Experimental Research on the Relations between Stereoscopic Vision and Mechanical Designers' Activities, with a View to C.A.D. Teaching

This study examines the influence of two crossed factors upon the performance of a subject whose aim is to understand the functioning of a complex piece of technical apparatus, in this instance an automated arm from an assembly line. The primary factor was the encoding degree of the third dimension which constitutes the representation of the object. The methods of presentation were: a 3-D photograph, an axonometric perspective drawing and a first angle orthographic drawing. The second factor was professional experience. The subjects were, on the one hand, first year technology pupils (15--16 year-olds) and, on the other hand, professional draughtsmen from RENAULT. The results obtained with the 3-D photograph were twice as good as those obtained with the axonometric perspective or the orthographic drawing. It should be pointed out that experience did not effect the score. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.