ABSTRACT
Virtual reality (VR) has sparked a new wave of revolution in the technology industry as gaming, films, social media, sports, medical science, shopping, travel, and education and training embrace the arrival of the “dreaming while awake” era. This research integrates the innovation theory and the product design theory for the establishment of an evaluation model of virtual reality system designs. We have established four principal dimensions and 23 criteria for virtual reality system designs. The four principal dimensions include functional attributes, new product attributes, product styling, and product attractiveness.
The questionnaire was distributed to 19 renowned experts of R&D managers, project managers, or top managers in VR industry in Taiwan. We used the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to analyze the evaluation model of virtual reality system designs to obtain the weight and rank of each dimension and the corresponding criteria. We established the priority ranking for design elements of virtual reality systems.
The results of the research show that among the four principal dimensions, the functional attributes are the first priority for design. The design priorities of the criteria for each of the four principal dimensions are as follows. (1) For functional attributes, it is the display technology. (2) For new product attributes, it is the compatibility. (3) For product styling, it is the product size. (4) For product attractiveness, it is the semantic attraction. The results of the research can be used as reference for future development strategies of virtual reality systems.
