Immersive 2D versus 3D: how does the form of virtual reality inspirational stimuli affect conceptual design?

Abstract This study investigates a new form of inspirational stimuli deployed in virtual reality (VR) and utilizes them in conceptual design. Compared with prior research that directly embedded 2D inspirational materials in an immersive VR space (immersive 2D), we built completely stereoscopic inspirational stimuli therein (immersive 3D) and allowed designers to generate schemes that could interact with the content of immersive 3D. The impact of expanding the dimensionality was uncovered through a comparative experiment focusing on three aspects: semantic perception, design behaviour, and emotional response. The results showed that immersive 3D stimuli encouraged designers to perceive higher-level abstract semantics, increased the frequency and duration of their observation on inspirational stimuli and affective expression behaviours, and promoted more positive emotions, which all contributed to the novelty and feasibility of design outcomes.