The role of prop-based virtual reality storytelling in user-centered product conceptual design

It has been proven that storytelling (ST) can support the empathy stage of user-centered product conceptual design (UCPCD), and the significance of combining tangible interactive props with immersive virtual environment ST has been proven, few researchers have explored the role of prop-based virtual reality ST (VR&P-ST) in UCPCD process in empirical research. This study aims to explore the role of VR&P-ST in UCPCD grammar based on perspective of “computing with things” and explore the value of it by introducing the concept of “rhetoric” and the framework of “epistemic objects”. Specifically, this study provides VR&P-ST experience for designers through VR passive haptics, and proposes ten hypotheses, including comparing the performance of designers using traditional ST and VR&P-ST for conceptual design, and their relationship with designers' emotions. It also includes the relevance of designers’ emotions and the three roles of conveying understanding, demonstrating value and stimulating criticism. Through data analysis, nine hypotheses were accepted and one hypothesis was rejected, and this study interpreted this result accordingly. This study provides a new solution in the field of empathic methods of UCPCD. Secondly, this study verifies that VR&P-ST can improve the fidelity and historical perception of conceptual design objects and neutralize ambiguity. These three characteristics make VR&P-ST has a positive impact on the designer's investment, which in turn improves the designer's evaluation and experience of the design process to a certain extent, but it still has limitations.