# Engineering the Future: Evaluation of Virtual Reality Across Project Lifecycle Stages
## 2 Literature Review
### VR for Design and Prototyping  
One critical early application of VR is in user-centered design and ideation [29]. VR enhances user-centered design by allowing developers to step into the shoes of end-users. Avatar-based interaction enables designers to empathize with users facing disabilities, cultural barriers, or extreme environments. This perspective deepens design understanding and supports more inclusive solutions. Moreover, VR promotes creative ideation through the exploration of unconventional spatial arrangements and dynamic object combinations [30].  
Following the conceptual stages, VR's role intensifies in prototyping and technical design processes. VR significantly advances traditional Computer-Aided Design (CAD) by transforming static 2D representations into immersive 3D environments. [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] [31] observed that interpreting 3D structures through 2D interfaces demands considerable spatial reasoning, whereas VR simplifies this cognitive load, making models more accessible to both novices and experts. Additionally, VR enhances communication with non-technical stakeholders--such as managers and clients--by delivering more engaging and comprehensible presentations. [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] [32] emphasize that affordable VR solutions, including game engines, enable rapid development of interactive 3D content, surpassing the efficiency of traditional modeling approaches. Likewise, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [33] note that VR improves early-stage engineering tasks, such as preprocessing and refining Finite Element Analysis (FEA), by supporting intuitive spatial adjustments that would otherwise require advanced technical skills. A particularly effective use case is facilitating collaborative and immersive design reviews.  
Design reviews, which are critical to project development, can be significantly enhanced by VR. This is achieved by an immersive three-dimensional environment that improves spatial comprehension and stakeholder engagement. For example, [PERSON] [34] introduced VRSMART, a VR tool that simulates CAD data and enables intuitive user interaction. Users identified more design flaws and resolved issues more efficiently than traditional screen-based methods. By immersing participants--including engineers, designers, and even non-technical stakeholders--in the design environment, VR facilitatesa more intuitive understanding of complex geometries, helps detect spatial conflicts, and supports collaborative decision-making. This is further supported by [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] [35], who found that immersive VR environments improve comprehension of spatial structures, thereby enhancing the design evaluation process. Beyond design reviews, VR also broadly advances 3D data visualization capabilities, particularly in enhancing users' ability to interpret spatial relationships and interact meaningfully with complex data [36]. While VR tools like VRSMART may not fully replace conventional review methods, they offer a powerful complementary approach that augments design accuracy, communication, and insight.  
Building upon its early-stage benefits in production planning and system design, VR's contribution extends far beyond the initial development phases. After facilitating cost-effective planning, real-time simulation, and early detection of integration issues, VR continues to add value in post-delivery stages, particularly in system support, repair, and maintenance [37; 38].