Immersive virtual reality (IVR) systems are frequently used in educational areas with many affordances: (i) directly experiencing difficult-to-replicate environments, (ii) performing complex and challenging tasks again in a safe environment, and (iii) helping knowledge/skills gain. These features of IVR systems can enable students to develop in different cognitive, affective and psychomotor areas in architectural education and to support this development with holistic and universal architectural education based on experimental findings. In this context, the aim of the study is to present the design of the preliminary prototype of IVR-based educational serious game (SG) about material knowledge and architectural detail, and to examine its usability systematically through expert opinions and system usability scale (SUS). The experimental study was carried out with 8 field experts, including 4 academicians and 4 professional architects. Data were collected by screenshots of the modeling screen, video recordings of participants' movements during the modeling session, SUS, and an open-ended questionnaire. During the experiment, the participants were trained on a pre-stage on how to use the system, after being briefed about the IVR equipment. Afterwards, the participants experienced the main scene where they montaged the building components of the plasterboard wall system in accordance with the relevant instructions and then received feedback from the relevant 2D detail drawings. After this whole process, they filled out the SUS and open-ended questionnaire. When the collected data are analyzed, SUS shows that the usability of IVR-based SG is at a good level. When open-ended questions and video recordings were examined, it was understood that most of the participants found the general flow of the system positive. This general flow includes the written and verbal transmission via graphical user interface, the representations of 3D material layers, and ergonomics of SSG equipment. In addition, most of the participants stated that the 3D models support the instructional narrative very well and the relevant materials and the joints of them can be examined easily. The results also revealed features of the SG that need improvement: (i) unrestricted navigation in virtual spaces can lead to poor way-finding, (ii) 2D graphics are poorly understood visually due to the maximum resolutions offered by the system, (iii) the inventory panel that stores materials in a graphical user interface can prevent from the users' montage process. These features will be reconsidered by the authors in the future studies to improve IVR-based SG design effectively.  

Keywords: Architectural education, Architectural detail, Immersive virtual reality (IVR), Serious game (SG), Usability