Virtual reality as a design education: A Malaysian experience

Abstract

This paper presents our attempts on virtual reality curriculum development for the past four years as one of the multimedia-based degrees. It will give an overview, goals and outcomes of the virtual reality (VR) curriculum with varieties of virtual reality systems, interactions and design theories used at different level of studies. It also highlights issues related to designing virtual spaces and the approach used to suggest a good storytelling. This paper will also explore, report and demonstrate the use of non-immersive virtual reality system based on a study in a problem-based learning environment of a virtual reality majoring. Following early encouraging first round results this paper concludes that experiential design could be one of the effective approaches for a problem-based learning and richer content creation of virtual environment (VE) design. It also suggests that the presence of motions, different field of views, interactivities and stereoscopic visions are attributes of three-dimensional (3D) visualization that contribute to better understanding and designing virtual environments.