Immersive Chemistry Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

VR LaboSafe Game is a serious game that utilises immersive virtual reality to train the safety awareness and safety behaviour in chemical laboratories. In this game, laboratory workers learn to accurately identify risks, minimise these risks and perform experiments safely. Unsafe behaviour and unresolved risks result in simulated consequences that trainees experience without real harm to themselves or others. Try it out yourself! There is a demo version available for the Oculus Quest 2 on this GitHub repository: https://github.com/PhilippeChan/VRLaboSafeGameDemo

Sanne van Loenen has been researching game technologies such as virtual reality to create immersive experiences for young children in the context of chemistry. This research is being conducted at LuGus Studios and in collaboration with KU Leuven.

In this episode, she discusses a virtual reality fume hood which she has been working on which is designed for the classroom.

The topic of this episode is Escape Rooms and their function as immersive learning environments. We discuss a prototype developed by Merck, designed for health and safety environment training. We talk with two PhD researchers on the CHARMING Project, Sofia Garcia Fracaro and Michael Dumin, and ask them about their experience completing the Merck escape room. They share their ideas about escape rooms as learning environments and the benefits and challenges that come along with this type of immersive learning environment. 

In this episode, we speak with Serkan Solmaz, an early stage researcher on the CHARMING Project who is applying computational fluid dynamics tools and related databases for chemical-model based AR/VR design. If you want to know more about the project and keep updated on what the network is doing visit us at https://charming-etn.eu/.

Can science & technology education be revolutionized with immersive technologies? Can this revolution be expanded to motivate and train children, students and employees in chemistry and chemical engineering?  It may sound crazy but fortunately, the European Training Network for Chemical Engineering Immersive Learning, or CHARMING for short, is taking on these challenges by bringing together specialists from chemical engineering, educational sciences, game design, and technology. In this episode, Tom van Gerven joined us to introduce the CHARMING project and the partners involved. In addition to coordinating the project, Tom is a Professor at KU Leuven in the Process Engineering for Sustainable Systems Group.

If you want to know more about the project and keep updated on what the network is doing visit us at (https://charming-etn.eu/)

In this episode we talk with Michael Dumin, an early-stage researcher at the Department of Chemical Engineering (CIT) at KU Leuven, Belgium. As part of the CHARMING Project, his topic is “Chemistry and chemical-engineering concepts for kids”. He is exploring how fundamental chemical principles are translated into intuitive activities, so that children can learn basic concepts in a playful approach.

The use of immersive technologies for training in the chemical industry is growing. 

One organisation which has began to develop and implement their own VR and AR training solutions is ACTA. 

ACTA is a training and education center for the chemical industry in Flanders, Belgium, in the domain of chemical process techniques, process control technology and safety.

In this episode, we spoke with Sarah Pascal who focuses on digital learning in the organisation. Sarah provides details of the applications ACTA is developing and also offers valuable advice for any organisation looking to implement similar training solutions.

There is a growing interest in the use of digital games in higher education. In this episode, we talk with Chioma Udeozor about her research into the perceptions and attitude towards the use of games for learning among chemical engineering students at the University Newcastle in the UK.

In this episode of the podcast, we speak with PhD Candidates and fellow Early Stage Researchers, Sofia Garcia Fracaro and Yusra Tehreem about a VR Chemical Reactor training prototype they have been working on. Sofia is carrying out research on the effectiveness and efficiency of immersive learning environments and serious gaming applications when applied for the training of chemical operators and technicians. Yusra's research objective is to explore the use of immersive VR/AR training simulators for the advanced training of employees in the chemical industry.

In this episode, we speak with Silvia Fornós who is taking games-based learning research into an interesting direction, by exploring how games making can be used as an educational strategy. Silvia is a PhD Researcher at IT University Copenhagen and a CHARMING project Early Stage Researcher. She has experience working in the games industry throughout Europe.