Integrating Virtual and Physical Spaces for the Built Learning Environment

Renae Mantooth (North Carolina State University)
Payod Panda (North Carolina State University)

Virtual Reality (VR) has been proposed as a new computing platform that has led to a surge in attention and hype surrounding VR in the fields of education, entertainment, and gaming (Bellini et al., 2016; Blascovich & Bailenson, 2011; Greenlight & Roadtovr, 2016). VR is also suggested to help with cognition based on several cognitive and learning theories (Cognitive Load Theory: Sweller, Ayres, & Kalyuga, 2011; Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning: Mayer, 2014; Mayer, 2009). Therefore, researchers and organizations are investing significant resources in the creation of Computer-Based Learning Environments (CBLEs) for VR by applying standards that have traditionally been used on a desktop computer. This approach, however, does not consider the affordances of VR nor the influence the built environment has on the learner’s experience.

In terms of the built environment, VR has primarily been explored as a tool to replicate physical affordances within the design process of the physical built environment (Doering & Qazi, 2018; Pamungkas, Meytasari, & Trieddiantoro, 2018). There has also been some exploration in how properties of form in the physical world might inform the design of the virtual VR environment (Brett, 2016). However, neither of these two schools of thought—VR for architectural design processes and architectural spatiality in VR—considers how the two mediums should be integrated.

Because spatial navigation is an inherent part of VR, the VR experience is also inherently integrated into the physical environment (Craig & Georgieva, 2017). However, physical and virtual spaces also provide unique affordances for learners. It is important to consider how these unique affordances can be integrated to support each other to create environments that not only facilitate but also enhance learning. With social ecological model as a guiding framework, how can the physical environment adapt to the varying needs of a learner in immersive virtual reality?