Empowering Studio Design Pedagogy Through Extended Reality Environment

In the design studio learning process, prototyping allows students to materialize their design concepts and test ideas in real-world settings. Prototyping is iterative and spiral, essential during the exploration and research phase when multiple options and frequent changes occur. Extended Reality (XR) technologies offer new possibilities for prototyping, enabling intuitive and realistic spatial relationships to convey design concepts. This study reviews the application of VR, MR, and AR in industrial design education and proposes a low-learning-curve VR/MR prototyping tool: Low-Fi Garage. This tool uses block-based components to avoid premature detail refinement, maintains gravity properties for realistic object placement, and features fixed grid units and automatic connection options. Objects come with built-in event, reaction, and output settings, eliminating the need for additional programming skills.