Exact sciences can be compelling and comprehensible, if explained in an efficient way! DELFI Campus invites you to create VR experience in order to explain the exact sciences to students, so that they can have a first-person experience and a clear understanding how the laws of physics and chemistry work. The best way, in our opinion, would be to allow students to step into the shoes of a physicist or a chemist and to carry out experiments in VR environment.

Imagine this experience as an entertaining lesson, which kicks off with a warning, which could sound something like this: “When diluting concentrated acids with water, the acid has to be added to the water, not the other way around!” The student then has to follow the virtual lesson in a gameplay way – trying not to explode the virtual lab by misinterpreting the laws of physics and chemistry.

If the concept of this task is clear, students can carry on, choosing different levels of complexity. They may start from solving problems that require fairly basic knowledge of physics, for example “why it is not wise to extinguish a fire on an electric device by pouring water on it” and then advance to more complex situations. For example, figuring out all the necessary steps in order to avoid a chemical or physical reaction that could lead to a nuclear catastrophe.

The goal of this tool would allow to demonstrate the importance of understanding the exact sciences and seeing what disastrous consequences can cause the lack of knowledge. Given the appeal of virtual reality, we believe that an experience like this could motivate children and youth to learn exact sciences. The creation of an experience like this could, in turn, encourage transdisciplinary co-operation among developers and physicists / chemists.