Week 3/24 - 3/31

Video Demonstration #1

Starting out on our first week, we focused on brainstorming ideas for our project and getting our game environment set up. We wanted to explore how VR could be used for education, and we settled on a chemistry lab simulation meant to teach the player proper lab safety procedures. The game will simulate common chemistry lab tasks such as titrations and handling dangerous chemicals, and the player will have to watch out for common lab hazards while doing so. We feel that this is an engaging way to allow the user to learn lab safety procedures while completing fun and rewarding tasks, and through the usage of VR, we can further ensure that the lab safety habits and skills that the user builds up through using our program can be easily transferred to real life scenarios.

We spent the first week constructing the lab environment and experimenting with liquid physics, in particular the Niagara liquids plugin for Unreal Engine. We also added a basic HUD UI for the player to display relevant information and tasks. We think the project has potential to receive investment from academia and research companies, and eventually be used in these facilities to expedite the training of new lab personnel.