#1180: Integrating Augmented Reality and Product Design in Makerspaces

This study aims to explore the affordances of augmented reality technologies (AR) to facilitate studentsʼ product design processes in a business course. We analyze the affordances of AR in the context of a product design activity in an undergraduate classroom. The course is held in a Makerspace lab at a university campus, and it requires students to conceptualize, design, prototype, manufacture, and market new products by using 3D computer-aided design (CAD) software and 3D printing. Our study illuminates that although CAD allows students to visualize and manipulate digitally manufactured 3D objects on a 2D computer monitor surface, it does not allow them to visualize and manipulate those 3D objects in 3D space. However, AR does afford visualization and manipulation of digitally manufactured 3D objects in 3D space which is why we investigated how do interactions with 3D models in AR impact product design processes for students.