ABSTRACT This study focuses on identifying the cognitive impact of virtual reality (VR) sketching on the concept generation phase of the design process. For an empirical study to analyse the cognitive influence of VR sketching, we conducted a pilot study for empirical research based on the protocol analysis of designers’ cognitive activities in VR sketching and compared the results with those of traditional sketching. Spatial inspection was a key behavioural factor of VR sketching when considering its high-frequency repetitive and continuous interactions with a designer's representation activities throughout the concept generation process. The cognitive impact of VR sketching revealed the following decisive features: extension of solution space, enhancement of idea transformation and inducement to a holistic design approach for concept generation. These findings provide insight for understanding the cognitive role of advanced digital design tools for future design research.

中文翻译：

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虚拟现实素描对设计师概念生成的认知影响

摘要本研究致力于确定虚拟现实（VR）草图对设计过程概念生成阶段的认知影响。为了对VR素描的认知影响进行实证研究，我们基于设计师在VR素描中的认知活动的协议分析进行了实证研究的先导研究，并将结果与​​传统素描进行了比较。在考虑VR草图在整个概念生成过程中与设计师的代表活动进行高频重复和连续交互时，空间检查是VR草图绘制的关键行为因素。VR草绘的认知影响揭示了以下决定性特征：解空间的扩展，增强对概念转换和诱导的整体设计方法，以进行概念生成。这些发现为理解高级数字设计工具对未来设计研究的认知作用提供了见识。