Augmented and Mixed Reality in Chemistry Labs for Education

Our project group "Augmented and Mixed Reality in Chemistry Labs for Education" in short "ARChemLab" aims to promote the meaningful use of Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (XR) in chemistry education. Having already successfully used virtual reality (VR) in chemistry in the DigiChemLab and VirtuChemLab projects, recreating a real chemistry lab in VR for chemistry/chemistry didactics students to prepare for the workflows in a real chemistry lab, we now want to implement the use of AR and XR technologies in chemistry lab environments. Specifically, we want to take the experiments that were previously conducted in a virtual lab and now conduct them in a real lab, using Microsoft Hololens 2 headsets to provide students with visual feedback while conducting the experiment.

The students will be supported and guided step-by-step during the execution of the experiment. Constructive feedback or warnings should be given in case of incorrect execution. In addition, safety instructions should be given when dealing with particularly hazardous substances. For learning purposes, reaction equations as well as animations on atomic level shall be displayed. Using a Bluetooth connection, data from temperature sensors will be read out and plotted directly.

The project is carried out in cooperation with the Chair of Didactics of Chemistry and thus offers an exciting insight into interdisciplinary software development. The results of our previous projects are already being used successfully there. Overall, the use of VR and AR in chemical education offers many opportunities to improve students' understanding and skills related to working in a chemical laboratory environment.

Important: Prior knowledge of chemistry is explicitly NOT REQUIRED for this Project Group. The same applies to VR/AR, as well as the handling of the tools used, such as Unity, Git etc.

You are also welcome to visit our current project group "VirtuChemLab". Have a look at their results and exchange experiences with the students. They meet every Wednesday arount 3 pm at the HNI/Fürstenalle in our poolroom on the 1st floor.