Abstract:Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) technology offers new possibilities for architecture teaching scenarios as well as empirical research involved in emerging design science. In the context of disciplinary transformation and technological development, this study analyzes the IVR-related courses offered by architecture schools at home and abroad, and concludes that the complete course system utilizing VR is divided into four presenting a pyramidal structure of technical difficulty from low to high, with higher-order results being applied in lower-order courses. The impact of its application on architectural teaching can be divided into two categories: design teaching and non-design teaching. For design teaching, VR can make students check the spatial relationship and experience the spatial atmosphere from the first perspective; in the knowledge exchange between teachers and students, checking and modifying the design in the immersive space can be more intuitive and understand the corresponding spatial design problems. In non-design teaching, the main function of immersive virtual reality technology is to utilize IVR technology to shift the teaching method to interactive teaching. In the teaching of architectural history and architectural technology, it can help students to establish intuitive cognition with lower acquisition cost and clearer learning process, and enable learners to practice in a safe and accessible environment. However, IVR technology in teaching and learning activities has not yet enabled students to achieve better performance in assessment tests compared to traditional methods. This study finally takes the design and realization of the panoramic simulation laboratory of Tsinghua University's Urban Human Factors Laboratory as an example, applies the research results and combines them with the needs to put forward the problems facing the development of the current laboratory, i.e., for the double change of the teaching method and content of the building triggered by the IVR, the change of the teaching content is the most important issue to be explored by domestic colleges and universities at present, as compared to the change of the teaching method, which is already evident in the teaching of design and the teaching of theory. Domestic institutions still need to explore the direction.