Stieff, M. (2017). Teaching students to think spatially through embodied actions: Design principles for learning environments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-016-0039-y
Döllinger, N., Wolf, E., Mal, D., Erdmannsdörfer, N., Botsch, M., Latoschik, M. E., & Wienrich, C. (2022). Virtual reality for mind and body: Does the sense of embodiment towards a virtual body affect physical body awareness?. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Extended Abstracts (pp. 1–8). https://doi.org/10.1145/3491101.3519613
Dourish, P. (2001). Where the action is. MIT Press.
Erdfelder, E., Faul, F., & Buchner, A. (1996). GPOWER: A general power analysis program. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 28(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03203630
Etemad-Sajadi, R. (2016). The impact of online real-time interactivity on patronage intention: The use of avatars. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 227–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.045
Galvan Debarba, H., Bovet, S., Salomon, R., Blanke, O., Herbelin, B., & Boulic, R. (2017). Characterizing first and third person viewpoints and their alternation for embodied interaction in virtual reality. PLoS ONE, 12(12), e0190109. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190109
Gericke, K., & Blessing, L. (2011). Comparisons of design methodologies and process models across domains: A literature review. In DS 68–1: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED 11), Impacting Society Through Engineering Design: Vol. 1. Design Processes, Lyngby/Copenhagen, Denmark, 15.-19.08.2011 (pp. 393–404).
Greeno, J. G., Collins, A. M., & Resnick, L. B. (1996). Cognition and learning. Handbook of Educational Psychology, 77, 15–46.
Hänsel, A., Lenggenhager, B., von Känel, R., Curatolo, M., & Blanke, O. (2011). Seeing and identifying with a virtual body decreases pain perception. European Journal of Pain, 15(8), 874–879. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpain.2011.03.013
Hart, S. G. (2006). NASA-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX); 20 years later. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 50, 904–908. https://doi.org/10.1177/154193120605000909
Hart, S. G., & Staveland, L. E. (1988). Development of NASA-TLX (Task Load Index): Results of empirical and theoretical research. Advances in Psychology, 52, 139–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-4115(08)62386-9
Henning, P. H. (2004). Everyday cognition and situated learning. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology: A project of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (pp. 829–861). Routledge.
Hernandez, C. R. B. (2006). Thinking parametric design: Introducing parametric Gaudi. Design Studies, 27(3), 309–324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2005.11.006
Herrera, F., Bailenson, J., Weisz, E., Ogle, E., & Zaki, J. (2018). Building long-term empathy: A large-scale comparison of traditional and virtual reality perspective-taking. PLoS ONE, 13(10), e0204494. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204494
Hilditch, D. J. (1997). At the heart of the world: Merleau-Ponty and the existential phenomenology of embodied and embedded intelligence in everyday coping (Publication No. 304247150) [Doctoral dissertation, Washington University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. http://argo.library.okstate.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/304247150?accountid=4117
Hopfenblatt, J., & Balakrishnan, B. (2018). The "Nine-Square Grid" revisited: 9-cube VR—An exploratory virtual reality instruction tool for foundation studios. In T. Fukuda, W. Huang, P. Janssen, K. Crolla, & S. Alhadidi (Eds.), Learning, adapting and prototyping—Proceedings of the 23rd annual conference of the Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (Vol. 1, pp. 463–471). http://papers.cumincad.org/cgi-bin/works/Show?caadria2018_066
Hu, X., & Georgiev, G. (2020). Opportunities with uncertainties: The outlook of virtual reality in the early stages of design. In Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Design Creativity (ICDC 2020) (pp. 215–222). https://doi.org/10.35199/ICDC.2020.27
Ibrahim, R., & Rahimian, F. P. (2010). Comparison of CAD and manual sketching tools for teaching architectural design. Automation in Construction, 19(8), 978–987. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2010.09.003
Jaynes, C., Seales, W. B., Calvert, K., Fei, Z., & Griffioen, J. (2003). The Metaverse: a networked collection of inexpensive, self-configuring, immersive environments. In Proceedings of the workshop on Virtual environments 2003 (pp. 115–124). https://doi.org/10.1145/769953.769967
Johnson-Glenberg, M. C. (2018). Immersive VR and education: Embodied design principles that include gesture and hand controls. Frontiers in Robotics and A, I, 81. https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2018.00081
Kaufman, J. C., & Baer, J. (2004). Sure, I’m creative—but not in mathematics! Self-reported creativity in diverse domains. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 22(2), 143–155. https://doi.org/10.2190/26HQ-VHE8-GTLN-BJJM
Kenny, A. (1985). The philosophical writings of Descartes (Vol. 1). Cambridge University Press.
Kilteni, K., Groten, R., & Slater, M. (2012). The sense of embodiment in virtual reality. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 21(4), 373–387. https://doi.org/10.1162/PRES_a_00124
Kirsh, D., & Maglio, P. (1994). On distinguishing epistemic from pragmatic action. Cognitive Science, 18(4), 513–549. https://doi.org/10.1016/0364-0213(94)90007-8
Kosmas, P., Ioannou, A., & Retalis, S. (2018). Moving bodies to moving minds: A study of the use of motion-based games in special education. TechTrends, 62(6), 594–601. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-018-0294-5
Kosmas, P., Ioannou, A., & Zaphiris, P. (2019). Implementing embodied learning in the classroom: Effects on children’s memory and language skills. Educational Media International, 56(1), 59–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2018.1547948
Kwon, J.-H., Choi, H.-W., Lee, J.-I., & Chai, Y.-H. (2005). Free-hand stroke based NURBS surface for sketching and deforming 3D contents. In Y. S. Ho & H. J. Kim (Eds.), Advances in multimedia processing—PCM 2005. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Vol. 3767, pp. 315–326). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/11581772_28
Lee, K. M. (2004). Presence, explicated. Communication Theory, 14(1), 27–50. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2004.tb00302.x
Matamala-Gomez, M., Maselli, A., Malighetti, C., Realdon, O., Mantovani, F., & Riva, G. (2021). Virtual body ownership illusions for mental health: A narrative review. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 10(1), 139. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10010139
Meniru, K., Rivard, H., & Bédard, C. (2003). Specifications for computer-aided conceptual building design. Design Studies, 24(1), 51–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0142-694X(02)00009-1
Minsky, M. (1980). Telepresence. Omni, pp. 45–51.
Nagy-Kondor, R. (2017). Spatial ability: Measurement and development. In M. S. Khine (ed.), Visual-spatial ability in STEM education (pp. 35–58). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44385-0_3
Osimo, S. A., Pizarro, R., Spanlang, B., & Slater, M. (2015). Conversations between self and self as Sigmund Freud—A virtual body ownership paradigm for self counselling. Scientific Reports, 5(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep13899
Paas, F. G., & Van Merriënboer, J. J. (1994). Instructional control of cognitive load in the training of complex cognitive tasks. Educational Psychology Review, 6(4), 351–371. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02213420
Poulsen, S. B., & Thøgersen, U. (2011). Embodied design thinking: A phenomenological perspective. CoDesign, 7(1), 29–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/15710882.2011.563313
Rahimian, F. P., Ibrahim, R., Rahmat, R. W. B. O. K., Abdullah, M. T. B., Jaafar, M. S. B., & Hj. (2011). Mediating cognitive transformation with VR 3D sketching during conceptual architectural design process. ArchNet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, 5(1), 99–113.
Renkl, A., & Atkinson, R. K. (2003). Structuring the transition from example study to problem solving in cognitive skill acquisition: A cognitive load perspective. Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 15–22. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326985EP3801_3
Rubio-Tamayo, J. L., Gertrudix Barrio, M., & García García, F. (2017). Immersive environments and virtual reality: Systematic review and advances in communication, interaction and simulation. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 1(4), 21. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti1040021
Salamin, P., Thalmann, D., & Vexo, F. (2006). The benefits of third-person perspective in virtual and augmented reality? In VRST '06: Proceedings of the ACM symposium on virtual reality software and technology (pp. 27–30). https://doi.org/10.1145/1180495.1180502
Schmidt, M., Benzing, V., Wallman-Jones, A., Mavilidi, M. F., Lubans, D. R., & Paas, F. (2019). Embodied learning in the classroom: Effects on primary school children’s attention and foreign language vocabulary learning. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 43, 45–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.12.017
Serino, S., Pedroli, E., Keizer, A., Triberti, S., Dakanalis, A., Pallavicini, F., Chirico, A., & Riva, G. (2016). Virtual reality body swapping: A tool for modifying the allocentric memory of the body. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 19(2), 127–133. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2015.0229
Shih, Y. T., Sher, W. D., & Taylor, M. (2017). Using suitable design media appropriately: Understanding how designers interact with sketching and CAD modelling in design processes. Design Studies, 53, 47–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2017.06.005
Sinnamon, C., & Miller, E. (2022). Architectural concept design process impacted by body and movement. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 32(2), 1079–1102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-020-09636-4
Sitanggang, N., Luthan, P., & Dwiyanto, F. (2020). The effect of Google SketchUp and need for achievement on the students’ learning achievement of building interior design. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), 15(15), 4–19.
Slater, M., Spanlang, B., & Corominas, D. (2010a). Simulating virtual environments within virtual environments as the basis for a psychophysics of presence. ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), 29(4), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1145/1778765.1778829
Slater, M., Spanlang, B., Sanchez-Vives, M. V., & Blanke, O. (2010b). First person experience of body transfer in virtual reality. PLoS ONE, 5(5), e10564. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0010564
Slater, M., & Wilbur, S. (1997). A framework for immersive virtual environments (FIVE): Speculations on the role of presence in virtual environments. Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments, 6(6), 603–616. https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.603
Stones, C., & Cassidy, T. (2007). Comparing synthesis strategies of novice graphic designers using digital and traditional design tools. Design Studies, 28(1), 59–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2006.09.001
Stratos, A., Loukas, R., Dimitris, M., Konstantinos, G., Dimitris, M., & George, C. (2016). A virtual reality application to attract young talents to manufacturing. Procedia CIRP, 57, 134–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2016.11.024
Sweller, J. (2010). Cognitive load theory: Recent theoretical advances. In J. L. Plass, R. Moreno, & R. Brünken (Eds.), Cognitive load theory (pp. 29–47). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511844744.004
Sweller, J. (2011). Cognitive load theory. In J. P. Mestre & B. H. Ross (Eds.), Psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 55, pp. 37–76). Academic Press.
Sweller, J. (1994). Cognitive load theory, learning difficulty, and instructional design. Learning and Instruction, 4(4), 295–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/0959-4752(94)90003-5
Sweller, J., Van Merriënboer, J. J., & Paas, F. G. (1998). Cognitive architecture and instructional design. Educational Psychology Review, 10(3), 251–296. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022193728205
Taylor, C. (1995). Philosophical arguments. Harvard University Press.
Tran, T., Foucault, G., & Pinquie, R. (2021). Benchmarking of 3D modelling in virtual reality. In CAD'21 (pp. 324–328). CAD Solutions LLC. https://doi.org/10.14733/cadconfP.2021.324-328
Vandenberg, S. G., & Kuse, A. R. (1978). Mental rotations, a group test of three-dimensional spatial visualization. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 47(2), 599–604. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1978.47.2.599
Verbeek, P. P. (2005). What things do: Philosophical reflections on technology, agency, and design. Penn State Press.
Wilson, M. (2002). Six views of embodied cognition. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 9(4), 625–636. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196322
Winograd, T., & Flores, F. F. (1986). Understanding computers and cognition: A new foundation for design. Intellect Books.
Witmer, B. G., & Singer, M. J. (1998). Measuring presence in virtual environments: A presence questionnaire. Presence, 7(3), 225–240. https://doi.org/10.1162/105474698565686
Yu, R., Gero, J. S., Ikeda, Y., Herr, C. M., Holzer, D., Kaijima, S., & Schnabel, A. (2015). An empirical foundation for design patterns in parametric design. In Proceedings of the 20th International Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA), Daegu, South Korea, May (pp. 20–23). https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.2015.551
Zacks, J. M., Mires, J., Tversky, B., & Hazeltine, E. (2000). Mental spatial transformations of objects and perspective. Spatial Cognition and Computation, 2(4), 315–332. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015584100204
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Mejia-Puig, L., Chandrasekera, T. The virtual body in a design exercise: a conceptual framework for embodied cognition. Int J Technol Des Educ 33, 1861–1882 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-022-09793-8
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-022-09793-8