UCLA researchers launched a virtual reality app in April to make learning organic chemistry more engaging for undergraduate students.
Introductory organic chemistry courses focus on chemical structures. But their three-dimensional nature can be difficult for students to visualize, said Jason Chari, a graduate student in the lab that developed the VR app.
The app tackles this issue by presenting students with 3D molecular models that students can interact within virtual reality.
All students need to interact with the virtual molecules is a VR headset and the controllers, said Neil Garg, a chemistry professor and leader of the lab developing the app, called VRChem.
The app takes students into a virtual environment where a 3D molecule is accompanied by a slide with information about the molecule’s function and where one might find it in daily life, said Francesca Ippoliti, a graduate student in Garg’s lab.
Students can hold and manipulate molecules much as they would with physical molecular models, but in virtual reality, they can also expand and shrink the molecules and walk around them, Garg said.
The VR app also helps solve problems some students faced in visualizing 3D structure beyond molecular model kits, said Mikaela Seow, a third-year biochemistry student.
source: Daily Bruin
