Tung Yu-Hsin, Chang Chun-Yen
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
PLoS One. 2024 Mar 11;19(3):e0294451. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294451. eCollection 2024.
Designers rely on sketching to visualize and refine their initial ideas, and virtual reality (VR) tools now facilitate sketching in immersive 3D environments. However, little research has been conducted on the differences in the visual and spatial processes involved in 3D versus 2D sketching and their effects on cognition. This study investigated potential differences in spatial and visual functions related to the use of 3D versus 2D sketching media by analyzing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. We recruited 20 healthy, right-handed students from the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture with at least three years of experience in freehand landscape drawing. Using an Oculus Quest VR headset controller and a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil, we tested participants individually with 3D and 2D sketching, respectively. When comparing 2D and 3D sketches, our fMRI results revealed significant differences in the activation of several brain regions, including the right middle temporal gyrus, both sides of the parietal lobe, and the left middle occipital gyrus. We also compared different sketching conditions, such as lines, geometrical objects (cube), and naturalistic objects (perspective view of a tree), and found significant differences in the spatial and visual recognition of brain areas that support visual recognition, composition, and spatial perception. This finding suggests that 3D sketching environments, such as VR, may activate more visual-spatial functions during sketching compared to 2D environments. The result highlights the potential of immersive sketching environments for design-related processes and spatial thinking.
设计师依靠草图来可视化和完善他们的初始想法，而虚拟现实（VR）工具现在有助于在沉浸式3D环境中进行草图绘制。然而，关于3D草图绘制与2D草图绘制所涉及的视觉和空间过程的差异及其对认知的影响，所做的研究很少。本研究通过分析功能磁共振成像（fMRI）数据，调查了与使用3D和2D草图绘制媒介相关的空间和视觉功能的潜在差异。我们从园艺与景观建筑系招募了20名健康的右利手学生，他们至少有三年的徒手景观绘画经验。我们分别使用Oculus Quest VR头戴式耳机控制器和配备Apple Pencil的12.9英寸iPad Pro对参与者进行3D和2D草图绘制测试。在比较2D和3D草图时，我们的fMRI结果显示，包括右颞中回、顶叶两侧和左枕中回在内的几个脑区的激活存在显著差异。我们还比较了不同的草图绘制条件，如线条、几何物体（立方体）和自然物体（树的透视图），并发现支持视觉识别、构图和空间感知的脑区在空间和视觉识别方面存在显著差异。这一发现表明，与2D环境相比，VR等3D草图绘制环境在草图绘制过程中可能会激活更多的视觉空间功能。该结果突出了沉浸式草图绘制环境在设计相关过程和空间思维方面的潜力。
