Team
Rebecca Ricciardo, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
Dustin Miller, Emerging Technology Studio, College of Arts and Sciences
Mila Gajic, Emerging Technology Studio, College of Arts and Sciences
Jack DeLeo, Emerging Technology Studio, College of Arts and Sciences
Project description
In the beginning of 2025, the ETS developers started a collaboration with Dr. Rebecca Ricciardo from the Ohio State Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, with the goal to explore how immersive technologies could complement chemistry education. Dr. Ricciardo noticed that students can sometimes have a difficult time visualizing molecular structures in a three-dimensional world, and the concept of electronegativity and polarity can often seem abstract as well. Drawing on the existing freshman course curriculum, a team of three VR developers from the ETS started working on a virtual reality simulation in which the students can interact with molecular shapes in 3D and learn about chemical polarity. In the VR experience, the students are presented with a virtual workstation and an interactive molecule selection panel. After the students select a molecule they want to visualize, it appears in 3D on the virtual workstation. The students can take this 3D molecule into their hands using VR hand controllers and they can rotate it and pull different pieces to further explore the structure. The workstation is also equipped with an interactive electronegativity arrow the students can use to inspect the molecules’ polarity characteristics. The experience also features question prompts about the content the students are interacting with, which provides a chance to get real time learning feedback. The goal for this VR experience is to be integrated into the curriculum of freshman Chemistry students.
