In recent years, immersive technology tools have burgeoned. After the release of the affordable Oculus Go headset and the Merge Cube, there has been increasing use of Virtual and Augmented Reality in classrooms. Libraries have also taken interest in these emerging trends. In 2018, a partnership between the virtual reality company HTC VIVE and the California and Nevada state libraries, deployed immersive technology systems in 100 public libraries throughout California and 11 public libraries in Nevada. While the integration of Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR and AR) and Mixed Reality (MR), (the combination of which we will refer to as Extended Reality or XR), in K-12 settings, public libraries, and museums has been more widespread, academic libraries have not been as prolific in adopting immersive technologies. However, that may be changing with the launch of virtual lab simulations by Labster and HoloLab Champions and the VR app Nanome, which can be used to virtually manipulate chemicals and proteins. In our talk, we will discuss how XR can be used to provide instruction to students about lab safety. This summer, we plan to use VR technology to demonstrate experiments such as synthesis of gun cotton or hydrolysis of tert-butyl chloride, and a visualization of how a dye or fluorophore is spread from gloves. Our approach to XR is experimental and explorative at this stage, but our goal is to create a toolkit of resources that can be used for lab safety. We bring our diverse areas of expertise in chemistry instruction, VR development, and library innovation to our project. Specifically, our vision is to provide XR teaching and learning tools for science and engineering students via the academic library space.<br/>

Using XR to teach about chemical lab safety

2019 Fall National Meeting

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