Determining Consumer Preference Through an Interactive Virtual Reality Experience

该研究奖调查了一种正式且可重复的方法，通过虚拟现实（VR）环境揭示客户在产品的美学，人体工程学和易用性体验方面的偏好。该方法将使用连续的，基于视觉的联合分析扩展-传统上用于营销的方法-沉浸在VR环境中。消费者对美学、人体工程学和易用性的偏好将通过VR环境中的交互式调查得出。一系列的认知和互动的研究将预先确定的最佳环境，得出有意义的偏好功能。 还将研究约束的影响。 这项工作可以应用于各种物理产品;长途卡车仪表盘和驾驶舱的设计将证明其有效性。该技术和方法的目的是在设计过程的早期和整个过程中经常使用，而无需物理原型的成本，从而提高客户满意度，并希望提高产品的使用热情。该研究将利用和扩展与虚拟现实技术相关的功能，展示VR在设计过程中的新用途。这项研究将进一步的研究和能力的设计过程中，通过确定实用功能的美学，人体工程学和易用性的偏好在一个虚拟的环境中，是显着更接近真实的生活中的互动比以前的能力，并包括更多的情感方面的消费者偏好的决策建模。这项工作还将有助于互动的K-5推广工作，这些学生将学习VR和产品设计，然后虚拟体验和操纵他们的环境;目标是激发孩子们在年轻时对工程的兴趣。

This research award investigates a formal and repeatable approach to uncovering what customers prefer in terms of the aesthetic, ergonomic and ease of use experience of a product through a Virtual Reality (VR) environment. The approach will use a continuous, visual-based extension of conjoint analysis - a method traditionally used in marketing - immersed within a VR environment. Consumer preferences for aesthetics, ergonomics and ease of use will be derived through interactive surveys within the VR environment. A series of cognitive and interaction studies will be preformed to determine the best environment to derive meaningful preference functions. The effect of constraints will also be studied. The work can be applied to a variety of physical products; the design of a long-haul truck instrument panel and cockpit will demonstrate its effectiveness. The resulting technology and method is intended to be used early and often throughout the design process, without the cost of physical prototyping, thus increasing customer satisfaction and, hopefully, enthusiasm for use of the product.The research will utilize and expand the capabilities associated with Virtual Reality technology, demonstrating a new use of VR in the design process. This research will further the study and capabilities of the design process by determining utility functions of aesthetic, ergonomic and ease of use preferences within a virtual environment that is significantly closer to real life interaction than previous capabilities, and include more emotional aspects of consumer preference in decision modeling. This work will also contribute an interactive K-5 outreach effort where these students will learn about VR and product design, and then experience and manipulate their environment virtually; the goal is to excite children about engineering at a young age.