Generative AI and augmented reality (AR) bridge theoretical knowledge with practical application to encourage deeper exploration and prepare students for future professional environments. If done properly, incorporating these technologies can greatly enhance creativity and spatial competencies.
Unlike virtual reality (VR), which immerses users in a fully digital environment, AR overlays digital elements on to the real world using devices such as tablets and smartphones. This allows students to interact with virtual models or data while still being grounded in their physical surroundings. It is particularly valuable in disciplines where spatial context matters.
This guide provides actionable advice on combining GenAI and AR with traditional teaching methods to foster creativity and practical skills development in creative disciplines such as architecture, industrial design, digital arts and communication.
Start early
Introduce AR and VR tools at the beginning of the course to familiarise students with them and highlight their value. We found that a brief demonstration session with AR headsets significantly increased student enthusiasm and reduced technological anxiety.
Blend traditional skills development with AI use
For subjects that require students to develop drawing and modelling skills, have students create initial design sketches or models manually to ensure they practise these skills. Then, introduce GenAI tools such as Midjourney, Leonardo AI and ChatGPT to help students explore new ideas based on their original concepts. Using AI at this stage broadens their creative horizons and introduces innovative perspectives, which are crucial in a rapidly evolving creative industry.
Provide step-by-step tutorials, including both written guides and video demonstrations, to illustrate how initial sketches can be effectively translated into AI-generated concepts. Offer example prompts to demonstrate diverse design possibilities and help students build confidence using GenAI.
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Use the iterative process to foster creative exploration
Encourage students to generate multiple AI-enhanced versions of their designs and prompt them to evaluate them critically. Conduct regular feedback sessions where students critique and discuss AI-generated iterations, emphasising the development of analytical and evaluative skills. Provide structured critique guidelines to ensure productive discussions, including prompts such as “What concept is being communicated?”, “How does this version differ from the original intention?” or “What could be improved and why?”
All these strategies foster an environment where students can learn from each other’s experiences and insights, cultivating resilience and adaptability – skills highly valued in the creative fields.
Use AR and VR to aid the design validation process
AR tools such as Twinmotion and Sketchfab enable students to visualise their projects in realistic settings, aiding their understanding of spatial relationships, materials and usability. This is particularly useful in the design validation process, in which students test whether a creative proposal functions as intended – both conceptually and spatially – by simulating its performance in a real-world or user-centred environment. Additionally, tools such as Tripo AI can convert AI-generated images, photos of sketches or physical models into interactive 3D models, further enhancing their practical understanding of design concepts. This approach significantly improves students’ comprehension of complex spatial ideas and helps them refine their designs with confidence.
Schedule dedicated AR sessions and provide technical support to help students confidently present and refine their designs. Incorporate Tripo AI to bridge the gap between conceptual AI-generated imagery and tangible, interactive AR experiences.
Promote effective interdisciplinary collaboration
Include students from various disciplines in your creative projects. Clearly defined roles and early team-building exercises can enhance cross-disciplinary understanding and cooperation, vital for addressing complex, real-world problems.
Establish clear expectations and regular checkpoints to foster effective communication among diverse teams. We’ve found forming mixed teams and assigning clearly defined roles based on students’ strengths useful in improving collaborative processes and project outcomes. Effective sessions in which teams discuss their collaborative experiences help students strengthen their interpersonal and teamwork skills.
Impact and outcomes
Integrating generative AI and AR consistently enhanced student engagement, creativity and spatial understanding on our course. We measured the impact with pre- and post-tests with the student version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale to measure academic engagement and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire to assess motivation and learning strategies. We also applied custom rubrics for creativity and spatial reasoning.
Results showed measurable improvement, with more than 70 per cent of participants reporting increased confidence in their design capabilities. Specifically, introductory students and those from non-design disciplines who initially expressed uncertainty reported notably higher levels of interest and motivation after hands-on experiences with AR and VR tools. This methodology has been successfully implemented internationally, in collaboration with students and faculty from institutions across Mexico, Colombia and Chile – a testament to the educational and cultural benefits of this approach.
We’ve found that using GenAI and AR in creative courses significantly improves learning outcomes. For educators wishing to do so, begin with small pilot projects to build familiarity. Then use real-time collaborative AR environments and GenAI tools to build on design processes and nurture skills that will serve students in their future workplaces.
Antonio Juarez, Lesly Pliego and Jordi Rábago are professors of architecture at Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico; Tomas Pachajoa is professor of architecture at the El Bosque University in Colombia; Carlos Hinrichsen and Marietta Castro are educators at San Sebastián University in Chile.
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