‘Design you can’t do just based on a textbook’: How one student took her research to virtual reality

Video produced by UK Public Relations and Strategic Communication and UK Marketing and Brand Strategy. To view captions for this video, push play and click on the CC icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. If using a mobile device, click on the “thought bubble” in the same area.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 12, 2024) — For many University of Kentucky students, their ambition and drive don’t stop during summer break. Summer is an ideal time for students to take a leap into an experience within their college careers that will propel them into their chosen career field.

KayDee Pratt, a senior majoring in product design in the UK College of Design, is one of these students. 

The Corbin, Kentucky, native spent her summer following her creative passions, partaking in two research projects. One project allowed her to be a research assistant to Kristi Bartlett, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Product Design, studying how people compare product models in person versus in virtual reality. The other project, a fellowship through the College of Design, involved experimenting with the design process for creating shoes in virtual reality.

“For my fellowship I was able to pick what I wanted to research. So of course I picked shoe design in virtual reality,” Pratt said. “It combined my love of using virtual reality as a tool with my love for shoes. I’m kind of a sneakerhead.”

Her research occurred in stages. First, she did background research on materials and how to successfully design a shoe that lasts. From there, she started drawing her designs. Finally, she created a prototype, which involved putting her sketches into a rendering program which transformed it into virtual reality.

“Basically, I used an application called Gravity Sketch which I can take 2D drawings and turn them into 3D models through sketching and surfacing,” she said. “To me it’s all so fascinating. A shoe is so much more than just a shoe. It’s something that is part of your everyday life.” 

Not only is her fellowship a passion project, but something that has prepared her for the future.

“Projects and research like this mean a lot,” she said. “It’s something I can put on my resume that can help me get a job in the very competitive field of design. Not only that, but I gained valuable experience in research.”

However, the most exciting part for Pratt was seeing the end product.

“It’s crazy that someone can have a question and by the end of the summer have an execution of that question,” she said. “This experience has been so rewarding. I spent 16 weeks on my research and to know that my work is good enough to get me to the next step is unbelievable.”

Pratt credits her love of design and creating to her grandfather.

“Growing up my grandfather would do a lot of design things. He would build, he would paint, he would draw and then he would teach me to do those things,” she said. 

Taking a leap of faith, the first-generation college student decided to apply for the College of Design.

“It was very scary, but applying allowed me to follow what I didn’t know would be my passion until later in life,” she said. “I’m so thankful for the hands-on experiences I have gained in the college. You can’t learn everything out of a textbook and the studio time I’ve been involved in is incomparable.”

Learn more about the UK College of Design at design.uky.edu. 

Watch the video above to learn more about Pratt’s summer experience.