Virtual Reality Applications in Art Appreciation

Virtual Reality (VR) technique has been studied and applied in a variety of academic and industrial fields. Because the advancement of the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) are important to national developments, literature on VR educational applications has focused almost exclusively on the areas of STEM. However, to date, no systematic investigation has considered the possibility of utilizing VR in painting appreciation. This researcher reconstructed a modern painting into a VR environment and employed constructivism with the model of art appreciation to investigate the effects of applying the VR technique in appreciating the painting on student cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes. Participants in the study included 60 undergraduates in the Department of Computer Graphics Technology at Purdue University. Quantitative analysis methods were used to analyze these students' responses to worksheets of painting appreciation. The findings from the research shows that under the situation without lectures/instructions: (a) the students using VR modern painting have significantly lower learning outcomes in interpreting the painting than the students using traditional 2D modern painting; (b) the students using VR modern painting have significantly higher levels of Interest/Enjoyment in motivation than the students using traditional 2D modern painting; (c) there is no significant effect of the VR modern painting on the intensity of induced emotions. This study discusses the implications of these findings and the influences of using the VR modern painting on art appreciation. Furthermore, this study not only offers the insights into the application of using VR technique in appreciating the modern painting, but also provides the recommendations for future teaching and/or learning in relevant environments or areas. Suggestions are also listed for future quantitative studies on VR application in painting appreciation.