Exploring Virtual Collaboration Platforms for Product Design Courses: A Preliminary Evaluation Study

This study provides a preliminary evaluation of virtual collaboration platforms in product design courses, specifically focusing on the standard processes in industrial design, such as product and model creation. Typically, students present their individual model assignments to the instructor, but in this study, presentations and discussions were conducted entirely using VR (Virtual Reality) headsets, enabling simultaneous teaching and discussion between instructors and students at different locations. The research involved user task observation and assessment of 13 virtual collaboration platforms available on the market, summarizing the necessary features and user requirements for these platforms. Additionally, the study evaluated the mood index of users during the pre-, mid-, and post-stages of model presentation, finding that the fluency of platform operation impacts user emotions. This research offers initial insights and evaluations for the application of virtual reality in remote teaching and discussion in product design education.