Augmented and immersive virtual reality to train spatial skills in STEAM university students

A mandatory requirement for all people who want to go into the STEAM field (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) is to have developed levels of spatial skills because these skills allow the adequate performance of students, especially in the first year of university studies. One hundred years of studies of these skills have shown that it is possible to train them, and countless forms of training have been developed. However, new technologies and human–computer interaction are proving to be more effective. We will show in this chapter the effectiveness of two short training courses using augmented reality and immersive virtual reality in engineering and architecture students from two universities in different countries. For the measurement of these skills, we considered three subcomponents measured with the Mental Rotation Test (MRT) for the mental rotations component, the Differential Aptitude Test (DAT5-SR) for the spatial visualization component, and Spatial Orientation Test (SOT) for the spatial orientation component. The data obtained from experimental and control groups were analyzed using parametric and non-parametric tests: one-factor ANOVA, Student’s t test, and Kruskal–Wallis. We conclude that augmented reality and immersive virtual reality are very effective as short spatial skills training in engineering and architecture students.