Spatial Computing (SC), the use of technology to blur the boundaries between physical and digital into an efficient, intuitive, high performance set of tools, holds huge promise for engineering design. With dramatic and accelerating industry prominence but little research in the design field, there is a need to generalize and frame SC for design. This paper contributes an operational framework for Spatial Engineering (SE) systems highlighting the roles of physical and digital users, objects, environments, and data, and five capabilities required for implementation. It then identifies value propositions for SE evidenced from review of the design field, including design activities in which value is generated. Finally, it presents research opportunities centered on good practice, system interaction and technology, and balancing overhead with the value that these systems provide.

Mixed reality prototypes are used for applications like design, analysis, and training. They combine high-fidelity overlays on low-fidelity tangible prototypes, giving users physical interactions in virtual environments. Suitable virtual environments are crucial in taking full advantage of these prototypes. However, there is a lack of guidance in the literature on choosing environment reconstruction methods for various applications. The rapid advancements in this area necessitate the characterisation of the reconstruction methods. This paper thus presents a novel knowledge framework for mapping the reconstruction methods with the requirements of MR prototype applications. The aim of the proposed framework is to help designers and engineers make informed decisions. The effectiveness of the framework has been illustrated using five reconstruction methods and testing via four case studies.

Virtual reality (VR) based product evaluation is a growing area of research, but has not yet been studied in the context of design education. In this study, participants evaluated four pairs of product design student models in physical and VR form using a custom VR application. The models included a variety of product types and a variety of prototyping materials. Participants rated the physical and VR models using a rubric adapted from a study of design student prototyping. Significant differences were found in VR versus physical ratings of some model evaluation categories, but only for certain products. The majority of participants preferred the physical model evaluation over the VR evaluation. Our findings suggest that VR product evaluation may be suitable for use in design education contexts, especially when budget or time for physical prototyping is limited.

The transition to Industry 5.0 (I5.0) marks a shift toward human-centric, sustainable, and resilient manufacturing, leveraging technologies like collaborative robots (cobots) and AR/VR to enhance inclusivity, empowerment, and safety. This study investigates how Learning Factories (LFs) can effectively convey I5.0 principles to students and professionals. A simulated production line using AR/VR allowed participants to interact with virtual cobots, assessing key pillars of safety, inclusivity, and empowerment. A survey was used to assess the impact of this immersive environment on participants' perceptions and unconscious reactions. The findings demonstrate LFs' potential to prepare a workforce that integrates human creativity with technological innovation.

Design activities rely on external representations to offload cognitive effort and communicate ideas. These representations, ranging from sketches to virtual reality (VR), influence cognitive processes and perceptual outcomes. This study investigates the impact of different media representations on brain activity by comparing neural responses to design representations in VR and desktop monitor conditions. Utilizing brain network analyses derived from EEG signals in alpha, beta, gamma, and theta bands, results demonstrate that VR elicits greater cognitive integration and sensory engagement. These patterns suggest that VR facilitates holistic evaluations, while desktop representations support precision-focused tasks. These findings provide actionable guidance for optimizing design media selection based on cognitive objectives and contribute to the emerging design neurocognition field.

Virtual Reality (VR) has garnered significant attention as a potential ‘empathy machine’ for its ability to simulate firsthand experiences of others’ perspectives. However, recent research reveals conflicting evidence regarding VR’s effectiveness in fostering empathy, with outcomes ranging from strong positive effects to complete ineffectiveness. By analyzing both subjective experiences and objective measures, this study aims to elucidate the relationship between VR design and human empathy, addressing three prevalent perspectives on the field’s inconsistencies: flawed mechanisms, ineffective design, and mismatched methodology. The findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of empathic VR and provide practical implications for designing effective VR-based empathy interventions in engineering contexts.

Gracia de Luna conducted experiments with an HMD virtual environment in which human subjects were presented with surprise distractions. His collected data for head, dominant hand, and non-dominant hand included 6 DOF human subject trajectories. This paper examines this data from 57 human subject responses to those surprise virtual environment distractions using statistical trajectory clustering algorithms. The data is organized and processed with a Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) algorithm and then analyzed using the Density Based Spatial Clustering (DBSCAN) algorithm. The K-means method was used to determine the appropriate number of clusters. Chi Squared goodness of fit was used to determine statistical significance. For five of the data sets, a p value of less than 0.05 was found. These five data sets were found to have a limited relationship to the measured variables.

VR sketching tools have matured to a practical level, enabling use across various 3D design disciplines. Studies into VR sketching in design report beneficial affordances but are based on brief testing of tools in simulated tasks. Consequently, there is a knowledge deficit in understanding how to effectively integrate VR sketching into design projects. We address this gap with a case study on the sustained use of VR sketching in 10 automotive concept design projects over 10 months. In analysing designers’ logbooks, which captured design development, and post-study reflections, we show how the affordances of VR sketching outlined in literature manifest in practice. Specifically, we show how and when designers can exploit the precedence of 3D geometry embodied in VR sketches to advance the design process in terms of several dimensions of design fidelity. We highlight where process advantages are realised through (1) increased spatial fidelity, reducing the time required to iterate 2D sketches, (2) operational fidelity supporting dynamic testing of concept functionality via animation and (3) environmental fidelity supporting contextualising components and storytelling. As such, our findings highlight how and when practitioners can realise the comparative benefits of VR sketching alongside traditional sketching and 3d modelling during the concept design process.

Accessibility at the Sterkfontein Caves UNESCO World Heritage Site limits public and scientific engagement. The authors digitally visualised part of the cave using laser scans and photogrammetry, geospatially integrating the digital cave and fossil datasets. This enables broader access for learners, educators and scientists and enhances scientific outreach potential.

The UK’s Health and Care Act (2022; paused until 2025) includes a globally novel ban on paid-for online advertising of food and beverage products high in saturated fat, salt and sugar (HFSS), to address growing concerns about the scale of digital marketing and its impact in particular on children’s food and beverage preferences, purchases and consumption. This study aimed to understand the potential impact of the novel ban (as proposed in 2020) on specified forms of online HFSS advertising, through the lens of interdisciplinary expertise. We conducted semi-structured interviews via videoconference with eight purposively selected UK and global digital marketing, food and privacy experts. We identified deductive and inductive themes addressing the policy’s scope, design, implementation, monitoring and enforcement through iterative, consensual thematic analyses. Experts felt this novel ‘breakthrough’ policy has potential to substantially impact global marketing by establishing the principle of no HFSS advertising online to consumers of all ages, but they also identified substantive limitations that could potentially render it ‘entirely ineffective’, for example, the exclusion of common forms of digital marketing, especially brand marketing and marketing integrated within entertainment content; virtual/augmented reality, and ‘advertainment’ as particularly likely spaces for rapid growth of digital food marketing; and technical digital media issues that raise significant barriers to effective monitoring and compliance. Experts recommended well-defined regulations with strong enforcement mechanisms. These findings contribute insights for effective design and implementation of global initiatives to limit online HFSS food marketing, including the need for government regulations in place of voluntary industry restrictions.

The chemistry of combining the simulation hypothesis (which many believe to be a modern variation of skepticism) and manipulation arguments will be explored for the first time in this paper. I argue: If we take the possibility that we are now in a simulation seriously enough, then contrary to a common intuition, manipulation very likely does not undermine moral responsibility. To this goal, I first defend the structural isomorphism between simulation and manipulation: Provided such isomorphism, either both of them are compatible with moral responsibility, or none of them is. Later, I propose two kinds of reasons – i.e., the simulator-centric reason and the simulatee-centric reason – for why we have (genuine) moral responsibilities even if we are in a simulation. I close by addressing the significance of this paper in accounting for the relevance of artificial intelligence and its philosophy, in helping resolve a long-locked debate over free will, and in offering one reminder for moral responsibility specialists.

Virtual reality (VR) for mental health promotion remains understudied in low-income humanitarian settings. We examined the effectiveness of VR in reducing depression with urban refugee youth in Kampala, Uganda. This randomized controlled trial assessed VR alone (Arm 1), VR followed by Group Problem Management Plus (GPM+) (Arm 2) and a control group (Arm 3), with a peer-driven and convenience sample of refugee youth aged 16–25 in Kampala. The primary outcome, depression, was measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Secondary outcomes included: mental health literacy, mental health stigma, self-compassion, mental well-being and adaptive coping. Analyses were conducted at three time points (baseline, 8 weeks, 16 weeks) using generalized estimating equations. Among participants (n = 335, mean age: 20.77, standard deviation: 3.01; cisgender women: n = 158, cisgender men: n = 173, transgender women: n = 4), we found no depression reductions for Arms 1 or 2 at 16 weeks compared with Arm 3. At 16 weeks, mental health literacy was significantly higher for Arm 2 compared with Arm 3, and self-compassion was significantly higher in Arm 1 and Arm 2 compared with Arm 3. VR alongside GPM+ may benefit self-compassion and MHL among urban refugee youth in Kampala, but these interventions were not effective in reducing depression.

Charisma, often seen as an innate trait, is now understood as leader signaling grounded in values, symbols, and emotions, suggesting it can be developed through interventions. However, the method for cultivating charisma remains unclear. This study examines nonverbal communication strategies, highlighting the potential of body language, facial expressions, and vocal modulation to enhance charisma. Additionally, we introduce a virtual reality training program focused on these cues and explore the role of audience presence in boosting the intervention’s effectiveness by fostering self-awareness and behavioral adjustments. Results of a controlled randomized experiment with virtual reality-trained participants and online charisma assessors demonstrated significant improvements in observer-rated charisma from pre- to post-training compared to the control group. Moreover, training in front of a virtual audience yielded the expected outcomes. This study sheds light on charisma theory, its potential virtual reality training application, and its implications for leadership development.